Triad Election (Dir: Johnnie To)

This is my first encounter with famed Hong Kong action director Johnnie To. Several critics had this on their year's best list for 2007 and it finally came up on my Netflix queue. Chalk this up to one of those moments where I just don't get it. To's action scenes are staccato and involving, but "Election" is largely a tired object lesson in Sun Tzu. Legitimate businessman Jimmy Lee is involved with the Triad--Chinese mafia--in order to gain connections. When a new leader is needed for the pan-mafia council, Jimmy's criminal backers want him to fill it. They believe his business success and leadership skills make him the ideal candidate.

Jimmy does not want the job. He wants to go straight and start a new real estate venture. Meanwhile, current mafia council president Lok wants to retain his seat that tradition demands he leave and upstart Kun wants the position for himself. They perceive Jimmy as a likely threat to their goal and prepare to strike against him. Those who have seen "The Godfather" will recognize Michael Corleone in Jimmy Lee. Involving himself in the mob corrupts Jimmy. The shift from innocence to criminal depths is so sudden as to render it a lifeless dramatic moment. It is also completely expected. We don't know Jimmy Lee as an individual, but as a stock character. The film attempts to end with a dramatic wallop as Jimmy faces the long term consequences of his descent into evil, but we've been here before in the hands of better directors and more sure footed storytellers.

There's not enough here to warrant recommendation to a general audience. Action fans and Asian cinema geeks may enjoy it, however.



Up the Yangtze (Dir: Yung Chang)

Ever since the success of "Farenheit 9-11" we've been treated to a stream of polemical documentaries. These are often shrill, artist, heavy-handed and lack Moore's knack for showmanship. Director Yung Chang's "Up the Yangtze" is didactic, but subtle. He's got a message, but darn if he doesn't make you feel like you've reached his conclusion on your own. He mostly shows rather than tells and speaks through his subjects. This is an expertly crafted documentary.

Chang's film tells the story of how the damming up of a large portion of the Yangtze river to create a hydroelectric power plant is displacing poor, but self-sufficient river families. As the river begins to rise, Chang's film follows Yu Shui and her riverside dwelling family. Shui who seems to be about 15 or so is sent by her parents to go work on the cruise ships that take tourists along the rising Yangtze. Her parents cannot afford to send her to school anymore and they need for her to begin to support their family. She begins her work scared, shy, and angry that she cannot return to school.

The film follows others as well, all people affected by the massive industrialization project. As the river slowly overtakes Yu Shui's home, the film contemplates the dual realities of destruction and progress. We see a people unable to halt the progress, forced to embrace it or get out of the way. Particularly notable is the director's ability to largely disappear into his tale and catch his subjects at their most unnerved, angered, or dazed. A fine film well worth seeking out.