Infernal affairs
Update
As a reader of this review pointed out, this film is now being shown on Star Movies
As the year MMIV draws to a close, just wanted to wrap up my last review of the year. It has been a couple of weeks in the making, so bear with me. And before my partial amnesia acts up, wish you a Happy New year.
A colleague from Hong Kong suggested I look up this film, ’’Infernal Affairs’’. Made last year, this film was one of the biggest critical and commercial successes in Hong Kong and the Far East. What is the USP? This is a fabulous thriller, with gripping suspense and brilliant performances by the cast overall. What is also appealing is the very inventive and thrilling story and screenplay, which has drawn ace director Martin Scorcese(Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, The Aviator) to remake this film with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Rest assured, with a golden plot like this, one can be sure that Bollywood would only be quick to follow.
The Plot
With whom does one’s loyalty really lie? Infernal Affairs is about contrasting personalities, one Yan(Tony Leung, also in ’’The Hero’’) and the other Ming(Andy Lau). Yan is ejected from the Hong Kong police force as a cadet and works undercover as a police mole. He has risen in ranks in the Hong Kong Mob called the Triads. Around the same time, the mob plants Ming, as a mob informant working for the police.
Ten years pass and both rise in their organizations while providing their original organizations crucial information. While working on a Drug bust operation the police meets with failure to capture the Drug lord Sam(played well by Eric Tsang).
Now both the police and the Drug lord come to know that there is an informant on each side. Now only the Police Chief Superintendent Wong knows of the identity of Yan. So he conducts an investigation to find the mob mole within the department, but unwisely chooses the mole i.e. Ming to help him. But wisely he asks Yan to find out the identity of the mole by following Drug Lord Sam. This leads to a race against time for both Yan and Ming. Who will be caught first?
My Take
This is an awesome thriller set in the backdrop of Hong Kong’s crime scene. The moves and counter-moves by the Police and the Underworld Drug cartel and the technical wizardry used by the 2 sides to communicate within seconds, are gripping. But the key pieces are the two main characters Ming and Yan. Having been undercover for 10 years, Yan feels the pressure to quit and get back to normal life. He is under psychological stress and begs the Superintendent Wong to relieve him of his post. Ming on the other hand, despite working with for the mob, enjoys normal civilian life as a policeman with his wife who is a writer. In a clever side track, Ming’s wife writes a book about a man with multiple personalities, with some mirroring Ming and asks his guidance in finishing the book.
Yan, played by Tony Leung has the meatier role as the undercover cop working for the mob who is always under stress and needs to be secretive in his communications with the police without being caught. He also needs to find out the mob-mole in the police before the mob finds out his identity and makes him sleep with the fishes.
The scene where the Sting operation on the Drug Cartel takes place is amazingly well edited and ingeniously thought out. The way both the police and the Drug lord Sam are informed of their moves and make their counter-moves is simply phenomenal.
The main protagonists Yan and Ming themselves have little interaction until the latter half of the film, in an obvious directorial touch to build up the tension. All this leads to a heady climax, which I will not reveal.
Ming playing the grey role in the film, shows pangs of remorse and is caught between the two sides and is made to choose his loyalty. Andy Lau, who’s also in the critically acclaimed The House of Flying Daggers, excels in the role of Ming.
I strongly recommend you to check this out on DVD/Video or if its on cable watch it.
The screenplay really gives the opportunity to focus on the key facets of the 2 characters life. If you have been living a life for 10 years, given that most of it is a lie, what do you identify yourself with?
Website:
https://miramax.com/infernalaffairs/
Final Words
This film is deeply satisfying, primarily because it holds true to its genre, secondly it does so without insulting the viewers intelligence. The screenplay and dialogues are excellently written to make sure that its impossible to guess whats going to happen next and keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat.
As usual brickbats and bouquets in the Comments Section.