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Infernal Affairs (2002)
Perhaps my most delayed review, as i've been into this movie for quite a while now. If anyone needs a starting point in Hong Kong cinema, then this is it. It's a fine example of a film that's neither comedy or martial arts, genres which most people associate with HK.
The plot is painfully simple when you think about it, a police mole in the Triads (Tony Leung) and a Triad mole in the police (Andy Lau), each trying to find out who the mole is. With this narrative it excells, a favourite scene is when the Leung follows Lau out the cinema- Lau knows he's being followed by the mole, and Leung knows he's following Lau however neither can look each in the eye lest reveal thier identity, pretty tense, and intelligent, something lacking in many Hollywood films. Both play the opposing side for a while, but when Leung's police boss is killed, he's really on his own, especially as the cop to bring him is Lau. Tony Leung simply excells in his role and it furthers my opinion that he's one of the best actors around. Lau is also suitable scheming and evil, and when his fake world starts to crumble he manages to convey many emotions and create a fantastic conflicting view of his character. A bonus on top of these perfomances is brilliant support from the character's superiors, both are friendly yet coniving, supportive yet aggressive.
Ok, so the story is invigorating and the perfomance's are perfect but the cinematography is also beautiful. Any fans of Wong Kar Wai, will be interested and delighted to know of Christopher Doyle's input. The climax atop a skysraper is moody and charming and is the perfect end to this tale. I won't spoil the twist but it's avoids the Hollywood cliche of a glorified shoot out and totally rocks.
It's hard to find fault in this film, it borrows a rather Western approach and does have a similar feel to Micheal Mann's Heat, although is just as good in it's own right. The eternal conflict the characters suffer from leading split lifestyles is played just right, there's no overly dramatic scenes, the perfomances tell enough. One mild criticism is the echoes of John Woo's Hard Boiled, where Leung is in an almost identical role but its too minor to worry about. There a a few leads to the following additions to the series (a brief note on them later) which seem a bit out of place.
Overall, I thought it was a wonderfully crafted, tense, intelligent and most importantly exciting film. Must see!
10/10
In regards to the remake, my main worry is the choice of actors, as good as they maybe, will be hard to top Leung and Lau. In other remakes, the original performances have been mainly adequate hence, change didnt matter as much. And the film doesnt recquire much cultural capital so its appeal extends to most, imo. I hope Scorsese has just used Infernal Affairs' concept as a spring board for The Departed and doesn't make a carbon copy.
As mentioned, here's a brief note on the prequel/sequels. Infernal Affairs 2 provides some interesting background on characters despite the rather to eager to confuse plot like the intelligent original, or maybe it was just me. Both 2 and 3 use the original cast (Lau and Leung), though not to the best effect. It serves mainly as linking background to the 1st and for star appeal. The 3rd concludes the series with SPOILER:
Lau's takedown. Although the climax was good, and Lau played the part perfectly again, I feel there was too much added to 3 and it tried to avoid falling into the rather irrelevant nature of 2 by creating a bigger story, which perhaps would work on it's own but didn't gel that well into the grander narrative.
Infernal Affairs 2: 6/10
Infernal Affairs 3: 5/10
Perhaps my most delayed review, as i've been into this movie for quite a while now. If anyone needs a starting point in Hong Kong cinema, then this is it. It's a fine example of a film that's neither comedy or martial arts, genres which most people associate with HK.
The plot is painfully simple when you think about it, a police mole in the Triads (Tony Leung) and a Triad mole in the police (Andy Lau), each trying to find out who the mole is. With this narrative it excells, a favourite scene is when the Leung follows Lau out the cinema- Lau knows he's being followed by the mole, and Leung knows he's following Lau however neither can look each in the eye lest reveal thier identity, pretty tense, and intelligent, something lacking in many Hollywood films. Both play the opposing side for a while, but when Leung's police boss is killed, he's really on his own, especially as the cop to bring him is Lau. Tony Leung simply excells in his role and it furthers my opinion that he's one of the best actors around. Lau is also suitable scheming and evil, and when his fake world starts to crumble he manages to convey many emotions and create a fantastic conflicting view of his character. A bonus on top of these perfomances is brilliant support from the character's superiors, both are friendly yet coniving, supportive yet aggressive.
Ok, so the story is invigorating and the perfomance's are perfect but the cinematography is also beautiful. Any fans of Wong Kar Wai, will be interested and delighted to know of Christopher Doyle's input. The climax atop a skysraper is moody and charming and is the perfect end to this tale. I won't spoil the twist but it's avoids the Hollywood cliche of a glorified shoot out and totally rocks.
It's hard to find fault in this film, it borrows a rather Western approach and does have a similar feel to Micheal Mann's Heat, although is just as good in it's own right. The eternal conflict the characters suffer from leading split lifestyles is played just right, there's no overly dramatic scenes, the perfomances tell enough. One mild criticism is the echoes of John Woo's Hard Boiled, where Leung is in an almost identical role but its too minor to worry about. There a a few leads to the following additions to the series (a brief note on them later) which seem a bit out of place.
Overall, I thought it was a wonderfully crafted, tense, intelligent and most importantly exciting film. Must see!
10/10
In regards to the remake, my main worry is the choice of actors, as good as they maybe, will be hard to top Leung and Lau. In other remakes, the original performances have been mainly adequate hence, change didnt matter as much. And the film doesnt recquire much cultural capital so its appeal extends to most, imo. I hope Scorsese has just used Infernal Affairs' concept as a spring board for The Departed and doesn't make a carbon copy.
As mentioned, here's a brief note on the prequel/sequels. Infernal Affairs 2 provides some interesting background on characters despite the rather to eager to confuse plot like the intelligent original, or maybe it was just me. Both 2 and 3 use the original cast (Lau and Leung), though not to the best effect. It serves mainly as linking background to the 1st and for star appeal. The 3rd concludes the series with SPOILER:
Lau's takedown. Although the climax was good, and Lau played the part perfectly again, I feel there was too much added to 3 and it tried to avoid falling into the rather irrelevant nature of 2 by creating a bigger story, which perhaps would work on it's own but didn't gel that well into the grander narrative.
Infernal Affairs 2: 6/10
Infernal Affairs 3: 5/10