Infernal Affairs (Wu jian dao)

I actually watched the Departed [countless times] not even knowing it was based off this masterpiece. When I found out I immediately got it and I am upset at myself for having not seen it sooner! The inspiration taken from this movie by Scorsese is quite obvious, but it was nice to see I wasn't simply watching The Departed all over again. It shows the skills of both directors and writers that they have similar story-lines, but very apparent differences that make each film their own. The movie doesn't slow down and keeps the viewer hooked, especially if you're a The Departed fan.Which do I like better? Hard to say. I will say that Infernal Affairs sits with me a lot longer than The Departed. The Departed I can talk about for a long time, but right after watching it I can move onto the next thing. Everytime I watch IA I sort of just sit around and think about everything in the film.Go see this movie!

Infernal Affairs is a Hong Kong classic crime drama. It features Eric Tsang as a crime lord who placed one of his men played by Andy Lau to be a spy within the police force. His counter is Tony Leung who is a cop who’s placed undercover within Tsang’s gang. The great twist in the story is that the two are hunting each other.Leung is great in his role. He is sick of his job as he’s been working his role for 10 years and feels like he’ll never get out. You can see the toll it’s taken on his face.The story is very well written with a lot of tense moments and only gets more so as the movie progresses. The ending is great. This is really one of the best films in the genre.

The movie is fantastic, the subtitles are awful. I first saw this movie in Hong Kong and have owned various vcd and dvd versions over the years, the English subtitles either miss entire sections of dialogue, or are poorly translated. Also, it seems they passed some sort of darker filter in this version which makes things harder to see.

I speak Cantonese and the English subtitle is really bad, I can’t believe I spent money on this.

I saw the Departed first, and they copied everything from Infernal Affairs, so I felt like I was watching the same movie twice. The main character lost his identity of being an undercover cop, because his file was deleted. He could have retained his identity if he would've just stayed in the office when he discovered the mole in the police force, so it was kind of unnecessary. Anyways, the police unit mole was never brought to justice. He managed to free himself from the mob boss and any consequences.

Film is identical to the Hong Kong release, in cut and quality of transfer, but with "improved" subtitles.This isn't an action film (though it doesn't lack for action). It is a tense psychological thriller with complex characters. If one engages with the characters and stories, it will move you emotionally (surprisingly so, as concerns Andy Lau's character: a bad guy who is looking for a way out, a way to be a good guy).And Tony Leung Chiu Wai can do no wrong.Beautiful film, beautiful performances. And appreciate Anthony Wong, perfect as the police commissioner.

This film is the original Hong Kong film which has become a classic in not only Asian cinema, but also crime suspense thrillers as well. Most of you already know that the story of undercover gangsters and cops infiltrating each other was magnificently written that Martin Scorsese optioned the rights and remade the an American version called The Departed starring Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Leonardo DiCaprio. While the remake is very good on it's own, anyone who has seen this original version will tell you this original still stands head and shoulders above Scorsese's excellent remake. Infernal Affairs is more suspenseful, tighter, and packs a much greater emotional wallop thanks to the excellent acting of Tony Leung Chiu Wai as the undercover cop suffering from a long and extremely dangerous assignment as the number 2 in the Triad group (very reminiscent of his equally strong performance in a nearly identical role in John Woo's Hardboiled). The handling of the OCTB Chief who is the only one who knows Leung's true identity as an undercover cop is equally handled with finesse and drama by Hong Kong veteran Anthony Wong. His nemesis, the Triad leader played expertly by Eric Tsang is equally amazing to watch. The heat between Wong and Tsang is beautifully generated in a scene at the police station and is unrivaled by any of the scenes in the Departed by the parallel American actors Martin Sheen and Jack Nicholson. For anyone who has seen and enjoyed The Departed, or just anyone who enjoys a crackerjack crime suspense thriller, this film is an absolute must see.

Watched this for an English Compare & Contrast speech--with The Departed, which is based on this movie. Even though it has sub-titles, it was a great movie. Nice to see the differences between the 2 movies.

Not my usual cup of tea, this is the original and best of the `Infernal Affairs' series of films and is also far better, in my opinion, than the slower and overblown Scorsese Hollywood remake, `The Departed'.Those who find it difficult to cope with subtitles have no excuse to watch this film as there is an English audio option, although you will admittedly lose the nuances of the original language's expression. And do you really want to hear Anthony Wong speak with an American accent?If you don't know the story by now, it's an ingenious Hong Kong crime thriller with a twist - the police have a mile undercover in a criminal gang; the gang leader has a mole undercover in the police. Both moles are trying to find out who is the other. The title of the movie is a play on both the police's Department of Internal Affairs and the infernal affairs of hell. It is important that you pay attention when the mugshots are taken early on in the film for here the two young men morph into the older men played by the luscious Andy Lau and the charming Tony Leung.This movie repays repeated viewing. The acting is utterly convincing, the direction is superb and the soundtrack is good too. And on top of these, there is the clever screenplay that makes the movie even more special, taking it above and beyond the usual run-of-the-mill crime thrillers. As the co-writer says in one of the extras, the script had to be "within reason but beyond expectation". However, the story is not watertight leading to a small number of queries such as why did Tony Leung's character leave after discovering that Andy Lau is the mole rather than play along with the charade and trap him. (By leaving, Lau knows that Leung knows.)The extras include a fifteen-minute behind-the-scenes featurette; a six-minute glimpse at filming in action; out-takes; and an alternative ending for the moral high ground of the Chinese Mainland! There is also a commentary but this is unfortunately in Cantonese with English subtitles.

Infernal Affairs revitalised the ailing crime thriller in Hong Kong, and the American remake looks to do the same for the American crime thriller. This is down to, not set-pieces, gratuitous sex or violence, or ridiculous overblown budgets, but very well drawn characters that earn our sympathy, even the 'bad guy' characters and also an incredibly well-written, twisting and consistently exciting story.Some of Hong Kong's finest stars and character actors are present in this film and convincingly display why they are so highly regarded. Tony Leung, Andy Lau and Anthony Wong in particular display why they are so in demand in such continually highly-praised pieces.The story itself is ingenius and continually piles on the suspense and every now and then an absolute corkscrew of a twist. The fear you feel from each of the characters and their paranoia of constantly being discovered truly concinces you that they are treading life on a knife edge. What is also surprising is the relative lack of violence in the film. Suspense and thrills are generated through knife-edge tension and not hails of bullets. What this film aspired to be was an intelligent an thoughtful thriller, and it succeeds stunningly. Moreover, at just 100 minutes, it is also a lean thriller with no spare meat.I cannot reccomend this film highly enough. And much as I despise remakes, the proposed Martin Scorsese one does intrigue me. With a director like Scorsese at the helm and actors of the calibre of Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon involved...maybe the new sanitised American version will be just as good. But then again, the film is also going to star Mark Wahlberg...

The Original Classic Film that was remade as The Departed. That everyone knows by now. This trilogy is now legendary and having it in a Blu-ray set is really super for collectors. I do recommend it.

I wanted to see this having seen (and loved) The Departed that is based on this. As usual, there are aspects in which each version outshines the other, but if you've also seen and liked either then I can almost guarantee that you'll like the other.Infernal Affairs is a little less gentle on the viewer in the storyline setup, and it's a bit difficult to work out what's going on at first, but if you stick with it it's a very rewarding film, and much grittier than The Departed. The only duff note in the film for me was the love interest element (even though Cecilia Cheung is breathtakingly lovely), which seems to come out of nowhere here, but seems quite natural in The Departed.In summary: Gripping drama, well worth seeing.

A movie like this can only be described one way, perfect. A story smarter than The usual Suspects, and visual style in the league of such films as Heat and Goodfellas. This is a film that has made new actors stars and current stars legends.This film marked a major change in Hong Kong Cinema Which for the last few years had been churning out lame comedies and action movies that were poor at best. When infernal affairs came out it was at the end of a very bad year for Hong Kong Cinema, it broke box office records beating off films like Harry potter and Spiderman. As you can guess it was the kick start their industry needed, the two sequels proved just as popular.The movie is about two characters - Ming the triad mole who has become an inspector in the police, played brilliantly by Andy Lau. And Yan an undercover police officer in the mob, played by Tony Leung in a near career high. - And the parallels and moral obstacles in their lives.The supporting cast includes stars such as Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang along with rising talents Shawn Yue, Edison Chen and Chapman To.This is not only an important Hong Kong film but internationally also, it has influenced many recent films namely American remake The Departed by Martin Scorsese, I highly recommend this to all movie lovers.