tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159904968093513052.post330054090984751435..comments2023-10-09T12:20:20.261-05:00Comments on Kinematoscope: IMDB #246: Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou)A. Duncan Carsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02778450069277264055noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159904968093513052.post-26633319725575848532008-08-02T07:20:00.000-05:002008-08-02T07:20:00.000-05:00Not sure why I'm awake at 6am in the morning writi...Not sure why I'm awake at 6am in the morning writing this, but what the hey... I'll defend Infernal Affairs any time of the day.<BR/><BR/>Infernal Affairs is tons more deep and subliminal than Scorsese's adaptation. The shallowness / obviousness of The Departed is even mocked on the Simpsons.<BR/><BR/>The worst atrocity to come of Scorcese's adaptation is the ending. In the Departed, Mark Wahlberg comes back from nowhere and kills the bad mole (Matt Damon) effectively giving the movie a "fairy tell ending" where the good guys win. In Infernal Affairs, quite the opposite happens. The bad mole (Andy Lau) gets away with killing the good mole (Tony Leung) is exonerated from all wrong-doings and even promoted to chief of police. In other words, the bad guys win. The ending is tons more realistic than Walhberg stepping out from nowhere to deal the final hand of justice.<BR/><BR/>Infernal Affairs needs to be appreciated as a trilogy, because what Scorsese did was compress over 6 hours of screen time into a 2 hour movie. Granted the prequel and sequel of Infernal Affairs aren't very good movies on their own, the full picture is what's important. Judging Infernal Affairs on its own is difficult because it's like judging the theatrical release of LOTR: The Two Towers on its own when you know there is an extended edition as well as a prequel and sequel. It's just not fair.<BR/><BR/>My only beef with The Departed (on its own) is how much blatant plagiarism occurs. Beyond sharing the same backdrop, Scorsese STEALS ENTIRE LINES/SCENES from Infernal Affairs. If Scorsese made a mafia movie with a Don who keeps "making offers you can't refuse," threatening his enemies with severed horse heads, and then dies of a heart attack with an orange peel in his mouth, do you think he could work another day in Hollywood? No. Directors in the US are shamed to not plagiarize those immortal scenes/lines. But when it comes to plagiarizing from an Asian director (and we're not talking about on the level of Sturges adapting Kurosawa in The Magnificent Seven), Scorsese has no shame in copying over anything and everything.<BR/><BR/>On the bright side, The Departed's success has increased the awareness of Infernal Affairs and more importantly -- Tony Leung. The man speaks English fluently, and I hope more spotlight on Tony in the US will encourage him to make a movie in the US.Zhenqing Hehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08813827644550873749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2159904968093513052.post-12625739330549058912008-07-22T23:30:00.000-05:002008-07-22T23:30:00.000-05:00Ok, this is an absolutely terrible film. What's g...Ok, this is an absolutely terrible film. What's good about it is that it shows just how good a director Scorsese is, that he can take material that in lesser hands, such as this film's (hands), would be awful, and make a great film out of it. The direction in this is absolutely pants. Just compare the quality of the direction in individual scenes and the overall storytelling with "The Departed" and you'll see the difference between very good direction and very bad direction. I mean, just compare the scenes where the police surveil the mob's exchange and are alerted to this by their mole with the cops, or where the captain gets thrown off the roof, or particularly where Leung/DiCaprio get it in the end. The other good thing about this is that it also shows how great an actor Tony Leung is (if anyone hadn't already realized it); he's the best thing in it.Chiaroscuro Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12456118098013729243noreply@blogger.com