Infernal Affairs (2002) Movie Info
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | Infernal Affairs Trilogy (2002–2003) |
| Director | Andrew Lau, Alan Mak |
| Screenplay Writer | Alan Mak, Felix Chong |
| Based on Novel by | — (Original screenplay) |
| Lead Actors | Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anthony Wong |
| Cast | Andy Lau, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Kelly Chen, Sammi Cheng, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Leon Lai, Carina Lau |
| Genre | Crime, Thriller, Drama |
| Release Dates | Infernal Affairs (2002), Infernal Affairs II (2003), Infernal Affairs III (2003) |
| Duration | Part 1: 1h 41m (101 min) Part 2: 1h 59m (119 min) Part 3: 1h 58m (118 min) |
| Budget | Approx. $8–12 million (combined estimated) |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Box Office (Worldwide) | Approx. $55+ million (combined) |
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Short Summary
A cops and crime saga set in the seedy Hong Kong underworld.
Review
Just when I thought the whole undercover cop genre in Hong Kong movies was pretty much beaten into the ground, stomped down, set aflame, and then drenched in bilgewater, the Infernal Affairs series comes along to prove me wrong. These movies are a dramatic and intelligent meditation on the machinations of the Triads and the police, pointing out the hopelessness on both sides to great effect.
Tony (Hero) Leung plays Yan, a deep undercover cop. He’s about to finish his tenth year of doing dirty work he was plucked straight from police academy and was in the same class as Andy Lau’s Ming. Ming was inserted into the academy by a Triad boss wanting his own man on the inside and has just been promoted into Internal Affairs. Each works to the opposite purpose of the other and, of course, they eventually cross paths with an ending that I didn’t see coming, and I have watched at least three or four dozen examples of this sort of movie.
The sequels are worth noting for the unusual approach taken Infernal Affairs II flashes back to the decade before the first movie, showing Yan’s rise in the Triads and paralleling it with Ming’s working his way up the ladder in the police force. It only shows Leung and Lau in reference to the original and doesn’t rise above the generic material like the first movie did, but apparently it made enough to get Infernal Affairs III made.
The final part easily pulls up alongside the first in the race and may actually cross the finish line before it. It picks up six months after the end of the first movie and uses flashbacks beautifully to allow you to get a much better picture of both leads. Everything ties up neatly, if not in a completely happy Hollywood lovefest sort of way.
Of particular note in the three films are Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang, who hold their own as the characters’ respective mentors. Both are among my favorite “bit” actors in Hong Kong, so it was really nice to watch them chew on a script that played to their strengths.
The combination of fine actors, a series of well-crafted scripts, some lucious cinematography and smart direction easily places these movies among my favorite recent releases from Hong Kong.
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