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Infernal Affairs

Time to re-watch this 2002 Hong Kong thriller with Tony Leung and Andy Lau. I remember seeing this advertised on billboards in Osaka when I first got to Japan and thinking there was a spelling mistake in the Richard Gere film (from 1990 - why would it have taken 12 years to get to cinemas in Japan?). Another thing I recall is thinking that it was a peach of a film and holding that thought until now.

I wouldn't say it's diminished in the intervening years since first seeing it but there are some, shall we say, squeeze points that I hadn't noticed before. I'm trying not to spoil anything in this new format so I'll just say some of the characters are under-served. In a nutshell, this is an undercover cop/undercover gangster story whereby each is tasked with finding out the identity of the other. It's pretty high concept and well constructed at that. Coming in at a touch over 90 minutes, there's very little fat on the bones, too.

There are a couple of nail-biting moments, one or two surprises and the leads are engagingly watchable (Leung is especially hard to lay a glove on, cool mutha that he is). Infernal Affairs was box office gold, spawning 2 sequels and a Hollywood remake - The Departed - directed by Martin Scorsese. Incidentally, that might have been the best ever American remake until an unfortunate stumble at the end (less said, the better).

Infernal Affairs, and its sequels, are showing on Netflix. Highly recommended.

See also:

Lau and Leung have been in some proper belters so I'd suggest checking their back catalogue. In the meantime, try Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love (2000).

Listen to "Infernal Affairs" on Spreaker.

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