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INFERNAL AFFAIRS review
Hong Kong is its own universe. Over here, we’re all busy talking about the Academy Awards. Buzzing about THE PIANIST, CHICAGO, TWO TOWERS, GANGS OF NEW YORK and THE HOURS. We take a look at the nominated foreign films, and for many, unfortunately, those are the Foreign films of note from 2002. From all the critics awards, People’s Choice Awards, UK awards, France awards… The films are familiar.
Then you get to the Hong Kong Film Awards which are due out in April, and you see a film called WU JIAN DAO (aka INFERNAL AFFAIRS) with 16 nominations and you just kinda wonder, “What the hell?”
Ok, most of us, if we know the title, we know it from the press release that said that Brad Pitt was attached to remake it. Which pretty much guarantees that we’ll never get a theatrical release of this film that has nominations for: Best Action Choreography, Best Actor (twice), Best Cinematography, Best Costumes/Make-up, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Best Screenplay, Best Song, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actor (three times), Best Visual Effects and of course… Best Picture. A film with this sort of credit, and it will go unreleased in the United States.
The film is a story about an undercover career cop and an undercover career criminal… One playing cop for the world to see, the other playing criminal for the world. Both are their respected bosses number one coveted secret. Their edge in the constant chess game they play. Capture the other’s king. The situation becomes more intense when it is suddenly discovered that each Boss has an upper level mole in the other’s organization, but no clue as to who it is. It is then up to both undercover agents to try and discover each other’s identity, before the other can. The loser is dead, the winner continues their life… endlessly portraying an image that they have artificially created and subsequently have become.
This isn’t a flashy gun film. The movie isn’t about battles or action in any traditional sense. The film is instead about information, deception, currying favor and losing your sense of self. We’re talking about career undercover operatives, that are so beyond reproach that the people closest to them, family members, nobody knows, except themselves. At all times they are looking for information on the sly, while fulfilling their positions on another level. The result is enthralling.
The actors are awesome in this film. All performing at the best that I’ve seen them. I loved Andy Lau’s Tok in FULLTIME KILLER back two years ago, but here… Here he is completely different. Not the cooler than cool. Not the badder than bad. He is an outstanding police officer, a credit to the force, the sort of character that from all outward looks is a consummate professional. However, in addition, he’s ferreting out information for his boss, that keeps Eric Tsang’s Sam one step ahead. I micro step. Just that split-second notice that allows him to escape unscathed. Andy Lau has an incredibly expressive face here, which allows him to portray both layers perfectly. Watching him on cell phone conversations, how he will pretend that it is one type of conversation with a big smile, while his eyes remain completely focused and serious, meanwhile the tone of his voice being jocular.
On the other side is Tony Leung as Yan. Many of you are probably well aware of how great an actor Tony Leung is… be it working for Johnny To, Andrew Lau, Wong Kar Wai, Yimou Zhang and of course John Woo. It has become almost ludicrous to talk about how good he is, but here, yet again, he’s just excellent. Having never finished cadet school he was chosen for the world of undercover work. For 10 years, edging up next to this boss and that boss. Taking them down from the inside. He’s sick of the job. He’s never known what it was to be a real cop. He’s done so much criminal work to be inside, that he doubts that he is a cop. His one contact being with Superintendent Wong (played by the always wonderful Anthony Wong), who continually assures him that he is indeed a good guy. Leung plays this very Bogart-y. His eyes are always reading the room, knowing when to look, without looking like he’s looking.
Both “stars” are on the money here. Just as good as they come. You don’t want either to go down, and I felt myself rooting for both, hoping that either one would emerge victorious. The feeling of the walls closing in on them. How it all wraps up, the performances, the music, the tension and the character development… it really underlines something missing from the modern crime film in the United States. This easily is so much better than any of the COP investigation films in the U.S. in quite some time. Maybe it is just that I believe everything they ever show me about Triad gangs over there, or maybe it is just a very inventive crime film.
When you see them scanning all cel phone activity within a two block area to try and isolate the numbers that the bad guys are using, how the bad guys counter, how the information is flowing from one team to another… It is… frankly… genius. Just a fantastic film worthy of all the praise it is getting over in Hong Kong, and in all likelihood Brad Pitt and Team Pitt will do a dang good film from it, but there’s something otherworldly about it taking place in Hong Kong, that just makes it all seem fantastic and real.
Andrew Lau and his co-director Alan Mak have crafted an amazingly witty and smart film. Completely unlike most of Andrew Lau’s work, which relied so much on special effects, this relies on the actions and decisions of the characters to propel the story to its conclusion, which is very satisfying.
I just wish this was coming to theaters in some form of release. It’s a shame that the public won’t get to see a film shot this beautifully in an auditorium worthy of showing it. Hunt it down if you can, it is definitely worth a look!
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Hollywood doesn't like any evidence of other filmmaking communities. They prefer to remake known classics, staining their name in the process. It's appalling to see the cinematic process destroyed in this way. If Hollywood truely was in the business of cinematic evolution wouldn't they want the wider world to see examples of great filmmaking across the globe? But they're not and they don't. It's become a business alone, no longer a fusion with artistic practice. It'd be great to see producers emulating someone like Darryl F Zanuck who I believe saw remakes as a scandal, preferring to see the original product earn praise. Where is the Golden Hollywood I loved so much. Where is its lustre?
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I'm getting sick of it. RING barely scraped by because it added to and enhanced some of the elements of the original.
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What, with your all-region, all-format DVD player and all... So, has ANYONE found anything about who is playing Ghost in the Matrix sequels??? Is it everyone's favorite movie psycho Anthony Wong Chau-Sang??? Or is it some lesser talent with the name Anthony Wong?
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Mar 04, 2003 8:22:54 AM CST
Speaking of remakes - didn't Willard just play the Alamo Draftho
by veidt
So where's the reviews on the site? I'd love to hear what the reaction was.
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The awesome 2 disc Special Edition DVD of this movie is an All Region Disc, so anyone can play it, no need for an All REgion Player.
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Why would people be buzzing about a film that is around ten years old?
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http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y01Y6681295Y9874672/qid=1046786654/sr=1-2/002-2821644-3111243
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Funny how you list all those directors last names first appropiately but when you got to Zhang Yimou you put Yimou first. Get your facts straight Harry!
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http://www.asiandiscs.com
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This film will be shown in the Lincoln Center New Directors New Films festival here in New York City. There will be two showing - March 27 (6:00pm) and 28 (9:00pm. Get your tickets. It is truly an awesome flick.
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...Is not the same as the infamous Hong Kong Anthony Wong. The Matrix Wong is a young Asian-American fellow.
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... for a country that's communist - and we were all led to believe how stiffiling and spirit crushing that's supposed to be - they sure are creative in China. Ya, ya - Hong Kong itsn't like mainland China and all that -, but seriously - do you ever think about that? Movies here these days just seem like so much propoganda it's stunning. Now all us geeked out film nuts are looking to "the commies" for entertainment of quality and value. In our own backyard we can choose between commercials for toys, right or left wing propoganda, and remakes of communist films. I think I'll read a book tonight.
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Infernal Affairs is okay. Nothing compared to Milkyway in their prime, before they started cranking out romantic comedies. The Mission and The Longest Nite are awesome. Those are films that should be seen a real big screen. Too bad all the first run Hong Kong theatres are closed down in the US now. :(
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Harry, Wanna hear something HILARIOUS!? 3 months ago, my surgeon told me I have 2-3 years to live...I have severe deteriorating scoliosis which will cause my upper torsoe to virtually cave in on itself until I have congestive heart failure and die. Now, WHY AM I TELLING YOU THIS????? I LOVE MOVIES AND I LOVE FREEDOM. I'm sick of people like you and, frankly, don't have time to argue with people the likes of you. I am tired of being banned (5 times ao far) from your website for saying things that do nothing more than criticize you humorously. I use to love this site because of you all being so anti-establishment/big-studio. But now, your CONSTANT CENSORSHIP OF FREE SPEECH MAKES ME SICK... Harry, prove to me you dont do this unnecessarily... I will keep opening new accounts and posting this message until you address this issue. I am not the only person you do this to.
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One of my favorite mob movies, from any country. The dvd is all-region, and the shitty transfer should not stop any o' you geeks from seeking it out! HK discs are cheap, anyhow.
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There's a scene towards the end of the movie where one of the cops is thrown off a roof onto a taxi - that's my street!!
Well, I thought it was cool.
PS - can get you DVD for us$20 and lots of others - marshy00@hotmail.com
I know I keep whoring this but, what the hell!! -
I haven't been a talk back for ages but have to put my two pennies worth in for Infernal Affairs. I was in Malaysia over the New Year and it was just released over there but due to family things couldn't get to see it - then managed to get a bad copy but had to watch/read it in my bad cantonese and malay! Finally back in London and got a DVD from www.cd-wow.com, this film is just incredible, I watched it rivetted to my arm chair. Tony Leung is always great - everyone needs to catch him in Hero - and Andy Lau just gets better. I'm lending my DVD to everyone so they can see how good HK cinema is at the moment!
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To the extent that the film has any worldview at all, it is Buddhist. (Maybe.) It's a fairly apolitical police thriller.
Now, in Mainland China, it WAS released with an incredbily hokey, tacked-on 'alternate ending,' because the HK version portrayed the law as fallible and depicted a criminal getting away with it. I imagine that, subpar as the Hollywood remake may be, they will stick with the original ending.=p -
This movie wasn't that good, only the best of the crap that has been coming out of HK for a while now.
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It's fine to have a contrary opinion, but at least see the film before you form one. This film is not an action film at all. There's only one scene that you could call a shootout that I remember, and it is a very brief and relatively tame affair, totally integrated into the story. But that's basically it. There are no car chases, no real gunplay, no fights, nothing. This is a drama, not an action film, but being a police/triad film there are some bursts of violence here and there. But certainly not action. And there's nothing "eighties" about this film. Infernal Affairs is a morally ambiguous movie and a fairly challenging film that ends on a devastatingly emotionally pure note. Not a happy ending, but not a pull-the-heartstrings sad one, either - just a PERFECT, haunting ending... It's awesome. If anything, this feels more like a SEVENTIES American film - films like Chinatown. Filled with characters that are filled with grey - no absolutes, no black and white, no easy answers. There are simply not mainstream American films being made that are anything like this film now. The fact that'd you'd automatically dismiss this film because it comes from another country is simply absurd. Should a Hong Kong guy not watch Seven or Chinatown because he saw Metro or Double Jeopardy? Come on...
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Mar 07, 2003 4:06:09 PM CST
Delete Cecil B.'s post please - no dirty pirates should have a p
by dagan
On a film-lovers website, no less... It amazes me that people can be so ignorant as to think that piracy will not destroy the very industry they profess to love... It destroyed Hong Kong films to the point where Infernal Affairs, a different and exciting film, is looked at as "saving" the industry - an industry that made dozens of films of this calibur on one level or another every year before piracy all but wiped it out. The same will happen to films everywhere now that fast download speeds and DVD burners are commonplace, unfortunately - unless we beat the dirty pirates back into their holes whenever they chose to rear their ugly, ignorant little heads.
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My first time giving comments here, Harry ... as a fan of Hong Kong films. Glad you notice the great "Infernal Affairs" that has three different endings. I really love the one I saw here in Jakarta. Not gonna tell anybody here what's that, but it's very cool, heartbreaking, and ... damn! I'm speechless. I am never a fan of Andy Lau because he's sort of boring. The last good performance he delivered was in "Xin Shanghai Tan" 1996 ... which looks like "Gangs of New York" only better. Much better.
Okay ... on "Infernal Affairs", Harry ... did you spot the Christopher Doyle in the credit role as the Visual Advisor? Not to mention Danny Pang - one of the Pang Brothers that gave us "Bangkok Dangerous" and "The Eye" - as the editor? This film is surely supported by those who know what they're doing!
Another thing that I feel need to add is the casting! What a cast! Okay ... here we have two GODS of Hong Kong cinema ... Andy Lau for popularity's sake, and Tony Leung for great acting's sake. Then ... we have Anthony Wong here plays as the good guy (while we can say he's spent most of the times of his life as the bad guy on screen) ... while funny-faced Eric Tsang as the mobster. This strengthens the concept of the movie: good vs. evil, but you can't tell which one is good, and which one is evil.
And don't forget ... the casting director (whoever he/she is!) also put Canadian-born-Chinese Edison Chan as the young Andy Lau, also Shawn Yue as the young Tony Leung. Alas ... we know that with a little touch of make-up magic we can see Lau twenty years younger ... as well as Leung. But ... I really think that director Andrew Lau wants to coronate both Edison Chan and Shawn Yue as the next big things in Hong Kong. Man ...... they are really cool and talented.
And then the color of the movie! What a tone. What a gripping look and feel ... all the way. Geeez ... the feel of roughness ... it's so dark.
One last thing: Kelly Chen (as Tony Leung's shrink) is ... HOT! -
this is a test
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it's kind of a simple premise but it's so well carried out, you can't believe it hasn't been done a million times. Utterly brilliant, beautifully shot, really well acted.
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