Criss-Crossing Criminals

Gangland intrigues, sketchy drug deals, and cat-and-mouse chases
may bring to mind some mafia film set amid the grimy streets of New
York. But those are actually the elements that make up Infernal
Affairs—one of the best movies to come out of Hong Kong
in the past decade. (It took Best Picture, Best Director, and Best
Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards.) Thanks to Alan Mak and Felix
Chong’s inventive script and co-directors Andrew Lau and Alan
Mak’s stylishly shot action sequences, the film is jam-packed
with suspense and fast-moving plot twists.

Starring in the movie are two of Hong Kong cinema’s
biggest headliners: Cantonese pop icon Andy Lau and Tony
Leung—better known to international audiences as the
brooding, romantic lead in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood For
Love and, most recently, as one of the assassins in Zhang
Yimou’s Hero. Here, Leung stars as Yan, a tortured soul
divided between two identities: his role as a police officer and
his obligation to remain a mole embedded within one of Hong
Kong’s notorious drug triads, where he’s been for the
past 10 years. His mirror image and exact foil is Ming (Andy Lau),
a triad member embedded in the Hong Kong Police Force for the past
decade, who has now risen to its top ranks. The only people who
know their true identities are their respective superiors, Triad
Bureau Inspector Wong (Anthony Wong) and the ruthless triad boss,
Sam (Eric Tsang).

In a gripping action sequence near the opening of the film, we
see Yan and Ming’s duplicitous intentions as each relays
codes and signals secretly to his boss during a major coke deal.
However, complications arise, and both parties realize they have an
enemy mole in their midst. A desperate chase ensues as each mole
tries to track down the other first—all without knowing the
other’s identity.

Viewers accustomed to run-of-the-mill Hong Kong cop films, be
warned: this is not your typical John Woo crime caper. Sure, there
are sporadic shootouts and the requisite bomb scenes, but by and
large, the action in Infernal Affairs is psychological.

The protagonists’ heroism lies in how they handle the
existential nature of their situation and the related questions of
identity and justice. Their bosses’ incessant demands and the
need to keep up appearances have taken their psychological toll on
both protagonists. Ming begins to question where his loyalty lies,
while Yan chafes under his false identity and demands to be freed
from the bonds of his triad life. Infernal Affairs, more
than a fast-paced film, requires keen intellectual engagement.

Visually, you can’t help but admire the way
cinematographers Andrew Lau and Lau Yiu Fai (with help from
Christopher Doyle, who’s shot numerous Wong Kar-wai films)
capture the gritty beauty of Hong Kong’s streets below the
glamorous yet emotionally void glass-and-steel skyscrapers.

The film was a huge success upon its release in Hong Kong two
years ago and has since spawned a prequel and a sequel. Both were
cash cows for the producers and totally unworthy of the Infernal
Affairs name—so don’t bother with them. And now
that Miramax is finally releasing the stellar first film in the
United States, rumor has it that Martin Scorsese has a big-budgeted
remake in the works, starring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio as
the heroes and set in Boston’s Irish mob land. But no matter
how that turns out, the original Infernal Affairs will remain hard
to match in pure artistic and psychological scope.��