Infernal Affairs
2002
Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a tense thriller featuring Hong Kong superstars Andy Lau and Tony Leung. The film follows the parallel lives of Ming (Lau), a cop who secretly reports to ruthless Triad crime boss Sam (Eric Tsang); and Yan (Leung), an undercover police officer who poses as a Triad member .. Read more
| Starring | Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang |
|---|---|
| Director | Siu Fai Mak, Wai-keung Lau |
| Run time | 101 mins |
| Genres | Action/Adventure, Thriller, World Cinema |
loading...
-
Critics' reviews (3)
View all -
Undercover cops posing as triad gangsters have been staple figures in HK cinema since Alex Cheung's Man on the Brink... read more on Time Out
-
"...Out-HEATs Michael Mann..."
-
Most helpful member's review
View all -
34 out of 34 people found this review helpful
Traitors, traitors everywhere. This Hong Kong blockbuster shows us how Cop dramas should be done.
Adds a few embellishments to the cops vs. mobsters genre that makes it more thought provoking than the usual throwaway nonsense. While Lau (Tony Leung) is busy infiltrating the mobsters on behalf of the police, Ming (Andy Lau) is an undercover gangster working his way up the police ranks allowing his boss Sam (Eric Tsang) to stay one step ahead of other mobsters and the police. The usual undercover cop torment of the 'good guy in a gangsters role' is given an novel counterpoint by Ming's doubts over his choice of lifestyle, although it also packs enough action into it's tightly told story to ensure it doesn't become a rambling treatise on the nature of being. The cast list is a who's who of the HK A-list and all perform to their high expectations with Wai Keung Lau directing some of the best action since John Woo's neutering at Hollywoods hands, with any deaths on either side feeling as though they have real consequence compared to the astronomical body counts of some efforts. Highly recommended.
-
Most recent members' review
View all -
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Awesome
I watch a heck of a lot of Asian films, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, from comedy, romance, drama to Kung fu, Bloodshed, Wuxia and everything in between and this is one of the strongest HK Triad thrillers in years (see also last years Jiang Hu). It says a lot about the quality of this script for a name like Scorcese to be attached to the remake.
Andy Lau and Tony Leung, while not giving their best performances are both outstanding here and both are more than cardboard cutout characters. The good and the bad exist in both characters on both sides of the law. The plot is gripping. The tension is kept up well and the dramatics are executed with all the flair of a John Woo film - one scene between Yan and SP Wong is beautiful and never becomes tacky despite walking a fine line. This is not really an action flick despite the plot though and is far more of a character driven piece.
Great stuff.
Not overly impressed with the sequels. -
News and features
View all
Exiled
- 11 Jun 2007
Fate knocking at the door: If it was good enough for Beethoven's Fifth, it's good enough for Johnnie To's 43rd. Fate, in this case, comes in the form of Cat (Roy Cheung), a Triad foot soldier looking for an old friend, Wo (Nick Cheung). His knock is echoed shortly afterwards by Blaze (Anthony Wong), a hitman sporting the appropriate Hong Kong killer look: trenchcoat and shades. He's looking for Wo too. He has been sent to kill him, while Cat is determined that's not going to happen. After a... Read more
-
Image Gallery
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 4
-
-
More like this
View allShowing 1 to 4 of 20
Related user collection
Ten of the best (10)
70% from 4 members
Celebrity collection
Simon Pegg & David Schwimmer (5)
67.6% from 43 members
