Alicia I love this movie so much

Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

SquigglyCrunch Infernal Affairs follows the police department as they attempt to find the criminal mole in their midst while the opposing gang attempts to find the undercover mole in their group. If you ask me this is a pretty awesome concept. Neither side is able to get anywhere with the other because they're both constantly receiving information from the other. It's a conflict that can't end with either side winning until they take action specifically against their opposing moles. I'm not doing it justice, but it's pretty cool.Unfortunately, it doesn't handle it nearly as well as it could. The acting, for starters, is okay. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bland. It really depends. Most of the time it was pretty good, but it does falter enough for it to matter. The movie suffers from it's lack of ability to develop any of the characters or their relationships. Some of them have romantic relationships that are treated like a major part of the story, but they're so poorly written and unfocused that it makes it hard to really care about them. My biggest frustration with the movie is the editing. It's hilarious how dated it is. Multiple scenes end with a still frame while dialogue continues to play, followed by the screen fading to black. When did this movie come out? 2002? Yeah, it's a little late for that. Clearly someone didn't get the memo. Overall Infernal Affairs has an awesome concept that it couldn't quite pull off. The writing and characters aren't fleshed out enough, and the editing is hilariously dated. In the end I'd really only recommend this movie to a handful of people.

Nicole C Infernal Affairs is a film that has its roots in Hong Kong's historical and political background, and once this is understood, it adds many depths to the film. This play on double identity, and going undercover is related to how the people of Hong Kong struggle to find an identity as 'Hong Konger', as past colonial powers and the oppressive presence of China have large influences in hindering the formulation of their own identity.The acting is pretty great in this. Andy Lau has established himself as a very famous actor and singer. His acting is pretty good, but I kind of feel that his face gives off a pretty innocent and childlike aura. Tony Leung does a great job, and the film centralizes on him a little bit more I feel. We identify with him as he struggles to gain his identity back and the use of close ups of his facial expressions really convey his character's emotions. Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang also do a good job with their respective parts.The cinematography and editing are also pretty impressive. I really liked how they juxtaposed the younger versions of the two protagonists with their older selves at the end, that was cool. The many rooftop scenes are interesting as well, with fantastic shooting of the reflections in the skyscrapers.I also found the story to be very engaging. Of course undercover cops aren't anything new, but they aren't so common, plus there are two undercover characters and that makes the action twice as engaging. Also, since the film is heavily rooted in the country's background, that gives a local feel to it while still opening its doors to the international public. (It has been remade into a Hollywood film called, The Departed). Even though I have not watched the Hollywood remake, just by watching the trailer I know it will give off a totally different feel. I personally think the original will be better since then tension in this film is spot-on, while Hollywood just makes everything (mostly) into a swearing, bloody battle.My only critique is that the film jumps around sometimes from different timelines or in different spaces and that can be confusing. The story drifted a bit at times too, and there are instances in which events that occurred were questionable.Overall, an engaging film with great acting, cinematography and editing.Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

sharky_55 Andy Lau and Tony Leung are two giants in Asian cinema and they play opposites in this cop thriller which pits two moles against each other in a complex hierarchy of modern Hong Kong. They are extremely prolific actors because they are capable, which is disappointing because the direction doesn't always allow for them to emote and fully display the gravity of their situation. When Superintendent Wong's lifeless body hurtles down onto the streets, the score instantly turns sentimental and we are treated to black and white flashbacks of their previous scenes, of that connection to Chan's old life instantly severed. But we must be emotionally manipulated into feeling this. When Lau's girlfriend discusses her novel's main character's morality, the score again turns from the tense percussion of the earlier scenes to this soft sentimental piano piece. Her description of this character who is supposedly a good person but who does bad things is so painfully unsubtle that it takes away from this great script. There's an early scene that allows Lau and Leung to display their talent, one that is not in Scorsese's Departed. A simple occurrence of a man buying a stereo allows us to roughly gauge what sort of person Chan is, before revealing he in fact works for the mob. And that stereo of course returns with significantly more important implications. Many of the segments of the script were directly lifted for Departed, and that is an indication of their importance, and their effectiveness. The thematic narrative is just as effective in dreary and gritty Hong Kong as it is in the Irish Catholic underbelly of Boston. There's the drug deal that is monitored from both sides, the respective moles relaying information that is delicately balanced and edited. It's a tense scene which the score better services, a heavy percussion backing over this plucked riff that seems strangely Egyptian, but it works. The tragic climax is also pretty much the same; with the unveiling of the secondary rat in the police department and this execution from Lau to tie up all lose ends and maintain his cover. I am intrigued by one of Scorsese's additions in making the mob boss a corrupt informant himself. Eric Tsang plays the triad leader in Infernal Affairs, and is unfortunately miscast (as he is a primarily comedic actor), too short and too jovial to really be menacing, although the breaking of the cast was a great moment which also served as a red herring of sorts. When Lau executes his former boss here, it's the culmination of his continued undercover life and realising that perhaps this act will lead to a promotion and a more comfortable life henceforth. When Damon does so in Departed, it's because he discovers that the man he is working for is in turn crooked, and his entire life's work and philosophy collapses onto itself. Both work just as well, as do their respective fates, although Nicholson proves to be the difference. We feel saddened by the tragic end of Chan, and the various ways in which his identity breaks down bit by bit. There is a flashback again as he discovers that Lau is the mole, but this one is integral and provides us with even more tension. Infernal Affair's script is a great one, and an original one, even if it's direction and visualisation is not entirely subtle. I am reminded of some better scenes in the film which utilise secondary characters (that are not Lau's placeholder girlfriend) to reinforce those themes of identity, morality and agency (as well as those Buddhist sentiments of rejecting destiny and fate introduced in the beginning). Are we really who we are if we cease to act in that way? Chan runs into an ex girlfriend while going for a massage, an inexplicable encounter, but her face shows only hints of recognition. She comforts her young daughter and talks of her marriage, things that are infinitely out of reach for Chan. Later, he is the sole person who witnesses the other mole's death, Keung, in a dramatic scene where the actor's face is visibly melting with condensation and he speaks on edge. It might be cliché to have someone utter such a confession before they die, but it's emotionally moving, because of the effective performance of that monologue, the yearning for a normal life that is mirrored in Chan's expression. In that penultimate meeting in the office, we agonise over the simple press of a button that erases a man's entire life. We know that Chan's life is over, a fact that he never is confronted with. Perhaps it is better that way.These moments are frustrating because they point to what could have been a great film if not for those over-dramatic death scenes, blatantly unsubtle exposition and unnecessary black and white flashbacks that connect the dots for the viewer as if they were a child. At that policeman's funeral, a teary Sum-Yee whispers to no one but the audience that she will dream of Chan just as he dreamt of her in those therapy sessions where they fell in love. Is this really necessary? But in saying that, we feel the same way for this fallen policeman.

Thanos Karagioras "Infernal Affairs" is a mystery - thriller movie in which we watch a story between a mole inside the police department and an undercover cop who is working inside the mafia. Their goals are the same, to find the mole for the police department and the cop for the mafia and kill him.I really liked this movie because of the plot which was well written and I have to admit that I have not watched any other movie like this, with the same plot. I believe that was the most important thing for me because I could not predict or expect anything in this movie and I was in tense in the whole duration of it. In addition to this I have to say that I also liked the swifts that this movie had and kept me also in tense. About the direction which made by Wai-Keung Lau and Alan Mak I want to say that it was really good and also the cast interpretations. Especially it has to be mentioned the interpretation of Andy Lau who played as Inspector Lau Kin Ming and he was simply magnificent but also equally good was the interpretation of Tony Chiu Wai Leung who played as Chen Wing Yan.Finally I have to say that "Infernal Affairs" is a really good movie because it combines very well mystery with crime and thriller and this combination makes it so special. I think that is a must see movie and I am sure that if you like movies with much of suspense then this is your movie and you will love it. I strongly recommend it.