A 4K remaster of the Infernal Affairs trilogy was released on 12 December 2022, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Infernal Affairs.[citation needed]
Plot
Hon Sam, a Hong Kong triad boss, sends Lau Kin-ming, a young gangster, to the police academy to become his mole in the Hong Kong Police Force. Around the same time, cadet Chan Wing-yan is ostensibly expelled from the police academy, but is actually selected to be an undercover cop reporting only to Superintendent Wong Chi-shing, who sends him to infiltrate Hon's triad. Over the next ten years, Chan is under great stress due to his questionable actions working undercover. Meanwhile, Lau quickly rises through the ranks, becoming a Senior Inspector.
After successfully infiltrating the triad, Chan informs Wong of a transaction between Hon and some Thai cocaine dealers, which Wong's team interrupts. However, Lau alerts Hon, giving him enough time to get his henchmen to dispose of the evidence. After this incident, Wong and Hon realise they each have a spy within their own organisations, and race each other to uncover the moles. By this time, both Chan and Lau are struggling with their double lives. Chan is afraid he is turning into an actual criminal while also fearing his cover will be blown; he begins undergoing sessions with psychiatrist Lee Sum-yee and jokingly tells her that he is a cop. Meanwhile, Lau appreciates his life as a respected police officer and wants to sever his ties with the triad.
Lau is tasked by Hon to identify the cop who infiltrated the triad; coincidentally, he is also assigned by the HKPF to lead the mission to uncover the triad's mole within their ranks. He uses his new role to have Wong surveilled, hoping to catch him meeting his mole. Wong meets Chan on a rooftop to discuss Hon's next drug shipment as well as Chan's fear of being uncovered. Hon learns about Wong's location from Lau and sends his henchmen to confront them. Chan escapes from the building while Wong tries to distract the gangsters but ends up being thrown off the roof to his death. Just then, the police show up and a shootout ensues. Henchman Keung, unaware that Chan is the mole, chauffeurs him away from the scene but succumbs to a gunshot wound he sustained earlier. When the news reports that Keung was apparently an undercover cop, Hon assumes he was the mole. Using Wong's phone, Lau contacts Chan and convinces him to collaborate in taking Hon down. The police successfully foils Hon's subsequent drug deal and arrests his henchmen. Lau then betrays Hon and kills him.
Everything seems to have fallen into place—Chan can revert to his true identity as a cop while Lau has erased his criminal connections. At police headquarters, Chan and Lau meet for the first time. As Lau prepares to reinstate Chan into the police force, Chan deduces that Lau was the mole and leaves promptly. Realising what had happened, Lau takes possession of Chan's police identity file to use as leverage to dissuade Chan from exposing him. Chan meets with Lee, the only person left whom he can trust, and convinces her that he truly is a cop. Chan then sends a CD to Lau's address containing a recording of Lau's earlier meeting with Hon. Lau's fiancée, Mary, inadvertently listens to the CD and discovers Lau's secret. Chan arranges to meet with Lau on the same rooftop where Wong was killed. There, he disarms Lau and points a pistol to his head. Lau states calmly that he wants to start over as a good person, but Chan rejects his plea to help him conceal his criminal past. Inspector "Big B" arrives and points his gun at Chan, ordering him to release Lau. Chan holds Lau hostage at gunpoint and backs into a lift, but is shot in the head by Big B. Big B then reveals to Lau that he is also a mole planted by Hon, and assures Lau of his loyalty. When they ride the lift down to the ground floor, Lau kills Big B.
Six months later, Lee discovers records of Chan's identity as an undercover cop and he is buried with honours beside Wong. Lau salutes Chan at his funeral. Meanwhile, the internal affairs case is closed after they conclude that Big B was the mole in the police force. A flashback shows the day that Chan was ostensibly expelled from the police academy, with Lau looking back with guilt and wishing he was the one expelled instead.
Alternate ending
An alternate ending for the film was shot in order to comply with Article 25 (7) of the Chinese Film Administration Regulations specifying that films cannot propagate obscenity, gambling or violence, or abet to commit crimes.[5] In the original Hong Kong ending, Lau concealed his true identity as a triad spy and identified himself as a police officer to avoid punishment. Therefore, the original ending was deemed to promote criminal activity and injustice, and an alternate ending was filmed to make the film suitable for mainland China. In the alternate ending, Inspector Cheung discovers evidence of Lau's criminal activity and immediately arrests him when he gets off the lift. This alternate ending was shown in mainland China and Malaysia.[6]
Cast
Andy Lau as Senior Inspector Lau Kin-ming (劉健明), Hon's mole in the Hong Kong Police Force.
Hui Kam-fung as Officer Yip (葉Sir), Chan's cadet school principal
Production
Writing
Writer Alan Mak had long wanted to write a story about police and gangsters. The script of Infernal Affairs was inspired by John Woo's Face/Off (1997) but Mak knew that its science fiction elements were too implausible in reality, so he focused on the exchange of identity and psychology between the two leads[7] as its themes. In the process of Mak's creation, his good friend Felix Chong also encouraged and supported him. The script, written by Mak and revised by Chong, took three years to complete.[8]
The dialogue in the famous rooftop showdown was created on the spot by Felix Chong and Tony Leung, with Chong playing Andy Lau's part. The script originally included a typical shootout in the third act, but Leung insisted on turning it into a dialogue scene.
Gordon Lam did not receive the full script and did not know his character was also a triad mole until the final scene.[7][9]
Investment
The script for Infernal Affairs originally belonged to Andy Lau's Teamwork Motion Pictures, but due to the company's entanglement in a lawsuit at the time, it was unable to produce the film.[10] In addition, the creative team could not find investors because other studios at the time thought that an undercover film wasn't novel enough to make money. Eventually, Andrew Lau made a hopeless bid and showed the script to John Chong at Media Asia Entertainment Group. To his surprise Chong and company chairman Peter Lam saw potential in the story. Lam proceeded to invest HK $20 million in the film, under the condition that Andy Lau will star the film.
Themes
Postcolonial identity crisis in Hong Kong
In Infernal Affairs, the identity crisis suffered by both Chan and Lau as moles hint at the struggle of Hong Kong residents, who faced both the colonization by the British and the reunification with Mainland China. Specifically, under Deng Xiaoping's one country, two systems policy, the duplicity, unsettling, and uncertain nature of the future of Hong Kong residents is tightly echoed in Chan and Lau's character developments. Scholar Howard Y. F. Choy further claimed that "this postcolonial (re)turn is actually more a recolonization than a decolonization of the capitalist Cantonese city by the mainland Mandarin master."[6]
Buddhism
Infernal Affairs opens with Buddhist classic Nirvana Sutra Verse Nineteen, stating that "The worst of the Eight Hells is called Continuous Hell. It has the meaning of Continuous Suffering. Thus the name." The film also closes with another quote from Buddha, stating that "He who is in Continuous Hell never dies. Longevity is a big hardship in Continuous Hell." In Buddhism, Continuous Hell is also termed The Avici, where one can never reincarnate nor be relieved from guilt and suffering. This concept of timeless, placeless, and endless suffering especially applies to the character Lau throughout the trilogy, who infinitely bears the burden of self-betrayal (serves as a mole), loss of family and friendship, and unsettledness.[6]
Reception
Box office
Upon its premiere in Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs grossed $160,356 during the opening day (16–19 January). In total, the film grossed $7,035,649 during its run in Hong Kong theatres.[11] The film was then released across Asia, where it grossed a further $169,659 from theatre receipts. In 2016, South Korean theaters re-released the film, which went on to gross $128,026 across three weeks. The total lifetime gross of the film in Korea is $977,903.[12]
In total, worldwide, the film grossed $8,836,958 across release in both domestic markets and European theatres which displayed the film.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, Infernal Affairs has an approval rating of 94% based on reviews from 64 critics, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The consensus from the site reads as "Smart and engrossing, this is one of Hong Kong's better cop thrillers."[13] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100 based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was ranked as the 62nd Best Movie of 2004, 86th Most Discussed Movie of 2004, and the 95th Most Shared Movie of 2004.[14]
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a three-out-of-four star rating and described Infernal Affairs as offering "rare emotional depth." In his words, "The movie pays off in a kind of emotional complexity rarely seen in crime movies. I cannot reveal what happens but will urge you to consider the thoughts of two men who finally confront their own real identities—in the person of the other character."[15]New York Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell was so enraptured with the film that he stated that "Infernal Affairs is so beautifully shot that the images occasionally distract you from the condensed policier plot."[16]
Accolades
Infernal Affairs played an integral role in Andrew Lau's breakout films in entering the 21st century. Being the most critically acclaimed film of his to date, it was ranked No. 30 in Empire's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2019.[17]
Eventually, Infernal Affairs would spark the creation of two more films, with Infernal Affairs II getting 11 nominations and Infernal Affairs III getting 7 nominations during the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards, with Infernal Affairs II winning Best Original Film Song.
With star power, visual allure, and an engaging script, Infernal Affairs did very well critically and financially, spawned two sequels and a television series, and attracted the attention of Hollywood.[18]
In 2003, Brad Pitt's production companyPlan B Entertainment acquired the rights for a Hollywood remake, named The Departed, which was directed by Martin Scorsese, written by William Monahan, starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin, set in Boston, Massachusetts, and roughly based on the life of famed Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The Departed was released on 6 October 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures and won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Monahan, and Best Director for Scorsese. Andrew Lau, the co-director of Infernal Affairs, who was interviewed by Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, said: "Of course I think the version I made is better, but the Hollywood version is pretty good too. [Scorsese] made the Hollywood version more attuned to American culture." Andy Lau,[19] one of the main actors in Infernal Affairs, when asked how the movie compares to the original, said: "The Departed was too long and it felt as if Hollywood had combined all three Infernal Affairs movies together."[20] Lau pointed out that the remake featured some of the "golden quotes" of the original but did have much more swearing. He ultimately rated The Departed 8/10 and said that the Hollywood remake is worth a view, though according to Lau's spokeswoman Alice Tam, he felt that the combination of the two female characters into one in The Departed was not as good as the original storyline.[21]
Media Asia released a limited edition of eight-DVD set of the Infernal Affairs trilogy in an Ultimate Collectible Boxset (無間道終極珍藏DVD系列(8DVD套裝)) on 20 December 2004. Features included an online game and two Chinese novelisations of the film series by Lee Muk-Tung (李牧童), titled 無間道I+II小說 and 無間道III終極無間小說.
In 2009, a Korean remake City of Damnation, which was directed by Kim Dong-won was released on 22 January 2009. In 2009, a Telugu remake Homam, which directed and acted by JD Chakravarthy along with Jagapathi Babu was released and became a notable movie.[22][23] In 2012, Double Face (ダブルフェイス), a Japanese television remake starring Hidetoshi Nishijima was released by TBS and WOWOW.[24] The production aired in two parts: "Police Impersonation" on WOWOW and "Undercover" on TBS.
A TV series remake debuted in 2018 produced by Media Asia and former TVB producer Tommy Leung. The series, which is titled Infernal Affairs like the film, stars Gallen Lo, Damian Lau, Paul Chun, Lo Hoi-pang, Eric Tsang, Derek Kok, Dominic Lam, Toby Leung and Yuen Biao.[25] The story takes place years after the films' events, with some minor characters reprising their roles alongside a new cast. The TV series uses the same concept as the film, but with an entirely new story and characters, and the setting expanded beyond Hong Kong to include Thailand and Shenzhen. It stretched through three seasons with each season consisting of 12 episodes.[26]
Hindi remake is going to be a joint development between Warner Bros. India and Mumbai – based banner Azure and is set for a remake for a two-picture deal[27]
In popular culture
Lau, Tsang, and Jacky Cheung parodied the cinema scene to promote the Hong Kong Film Awards. Lau and Tsang, in their respective characters, go through the scene where they meet to gather info on the undercover cop amongst Hon Sam's gang. Lau Kin-ming asks Hon, "Why do we always meet in a cinema?", to which Hon answers, "It's quiet. No one comes to movies". Cheung comes out from the shadows behind them and says, "I don't know...quite a few people watch movies" and we see a slew of Hong Kong celebrities watching various clips of Hong Kong films on the screen. Originally Tony Leung was going to appear but scheduling conflicts led to the recasting.
In Taiwan SHODA (劉裕銘) and a secondary school student Blanka (布蘭卡) cut and rearranged the original film and inserted new sound tracks to produce their videos Infernal Affairs CD pro2 and Infernal Affairs iPod on the web. The videos had many views and both producers removed their videos after receiving cease and desist letters from the Group Power Workshop Limited (群體工作室), the Taiwan distributor of the film.[28]
The hi-fi shop scene was later recreated with additions of excerpts of the film to encourage businesses to join the Quality Tourism Services Scheme in Hong Kong.[29]
The success of the film inspired many genres, including an open-world video game from United Front Games titled Sleeping Dogs (or True Crime: Hong Kong before being canceled by Activision Blizzard in 2011),[30] with the protagonist of the story infiltrating the criminal underworld as an undercover cop.
Music and soundtrack
The original film score for Infernal Affairs was written and performed by Chan Kwong-wing.
Track listing
No.
Title
Artist(s)
Length
1.
"Entering The Inferno"
Chan Kwong-wing
2:06
2.
"If I Were Him"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:36
3.
"Goodbye Master"
Chan Kwong-wing
2:18
4.
"Who Are You?"
Chan Kwong-wing
2:44
5.
"Let Me Quit"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:32
6.
"I Dreamt About You"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:23
7.
"Salute"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:56
8.
"Mission Abort"
Chan Kwong-wing
4:31
9.
"I Am A Cop!"
Chan Kwong-wing
3:26
10.
"You Are The Only One"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:06
11.
"I Want To Be A Good Guy"
Chan Kwong-wing
3:30
12.
"Goodbye Master, Goodbye"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:56
13.
"The Inferno"
Chan Kwong-wing
1:51
The theme song, Infernal Affairs (無間道), was composed by Ronald Ng, lyrics provided by Albert Leung, and performed in Cantonese and Mandarin by Andy Lau and Tony Leung.
Although not included in the soundtrack album, Tsai Chin's song "Forgotten Times" (被遺忘的時光) features prominently in this film as a recurring element of its storyline, and also in its sequels.
^S. Xu (2017) "The Curious Case of Chinese Film Censorship: an Analysis of the Film Administration Regulations". School of Journalism and Communication and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon. 32-44.
^ abcH. Y. F. Choy (2007) "Schizophrenic Hong Kong: Postcolonial Identity Crisis in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy". Transtext(e)s Transcultures. 3: 52–66. https://doi.org/10.4000/transtexts.138
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