History Film / TriadElection

Released in 2005, ''Election'' is headlined by Lok (Creator/SimonYam) and Big D (Leung Ka Fai), two of the leading candidates for the position of chairman in Wo Shing. Every two years, an election is held by the "Uncles" to determine who is fit to lead the society. While Lok is the favored vote among the elders and ultimately wins the election, Big D believes otherwise, and systemically begins tearing down tradition by kidnapping some of the higher ups and physically punishing them for electing Lok. As conflict and tensions mount between Lok and Big D's allies, center to their struggle is the [[{{MacGuffin}} Dragon Head Baton]], the symbol of leadership that determines the Wo Shing Chairman. Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse, where Lok and Big D's men rush to seize it for their respective bosses.

* AdultFear: Lok, a seasoned member of the triads, is aghast to discover [[spoiler:his son Denny is slowly joining the triads himself]] in the {{Sequel}}.

Not to be confused with the 1999 film ''Film/Election''.

%%* SpeechImpediment: Mr. So

%%* AxCrazy: Big D and [[spoiler:Lok]]

''Election'' (''黑社會''; literally "Black Society") and ''Triad Election'' (''黑社會2'') are a duology of films that tells of the Wo Shing Society, based loosely on the RealLife Hong Kong triad "Wo Shing Wo", the oldest in the city that carries a long tradition. Directed by famed Hong Kong director Johnnie To, the films provide a contrast to the TheTriadsAndTheTongs archetype in Hong Kong cinema that was previously predominated by the ''Film/YoungAndDangerous'' series.

Released in 2005, ''Election'' is headlined by Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Leung Ka Fai), two of the leading candidates for the position of chairman in Wo Shing. Every two years, an election is held by the "Uncles" to determine who is fit to lead the society. While Lok is the favored vote among the elders and ultimately wins the election, Big D believes otherwise, and systemically begins tearing down tradition by kidnapping some of the higher ups and physically punishing them for electing Lok. As conflict and tensions mount between Lok and Big D's allies, center to their struggle is the [[{{MacGuffin}} Dragon Head Baton]], the symbol of leadership that determines the Wo Shing Chairman. Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse, where Lok and Big D's men rush to seize it for their respective bosses.

* BittersweetEnding: ''Triad Election'' ends with [[spoiler:Jimmy successfully winning the election, but the Bureau forces him to change tradition by turning Wo Shing into a family enterprise to prevent the Dragon Head Baton from going into the mainland over and over again during every election (the Bureau claims it's been happening for countless elections, and they're getting sick of seeing it cross into the mainland). In other words, Jimmy must stay in the triads, unable to ever go "clean". Worse, if Jimmy is to go through with this, he knows the Uncles won't accept this, which implies he'll also be forced to seize total control of Wo Shing by eliminating them and any possible rivals off. In other words, bloodshed is inevitable, and Jimmy will be fully villified for his actions]]. May also border on TwistEnding

** In the first film, a police invesigator makes a quip about how Wo Shing isn't like another Hong Kong triad where leadership is passed down from father to son. [[spoiler:''Triad Election'' ends with Jimmy being forced by the government to turn Wo Shing into a family enterprise, eventually passing it down to his children]].
** [[spoiler:At the climax of the first film, Uncle "Long Gun" tells Jimmy that if he's to survive in the triads, he needs to seize power and absolute control, climbing up to the top of the society's heirarchy if need be; otherwise, he should get out before he can't. By the end of ''Triad Election'', Jimmy can never leave the triads, now that he's become Chairman and the Chinese government wants him to stay in the power to maintain control of Wo Shing]].

* MadeOfIron: Jet, who can take multiple stab wounds and a machete imbedded onto his left shoulder from Big D's men, while rescuing [[spoiler:Sparky]].

* TrueCompanions: Played with - when Lok's bid for Chairman is sealed, he thanks Big Head, Jet, Jimmy, Mr. So and Kun for their hard work, promising to look after each of them as their "godfather" and vice versa. Once his two years are over, he'll support whoever's planning to become a candidate for chairman. In ''Triad Election'', Lok wishes to seek re-election and fails to convince his godsons not to seek their bid. When Kun asks if Lok will sincerely support his bid, the godsons glare viciously at the Chairman, waiting for the appropriate response.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Uncle Teng

Released in 2005, ''Election'' is headlined by Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Leung Ka Fai), two of the leading candidates for the position of chairman in Wo Shing. Every two years, an election is held by the "Uncles" to determine who is fit to lead the society. While Lok is the favored vote among the elders and ultimately wins the election, Big D believes otherwise, and systemically begins tearing down tradition by kidnapping some of the higher ups and physically punishing them for electing Lok. As conflict and tensions mount between Lok and Big D's allies, center to their struggle is the Dragon Head Baton, the symbol of leadership that determines the Wo Shing Chairman. Thus begins a game of cat-and-mouse, where Lok and Big D's men rush to seize it for their respective bosses.

The sequel ''Triad Election'' was released in 2006. For the last two years, Lok has made Wo Shing prosper and the society is financially better than before. This time, the story centers on Lok's lieutenant Jimmy (Louis Koo), the society's biggest money-maker, who went from selling pirated pornography to becoming a legitimate businessman outside of the city in mainland China. When a deal in the mainland goes bad, China's National Security Bureau informs Jimmy he can longer do business beyond Hong Kong, unless Jimmy were to win the next bid for Chairman. However, Jimmy was never that ambitious, until Lok plans to break tradition by seeking re-election. Forced to become a candidate, Jimmy must win the Uncles' favor, while ensuring his own survival in the bid, with hopes that once he's elected and his two years as Chairman is up, he can finally go "clean".

%%* AmbitionIsEvil: Nearly every major player in both films, aside from Jimmy
%%* AntiVillain: Jimmy

* BilingualBonus: In particular, a scene where Jimmy is ordering food at a high-class Chinese restaurant and is humorously unable to pronounce or read the Mandarin words (Cantonese and Mandarin use the same characters, but they're pronounced differently and the two languages are mutually unintelligible). Since knowledge about the writings systems and a rudimentary understanding of either language is required for the gag to work, the humor is a little hard to get if you don't understand Chinese.

* BolivianArmyEnding: In regards to [[spoiler:Jet, who Jimmy believes won't have a chance standing alone in the underworld, after he betrays Lok for not assassinating Jimmy. Despite telling Jet that he can help him, Jet is too proud to take the offer and tosses away Jimmy's contact information, making it unclear whether he'll survive or not]].

* CivilWar: [[spoiler:Narrowly averted between Wo Shing, as Big D reluctantly agrees to work with Lok after he claims victory by having all of Wo Shing in support of him]].
* DramaticPause: Done between Lok and Kun in the sequel, when the latter is against the former for re-bidding in the election, to which Lok unsuccessfully persuades him to exit the candidacy. It seems Kun might get physical on Lok, until a group of strangers pass by. At that point, Kun is convinced to work with Lok to stop Jimmy from winning.
%%* DualWielding

** In the first film, a police invesigator makes a quip about how Wo Shing isn't like another triad, where leadership is passed down from father to son. [[spoiler:''Triad Election'' ends with Jimmy being forced by the government to turn Wo Shing into a family enterprise, eventually passing it down to his children]].
** In a similar vein, [[spoiler:at the climax of the first film, Uncle "Long Gun" tells Jimmy that if he's to survive in the triads, he needs to seize power and absolute control, climbing up to the top of the society's heirarchy if need be; otherwise, he should get out before he can't. By the end of ''Triad Election'', Jimmy can never leave the triads, now that he's become Chairman and the Chinese government wants him to stay in the power to maintain control of Wo Shing]].
%%* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Lok, regarding why he had to [[spoiler:kill Whistle's son to prevent him from talking to the police about the Dragon Head Baton]].
* IJustWantToBeBadass: Deconstructed with Jet - he believes that being feared by everyone is what will get him noticed in the underworld, many of which includes performing assassinations on orders from Lok. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing he's good for (at least, in Lok's eyes). The fact it's implied he's been in hiding for so long because of all the hits he's being doing for the Chairman makes it less likely for him to climb the ladder and be a legitimate candidate for Chairman, let alone a promotion. Lampshaded by one of the Uncles in the climax of ''Triad Election'', who's never even heard of this foot soldier.

%%* MacGuffin: The Dragon Head Baton
%%* MacGuffinDeliveryService
%%* MacheteMayhem
%%* MadeOfIron: Jet
* NotSoStoic: Lok, [[spoiler:during his crazed killing of Big D]]
%%* TheObiWan: Uncle Teng
%%* OnlyInItForTheMoney
%%* ProfessionalKiller
%%* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Uncle Teng

%%* StepfordSmiler: Lok
%%* TheTriadsAndTheTongs
* TrueCompanions: Played with - when Lok's bid for Chairman is sealed, he thanks Big Head, Jet, Jimmy, Mr. So and Kun for their hard work, promising to look after each of them as their "godfather" and vice versa. Once his two years are over, he'll support whoever's planning to become a candidate for chairman. In ''Triad Election'', Lok wishes to seek re-election and fails to convince his "godsons" not to seek their bid. Visually deconstructed when Kun asks if Lok will sincerely support his bid, and the godsons glare viciously at the Chairman, waiting for the appropriate response.
%%* VillainProtagonist: Lok in the first movie; Jimmy skirts with this by being an AntiVillain, instead.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:After Lok is killed]], neither Big Head or Mr. So are mentioned or seen again. One can assume they either [[spoiler:sided with Jimmy as the new Chairman or killed on his orders to prevent any rivals from seizing power or ousting him to the Uncles that he orchestrated the hit on Lok]].

* DesignatedVillain: Lok in ''Triad Election'', by proxy of wanting to get re-elected

Tropes associated with both films are:

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the first film, a police invesigator makes a quip about how Wo Shing isn't like another triad, where leadership is passed down from father to son. [[spoiler:''Triad Election'' ends with Jimmy being forced by the government to turn Wo Shing into a family enterprise, eventually passing it down to his children]].

* MacGuffin: The Dragon Head Baton
** HostageForMacGuffin: [[spoiler:Sparky, after Big D's men kidnap him to force Lok's allies to hand over the Dragon Head Baton]].
** MacGuffinDeliveryService

* AmbitionIsEvil: Nearly every major player in both films, aside from Jimmy
* AntiVillain: Jimmy
* AxCrazy: Big D and [[spoiler:Lok]]

* BloodierAndGorier
* BloodOath

* DualWielding

* GoodSmokingEvilSmoking

* MacheteMayhem
* MadeOfIron: Jet

* TheObiWan: Uncle Teng
* OnlyInItForTheMoney
* ProfessionalKiller
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Uncle Teng

* SpeechImpediment: Mr. So

* StepfordSmiler: Lok
* TheTriadsAndTheTongs

* VillainProtagonist: Lok in the first movie; Jimmy skirts with this by being an AntiVillain, instead.

----
<<|FilmsOfThe2000s|>>

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Whistle, Big D and his wife, Uncle Teng, Lok]]

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time [[Film/YoungAndDangerous Simon Yam was a triad boss]].

* PlayingAgainstType: Leung Ka Fai, who usually plays in comedic roles, portrays the egomaniacal Big D. In fact, him playing against his usual roles earned him an acting award.
** Ditto for Nick Cheung: more commonly known for his ButtMonkey routines, in both films he becomes a cold-hearted, ruthless hitman with only seeks to earn his name in the triads through fear.

''Election'' (''黑社會''; literally "Black Society") and ''Triad Election'' (''黑社會2'') are a duology of films that tells of the Wo Shing Society, based loosely on the RealLife Hong Kong triad "Wo Shing Wo", the oldest in the city that carries a long tradition. Directed by famed Hong Kong director Johnnie To, the films provide a contrast to the TheTriadsAndTheTongs archetype in Hong Kong cinema that was previously predominated by the ''YoungAndDangerous'' series.

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time [[YoungAndDangerous Simon Yam was a triad boss]].

* BilingualBonus

** In a similar vein, [[spoiler:at the climax of the first film, Uncle "Long Gun" tells Jimmy that if he's to survive in the triads, he needs to seize power and absolute control, climbing up to the top of the society's heirarchy if need be; otherwise, he should get out before he can't. By the end of ''Triad Election'', Jimmy can't never leave the triads, now that he's become Chairman and the Chinese government wants him to stay in the power to maintain control of Wo Shing]].

Released in 2005, ''Election'' is headlined by Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Leung Ka Fai), two of the leading candidates for the position of chairman in Wo Shing. Every two years, an election is held by the "Uncles" to determine who is fit to lead the society. While Lok is the favored vote among the elders, Big D believes otherwise, and systemically begins to tear down tradition by kidnapping some of the Uncles and physically punishing them for electing Lok. To that end, Big D decides to establish a new society, which would trigger CivilWar within Wo Shing. Center to this conflict is the Dragon Head Baton, a symbol of leadership that determines the Wo Shing Chairman and both Lok and Big D's men rush to seize it for their respective bosses.

The sequel ''Triad Election'' was released in 2006. For the last two years, Lok has made Wo Shing prosper and the society is financially better than before. This time, the story centers on Lok's lieutenant Jimmy (Louis Koo), the society's biggest money-maker, who went from selling pirated pornography to a legitimate businessman outside of the city in mainland China during Lok's tenure as chairman. When a deal in the mainland goes bad, China's National Security Bureau informs Jimmy he can longer do business beyond Hong Kong, unless Jimmy were to win the next bid for chairman of Wo Shing. However, Jimmy was never that ambitious, until Lok plans to break tradition by seeking re-election. Forced to become a candidate, Jimmy must win the Uncles' favor, while ensuring his own survival in the bid, with hopes that once he's elected and his two years as chairman is up, he can finally go "clean".

* AmbitionIsEvil
* AntiVillain - Jimmy
* AxCrazy - Big D
* TheBadGuysAreCops

* BittersweetEnding: ''Triad Election'' ends with [[spoiler:Jimmy successfully winning the election, but the Bureau forces him to change tradition by making Wo Shing into a family enterprise to prevent the Dragon Head Baton from going into the mainland over and over again during every election, thereby making him stay in the triads, unable to ever go "clean". Worse, if Jimmy is going through with this, he knows the Uncles won't accept this, implying he'll also be forced to seize total control of Wo Shing by eliminating them and any possible rivals off. In other words, bloodshed is inevitable]].

* TheButcher - Jimmy in ''Triad Election''
* CivilWar

* EnemyMine
* {{Foreshadowing}}

* IJustWantToBeBadass - Deconstructed with Jet
* KilledOffForReal
* LiteralMinded - Jet
* MacGuffin - The Dragon Head Baton
** HostageForMacGuffin

* MadeOfIron - Jet
* NotSoStoic - Lok
* TheObiWan - Uncle Teng

* PlayingAgainstType - Leung Ka Fai, who usually plays in comedic roles, portrays the egomaniacal Big D. In fact, him playing against his usual roles earned him an acting award.

* SinisterSurveillance
* SpeechImpediment - Mr. So

* TrueCompanions: Played with - when Lok's bid for Chairman is sealed, he thanks Big Head, Jet, Jimmy, Mr. So and Kun for their hard work, promising to look after each of them as their "godfather" and vice versa. Once his two years are over, he'll support whoever's planning to become a candidate. In ''Triad Election'', Lok wishes to seek re-election and fails to convince his "godsons" not to seek their bid. Visually deconstructed when Kun asks if Lok will sincerely support his bid, and the godsons glare viciously at the Chairman, waiting for the appropriate response.
* VillainProtagonist - Lok in the first movie; Jimmy skirts with this by being an AntiVillain, instead.

''Election'' (''黑社會''; literally "Black Society") and ''Triad Election'' (''黑社會2'') are a duology of films that tells of the Wo Shing Society, based loosely on the RealLife Hong Kong triad "Wo Shing Wo", the oldest in the city that carries a long tradition. Directed by famed Hong Kong director Johnnie To, the films provide a contrast to the TheTriadsAndTheTongs archetype in cinema that was previously predominated by the ''YoungAndDangerous'' series.

Released in 2005, ''Election'' is headlined by Lok (Simon Yam) and Big D (Leung Ka Fai), two of the leading candidates for the position of chairman in Wo Shing. Every 2 years, an election is held by the "Uncles" to determine who is fit to lead the society. While Lok is the favored vote among the elders, Big D believes otherwise, and systemically begins to tear down tradition by kidnapping some of the Uncles and physically punishing them for electing Lok. To that end, Big D decides to establish a new society, which would trigger CivilWar within Wo Shing. Center to this conflict is the Dragon Head Baton, a symbol of leadership that determines the Wo Shing Chairman and both Lok and Big D's men rush to seize it for their respective bosses.

* ActorAllusion

* BittersweetEnding

* TheButcher

* TrueCompanions

The sequel ''Triad Election'' was released in 2006. For the last two years, Lok has made Wo Shing prosper and the society is financially better than before. This time, the centers on Lok's lieutenant Jimmy (Louis Koo), the society's biggest money-maker, who went from selling pirated pornography to a legitimate businessman outside of the city in mainland China during Lok's tenure as chairman. When a deal in the mainland goes bad, China's National Security Bureau informs Jimmy he can longer do business beyond Hong Kong, unless Jimmy were to win the next bid for chairman of Wo Shing. However, Jimmy was never that ambitious, until Lok plans to break tradition by seeking re-election. Forced to become a candidate, Jimmy must win the Uncles' favor, while ensuring his own survival in the bid, with hopes that once he's elected and his two years as chairman is up, he can finally go "clean".

Expect plenty of {{Deconstruction}}s to tropes that triad movies usually play upon.