This was actually one of the earliest Tony Leung Chiu-wai films I ever saw. I can’t remember the precise order, but I saw Hero, 2046 (both for Ziyi Zhang-related reasons,) and Infernal Affairs (because of The Departed) within a short span of each other. Over the course of the three movies, my brain went from, “Damn, who is this guy?” to, “Hey, I saw this guy before, didn’t I?” to, “Oh yes, I love that guy!” And with good reason. While Hero, 2046, and Infernal Affairs have more in common with each other than, say, The Royal Scoundrel, they showcase different sides of Leung’s acting in terrific ways, and he is really, really good in Infernal Affairs (premise spoilers, which incidentally also spoils the premise of The Departed.)
Superintendent Wong has been chasing Brother Sam’s triads for a lot time. Little does Sam know, Wong has an undercover cop deeply embedded in the gang. But then, Sam placed one of his guys in the police force years ago. During a crucial sale/bust, both sides realize that they have a mole in their ranks. It becomes a race to uncover the moles, and at the center of it are the two men who’ve spent the last ten years playing a part in a dangerous game.
As I alluded to in my intro, The Departed was based on this Hong Kong original. I remember liking Scorsese’s film when I saw it, but afterwards, I fell a little in love with Infernal Affairs and not just for its role in kicking off my fandom of Tony Leung Chiu-wai (not to mention Andy Lau!) I wouldn’t say the film is flawless – the direction gets a little self-important at times, relying just a bit too much on dramatic slow motion and unnecessary flashbacks – but it’s one of those movies that does pretty much exactly what it sets out to do. It’s tight, stylish, and suspenseful, featuring engaging dialogue and topnotch acting from two Hong Kong greats.
Before I get to Leung, I have to shout out some of the other performances in the movie. At the top of the list is Andy Lau, who’s fantastic as Lau Kin Ming, the triad mole working in the police force (a.k.a. the role Matt Damon plays in The Departed.) While both Ming and his counterpart Yan have identity issues due to their undercover work, it manifests differently in each man, which I appreciate. For Ming, he’s spent a long time subtly undermining police business at Brother Sam’s behest, but he’s also had to be a good enough cop to get himself placed in a valuable position. Over the years, he’s moved up the ranks, been promoted, and cultivated a comfortable “normal” life with a good job, an intelligent fiance, and a nice flat. He’s always been Sam’s man, but there’s a part of him that wonders if the role he plays could be his actual life. Andy Lau navigates that dynamic so well. I also really like Anthony Wong as Superintendent Wong, a shrewd man who leads his team with integrity and genuinely cares about his officers. Meanwhile, Eric Tsang is really interesting to watch as Brother Sam – he’s a neat mix of imposing and charismatic, where you see why disillusioned young men would be led to work for him/want to impress him, but he also has more than a hint of shark to him and is not a guy you want to cross.
And then, of course, we have Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Chen Wing Yan. Yan is the police mole working in the gang (a.k.a. the role Leonardo DiCaprio played in The Departed,) and Leung just kills it from start to finish. His identity issues are less about wanting to assimilate into his fake life (although he has some real friends among the triads) and more about worrying that he’s losing himself in his undercover work. His is a very lonely life – only Wong knows his real identity, and the superintendent worries for Yan’s mental/physical well-being even as Wong insists that he’s too valuable to be pulled out. Also, while Ming will likely go to prison if he’s discovered, Yan will probably be killed. As soon as Brother Sam becomes alerted to the presence of a mole in his ranks, the situation becomes a deadly pressure-cooker in which Yan constantly has to keep one step ahead to stay alive.
If I had to pick one absolute favorite Leung triad movie/performance, I’d go with Hard Boiled (because, come on,) but Leung is just damn good in Infernal Affairs. Yan spends much of the film in intense danger but isn’t allowed to let on to that for one second. He has to be smart while also taking massive risks, and he has to be enough of a criminal to keep Sam’s suspicions off of him while also clinging to the shreds of himself that remind him he’s still a police officer. I’ve raved plenty of times about Leung’s strength in subtlety, and that’s incredibly true here. Because so much of what Yan presents is an act, we have to look deeper to see what’s really going on with him in any given moment. In Leung’s capable hands, Yan’s expression rarely gives anything away to the other characters while his eyes draw a roadmap for the viewers.
Also, in the midst of all that stress and danger and inner turmoil, Yan somehow finds the time to be charming as hell. There’s a subplot of Wong arranging for Yan to have “court-mandated” therapy sessions, and Yan’s casually-sweet flirting with his therapist is just everything. Before this most recent rewatch, it had probably been a good ten years since I’d last seen Infernal Affairs, but I still had a crystal clear memory of the therapist suggesting that Yan doesn’t need any more sessions with her and Yan protesting, “But I’ve started getting these migraines. It might be schizophrenia.” Charming as hell.
Recommend?
In General – Absolutely. If you have any inclination at all toward gangster/triad movies, this is one well worth checking out.
Tony Leung Chiu-wai – Most definitely. This performance will always be a special one for me, since it was one of the first I ever saw, but Leung is fantastic and just endlessly watchable in this.
Warnings
Violence, drug use/drinking/smoking, language, and thematic elements.
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