Election

Election (the Johnny To film, not the Alexander Payne film, which I immensely enjoy) is one of the better Hong Kong Triad films I've seen. Actually, it's by far the most realistic gangster film I've seen in a very long time. These gangsters aren't glamorous, they're just petty greedy thieves who'd throw their own mother overboard if they thought it would make them some cash. And Simon Yam... well, he's almost normal compared to some of the roles he's done before, but he's his typical great self. Especially when compared to the less-talented Tony Leung (Ka Fai), who overacts in almost every scene. But the movie doesn't suffer from that. It may be a little heavy-handed when it comes to pointing out just how ridiculous and stupid most gangsters are (the fat one's pants in jail and the monkeys in the last scene are a little obvious, aren't they?), but once you get past the slightly confusing loyalties and actors (it's generally easier in American films because you're more likely to know some of the actors and you don't have to keep putting names to faces you haven't really seen too often if it all), it shows that Hong Kong films are clearly competing directly in quality with American films. And, a lot of the times, vastly superior to them.