In this film, which would later be remade in the West as The Departed, two young men are forced to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with their identities and even very lives on stake. Because it turns out that one of them is an undercover cop infiltrating the triads, while the other is a mole in the police force reporting directly to a powerful crime boss.
As in The Departed, the setting and the central idea is truly fantastic here. The duality of these two men is quite fascinating. Both very similar in character, in skill and in conviction. They simply happened to start from different sides. And yet their paths are eerily similar. Both shoulder the burden of secrets they cannot reveal even to their loved ones. Both have crisis of identity, for ten years is a long time to live under pretense without it sometimes seeming like reality.
The film is also beautifully acted and shot with skill. Andy Lau as the mole and Tony Leung as the undercover cop are easily the best, but the supporting cast is also strong, though not quite all of them receive the screen time they perhaps would have deserved. Both love interests, for example, are barely in the film.
The only other gripe I have about the film is the fact the the plot lost me a couple of times. I always got back on track relatively quickly, but it still meant that I spent a minute or two wondering what had just happened. I've had this problem with Asian films before and it's a matter of style. They simply tell their stories a bit differently. So not really a flaw, but something to keep in mind.
Overall Infernal Affairs is a great crime film and I can see why they wanted to make The Departed after seeing it. Definitely worth a watch for all fans of the genre.
As in The Departed, the setting and the central idea is truly fantastic here. The duality of these two men is quite fascinating. Both very similar in character, in skill and in conviction. They simply happened to start from different sides. And yet their paths are eerily similar. Both shoulder the burden of secrets they cannot reveal even to their loved ones. Both have crisis of identity, for ten years is a long time to live under pretense without it sometimes seeming like reality.
The film is also beautifully acted and shot with skill. Andy Lau as the mole and Tony Leung as the undercover cop are easily the best, but the supporting cast is also strong, though not quite all of them receive the screen time they perhaps would have deserved. Both love interests, for example, are barely in the film.
The only other gripe I have about the film is the fact the the plot lost me a couple of times. I always got back on track relatively quickly, but it still meant that I spent a minute or two wondering what had just happened. I've had this problem with Asian films before and it's a matter of style. They simply tell their stories a bit differently. So not really a flaw, but something to keep in mind.
Overall Infernal Affairs is a great crime film and I can see why they wanted to make The Departed after seeing it. Definitely worth a watch for all fans of the genre.