Infernal Affairs ( Mou Gaan Dou) is less the two-fisted gun play found in most Hong Kong action films and more of an American style cat-and-mouse police drama with emphasis on the struggle of loyalty, trust, and the corruption of a moral center, all wrapped in an ingenious plot that is at once preposterous and fascinating. Yan (Tony Leung) works for the dangerous criminal gangster Sam (Eric Tsang) but is actually an undercover police officer who reports back to his superior in the police force, SP Wong (Anthony Wong). Meanwhile, Ming (Andy Lau, in an understated and engaging performance) works as a detective in the police force, under SP Wong, but is really an undercover gangster who reports back to Sam. This dizzying Alias-style plot is exacerbated when Yan and Ming are assigned the task of eliminating the mole in their respective unit, even though each one knows that they are literally looking for themselves. Having both been undercover for so long, it’s hard for each person to remember which side they work on and whether or not they can give up their present life and go back to the old one. As one person says in the film, “are you the good guy or the bad guy?” This psychological underpinning is the reason why Infernal Affairs is better than most American style cop thrillers. The main problem (besides the horrible title) lies with a certain stylistic flourish that often panders to the audience in a lazy attempt at extracting character development and empathy. The use of derivative character flashbacks during key moments in the action, all with cheesy string violins on the soundtrack, adds nothing to our emotional understanding of the character and hints that directors Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak don’t trust their audience or their characters enough to stop tampering with them. Another misstep that involves the handling of exposition occurs with Ming’s wife Mary, a struggling writer working on a new novel, who doesn’t know if her character is a bad guy or a good guy. Hey, that’s the same problem her husband has. Oh, the irony! Even with these unfortunate blunders keeping Infernal Affairs from greatness, it still is a highly entertaining and surprisingly effective police thriller. Its opening setup is a great achievement in editing and story delivery, and the choice of having Yan and SP Wong use Morse code as a means of passing information is brilliant in its design and visual possibilities. Definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of Hong Kong cinema or if you like your cop dramas with a little substance, but if you’re intrigued with the setup and can’t stand reading subtitles you can rest easy knowing that Martin Scorsese is currently filming a remake with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio called The Departed, coming in late 2006.
Richard Saad
© Cinephile Magazine, 2006