ELECTION 2, Johnnie To (2006)
Funeral service street, Hong Hum, Hong Kong
The section chief orders Jimmy to become Wo Shing’s chairman permanently, establishing the society as a family enterprise. Jimmy buries the Dragon Head baton with the ex-chairman. ELECTION 2, Johnnie To (2006)
Election 2 is a crime film directed by Johnnie To in 2006. As a sequel to Election, the story continues with the event of Lok (the main character) becoming the chairperson of a triad. The film begins with the new election of the triad chairperson where Lok wants to keep his title. While Jimmy (the main character) is focused to join this competition. Both of them do what they have to do to win the election by any means necessary. 2 crucial events in the film happen in Hung Hom, one takes place in the Cha Chaan Teng, another one in funeral service street. The discussion of the field report will focus on these two places
The sense is talking about Lok kidnaps Jimmy’s boss in hope of focusing jimmy to quit the chairperson election. Starting with the first place, Cha Chaan Teng is a daily meeting place of the triad because it is located next to the building where jimmy’s boss is imprisoned. Cha Chaan Teng is described as a relatively silent blue place and the customer seems to be vicious (since they are triads). Yet, the real Cha Chaan Teng is far more from this. The natural light of it is warm and comfortable, people in Cha Chaan Teng are nice. They enjoy their meal and talking with others. The whole place is busy and energetic. The fight between Lok and Jimmy party that happens in the Hung Hom funeral service street is the most symbolic sense of the film. Guarding by the triads, the street is full of ferocious gangsters warning others the consequence of entering into their territory could be a tragedy. Thus, Little passengers on street. Yet, the funeral service street just is a normal business street. No one will limit you when you walk on the street. The building there are colorful instead of just grey dark.
The main reason for the huge difference between the film and the experienced reality is that the everyday life of mine (normal person) is disconnected from the everyday life of a triad (protagonist). That creates a ‘travel story’ as Certeau (1984) suggested. Cha Chaan Teng in our daily life is a restaurant that offers Hong Kong-style meals for the locates. Through the camera, we travel the Cha Chaan Teng as a triad who is preparing for a battle that could make him be the next customer of the funeral service. Although the place (Cha Chaan Teng) is remaining the same, the space is different. To us, a route of a normal day be like: Home, Cha Chaan Teng, workplace, … To a triad could be: Drug manufacturing plant, Cha Chaan Teng, casino, … The time variables and direction of an object create a unique space that adds a new meaning to a place. Similar things happen to the funeral service street. Business space for us could be a battlefield to a trial. Everyday life is transformed into a secret society workplace when we travel Hung Hom with Jimmy’s car in the film.
— Chan Chun Hing, 3035762841
Notes:
1 De Certeau, M. (1984). Walking in the City. In The Practice of Everyday Life (pp. 91-110), translated by Steven Randall. Berkeley: University of California Press.
You have produced a great montage for your movie-fieldwork comparison and I appreciate the attention to detail in collaging your photos with the movie scenes.
With your reference to de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life, the fieldwork is certainly an attempt to “survey” the protagonist’s life in the movie – it was great to speculate the triad’s everyday life that contributed to the difference with your personal experience.
Since the Cha Chaan Teng seems to be the focal point of your text, it would be great to include more visual references from the movie into your montage. Is it a recurring scene that acted as an anchor of the movie? How is the Cha Chaan Teng portrayed as a social place for the triads to meet?
A point to note on typos, for instance – “locals” as opposed to “locates”.