[Movie] The Departed VS. Infernal Affairs

The HK movie we're talking about is called infernal affairs because its a pun played on the word INFERNO. The Chinese title is a Buddism philosphy of an eternal hell, and Inferno is the western's closet equivalent. The character that Andy Lau plays gets promoted to INTERNAL affairs departement, they chaged it to Infernal for the pun.

I have yet to see the departed. Heard from people that said it was great, still wondering if the tensions, tones and grittyness was traslated well to the remake. Elevator scene now funny? Dammit, that was suppose to be a tense build up till the great fall. I hate it when they change a tone like that so drastically. But I guess thats what American audiences like...

Any other stuff you can compare about? Anything else you felt was lost from the original and the impact was less? Did the plot ended the same as the orignal HK version? I only saw Infernal Affairs.

Originally Posted by T1249NTSCJ

I preferred the original, I wasn't big on the final showdown (US V.) Plus the HK version had way more of an impact on emotional scenes, not sudden like the U.S. release. Not only that but did anyone feel that there was a bit too much profanity going on. :lolsign:

God, will it have killed American film makers to make scenes more emotional instead of making every scene sudden so people won't pause to reach for pop corn?

The Hong Kong version had quite a number of profanity in scenes involving the triads with cops and convos between SP Wong and the mole who infiltrates triads. Was it alot more like every 3 mins there's a F bomb or something?

Personally, I get pissed everytime they make an Asian remake, but a HK one? A country where this is the movie that was actually good for the first time in years? I personally felt they took whatever little dignity HK has, but maybe thats just me.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Encephalon

Well... I was going to write a massive review but that pretty much put it far better than I could have.

While Infernal Affairs had the same setup and was a dark and gritty film, it did lack a very human feel to it that Scorsese brought out in his actors without question.

Lack a human feel? What do you mean? Both Andy Lau and Tony Leung's characters were very humane. They are just two guys who want out of their eternal hell as moles. They even have a connection with each other despite the fact one has to be taken down cause they are on opposing sides, yet I can tell they can relate to each other. The scene in the beginning where Andy goes to get some hi fi speakers shows their humane side, just two men who appeciate good sound in music. We see them having friends in the venues they were placed as moles, despite the fact they both knew they will have to backstab them, I get the feeling they care about the people they had to work with. Andy Lau may be the bad guy it seems, but he genuinly cares about his fiance and in the end

Spoiler:

desires to turn over a new leaf just for her. And c'mon, when SP Wong died, Tony was horrified, crushed, and friggin sad, he just lost not only the man who can prove who he is, but also his only true friend all these years. Hell, even Andy really regrets for killing a good comrade and officer. How much more human can you get?

I don't quite understand how you say that this movie lack a human feeling, when its a character piece as oppose to the just plot and action. Hell its more tension than action in IA. I haven't seen the Departed, so I can't judge if the actors did a better job, but saying IA lacks human feel makes ME feel like you didn't get the movie.

Originally Posted by nazpyro

Watched The Departed over the weekend. Fucking awesome movie. I'd say I liked it over the HK movie just because I was able to follow it better. Plus the witty remarks/dialogue, Boston accents, "modern", and Nicholson as one crazy motherfucker just made it a thrill to watch. Best movie I've watched all year. For some reason I now want to watch Sudden Death. wtf? ._.

I wonder if he would have liked IA better if he was able to follow the language... This might be a cultural reason that he liked Departed better.

Man I heard The Departed is tanked in Hong Kong, anyone living there can cofirm this? I'm in LA for college.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I saw Departed on the plane 2 weeks ago.

And while I enjoyed it, in the end I still preferred the original Hong Kong version. The atmosphere and tone was better, they handled the concept of the 2 main characters alot better, Leo and Matt did a great job, but because of their young faces I can't feel that much sympathy for them comparing to 2 guys in their 40's who have been in this hellhole they dug themselves in for o ver a decade.

I felt the ending was sloppy, and the ending for the original, while maybe a little over dramtic, was the right ending.

Spoiler:

The sad music playing, the revelation of an additional mole, and the way Andy Lau holds up his inspector ID out of the elevator, and he says "I'm a cop." The music tone changes to a "Uh oh" music, and its not just that he killed the other mole, but he just dug himself further into the "eternal hell". Of course IA was also meant to be
a trilogy, and we don't see his compuenace (sp?) till the third film.

Departed made all the above into a comical skit. I was baffled, I scanned my mind 10 times and couldn't find ANY reason to justify that.

The certain death scene in the middle wasn't that hot either for me.

Spoiler:

In IA, it was sudden, you KNOW he was gonna get beat up bad, but the fall was completly sudden. BAM! Right on the Taxi Tony Leung just left and no fancy slow mo. THIS is how it would happen if you were Tony's character. You have NO idea, you might worry he got caught and was gonna get the shit beat out of him, but no way was that fall predictable.

The tension before the fall was also very well done. You don't need major quick action fast pace shots to make the audience nervous, and IA did a better job at tensions througout the movie, IMO.

The Departed ruin all that by doing the cliche slow mo. Ick.

Its like the recent episode of Kanon, where they SHOW the actual accident instead of slow mo, or black out with sound effects. THIS is what happened, in real time, and if you were there.

Not to mention, why would they meet at an abandoned bulding, making it look suspicous? IA had them meet at a roof of a business building, which made alot more sense.

Also, what the HELL is up with the scene with the Chinese guys?! THEY DON'T EVEN SPEAK CANTONESE FLUENTLY! They sound like a bunch of Mandarin guys trying to speak Cantonese cause the casting director FUCKED up!

If THAT was meant to be a tribute to the HK film makers, then that was a sloppy one. If you're gonna say thank you, make it legit and right, not send some 1 dollar E card and with Chinese written by some language student who only learned it for 6 monthes.

Departed has its merits though, Leo and Matt's acting, Jackie was delicious to watch, and you can always count on some American screenplays to have great dialouge, and you can never count on the Hong Kong ones to have any. Maybe its the language, maybe we don't know how to write witty dialouge, who knows? Those merits are defintly in favour of Departed.

Though Andy and Tony's performance rivalled the other 2, when it comes to the bad guy however, Nicholson was more interesting to watch, where as the other guy did the job, but there wasn't too much flair to it.

Now that Departed won the Oscar, I have to wonder if they gave any regonition to Infernal Affairs at all...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Fundamentally, in the end, these 2 are two different films that share the same plot. Its the only way to watch the movies without bashing them if you aknowledged they are two different films.

I just wish for a little aknowlegdement from the makers of Departed, did they thank anyone from HK at the Oscars?

Though I am STILL miffed with hiring a bunch of Chinese guys who can't speak Cantonese fluently. Some tribute. Not to mention a little racial ignorance.

"They're Chinese so let's hire them! Cantonese and Mandarin are different? Ah who gives a damn! The audience can't tell the diff!"

How ya doing, buddy?

....You're kidding about the Japanese movie part right?

If not, god, someone is going to fucking PAY!

Anyone tape the Oscars can confirm?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Room

IA certainly lacks human drama, and the attempts to remedy this are so saccharine I had to visit the dentist afterwards. The weakest on-screen chemistry occurs between Lau and Sam, the most effective being between Leung and Anthony Wong. The film sets itself up for serious character study/doppelganger parallels, but does not succeed. Then there's the scene where

Spoiler:

Wong dies.

Black and white flashbacks reeled to a love song? Maybe I cringe easily. Or say when Kelly Chen (whose appearance is solely promotion/fan-based) has an intimate chat with Leung. CU on the couples' profiles cut to CU of holding hands. It then attempts to tackle motifs, but how heavy-handed can you get when you have Lau's woman, a writer, not able to decide whether or not "her novel's hero" is good or evil? Paul Haggis style writing, no doubt.
I await your comments, nit-picks, what-the-fucks.

I think Lau and Sam has the worst on screen chemistry is due to their relationship, they probably have minimal interaction with each other and kept their distance to avoid suspicion, that and Lau's gradual realiszation that he doesn't wanne be stuck as a mole and wants the sweet life he has now, great job and fiance, so between them is more about business than emotional connection.

Wong and Leung have better chemistry cause they have a better relationship, Wong is the only true friend (well other than Kelly but like you said, fan service >_<), so their chemisty is alot better cause they care about each other, where as the above pair don't.

I think it succeeded the character study, I didnt' feel much when I watch the Departed myself. The women in the film are mostly plot devices so I didn't expect much from them to be honest. The fiance writer pondering her main characters moral ambiguity is probably there for the irony for Lau's character. Ham handed yes, but HK people don't exactly have the best writing skills.

As for the so called love song, its not a love song, its meant to sound angelic for the dearly departed. The flashbacks are cliche, but it may me feel more for Leung and watching his expression change from shock horror to slowly crumbling devestation. The flashbacks showed how their friend ship begin, how it developed and how it ended up costing them. Cheesy, but it got the point across. I didn't feel ANYTHING for the equivalent characters in the Departed.

I don't think this lack human drama at all, I see two guys who are sick of the hell hole they dug themselves in, and I see two people wanting to do the right thing, one can't escape from the guilt in the end, one loses a friend but in the end was free.

Its probably all different opinions, but I felt alot more for the characters in IA than Departed. If thats not human drama, than what is? Departed was a black comedy, something that IA defintly wasn't, and I didnt' like the change in genre.

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Actually Orion just PMed me and said the producer and Marty both thanked the original movie.

THANK YOU! Marty, you defintly deserve your prize now. Dunno about whoever came up with "let's make a remake", but props to Scorses for mentioning it.

And boo to those who said it was Japanese, the Chinese Americans are probably having a field day. Its like calling an Aussie guy a Brit, or a Canadian guy American, you DON"T GO THERE unless you're sure, and if you can't tell, ASK! Or in the case of the movie, uh, 5 seconds on google?

This is just as bad as hiring random Chinese guys who can't speak Canton, and try to pass them off as such.

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