[Movie] The Departed VS. Infernal Affairs

Assuming cultural influence flows both ways, Infernal Affairs owes its breath to police procedurals by the likes of Mann, The Godfather Trilogy, Serpico, and Scorsese himself, which makes The Departed an odd twice-removed reinterpretation of Scorsese's own epic 'gangster films'.

Infernal Affairs is well-crafted but there's a tremendous lack of human drama. To the credit of the filmmakers, they know this - there's more focus on the creative employment of gismos and gadgets. The schizophrenic cinematography attempts to appeal to the MTV crowd - black and white flashblack sequences (Christopher Doyle had to serve as a 'visual consultant' - the film suffers from an identity crisis) and Tony-Scott-esque cuts - I don't see how The Departed is more 'rushed' or sudden, given its free-to-roam but undistracting camera movement, and longer first act setup.

"Scorsese's version" is an amalgam of themes (doppelgangers, obsession, fall-from-grace, unabashed commentary on Catholicism), most of which he's visited before (and has done better) - Infernal Affairs lacks depth in comparison. Jack Nicholson backlit in red as he engages in a racial threesome, or waving a dildo around in his porno theater - his character's not necessarily more developed than his HK counterpart, but serves more purpose than just filling the shoes of an obligatory kingpin - he's the antichrist to Leo's hero and Damon's anti-hero.

The Departed isn't a masterpiece (though it's imdb rating is shooting through the roof), nor is Infernal Affairs a bad piece of work. When strictly comparing the two, the 'remake' hits a greater note. I mean, when you consider everything that occured to the main players, in context of the film's title (and Nicholson's funeral card quotation), it just rings more true.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm backing you up Enceph.

If there even is a cultural reason for preferring one over the other, it is definitely not ethnocentric - anyone who tells you otherwise is a fool, plain and simple. IA is heavily influenced by American cinema, particularly by The Godfather Trilogy, Michael Mann, and Scorsese, fused with MTV-style cutting/action sequences (it's quite literally reverse-Tarantino). If there is any cultural difference in preference, it'd have to be concerning a population doused in pop culture television, versus one that's not.

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.

To be fair, The Departed is one of the best dark comedies in some time, but doesn't touch Goodfellas. I'd go as far to say anyone who claims it is better does not understand Goodfellas. It (along with Raging Bull) epitomizes what Scorsese does best: combine pathos, sincerity, wisdom to arrive at something enlightening. IA just doesn't work on the same level - no bias here, as I love foreign films a great deal.

I await your comments, nit-picks, what-the-fucks.

There's nowhere I can't reach.