Released in Hong Kong four years before the release of
The Departed, this is the original movie from which the Martin Scorsese remake was made. Stars Tony Leung as Cadet Chen Wing Yan the undercover cop, Andy Lau as Lau Kin Ming the mole for the mob working as a cop, Anthony Wong as SP Wong the police captain, Eric Tsang as Sam the mob boss, Kelly Chen as Dr. Lee Cadet Yan's psychiatrist, and Sami Cheng as Mary girlfriend to Lau Kin Ming. When one sees Infernal Affairs, the similarities are many and it's obvious that Infernal Affairs and The Departed tell the same story. The cast on undercover cadet Yan's arm, Sam's deal with some foreigners which the police monitor, the incorrect spelling on the envelope which cadet Yan corrects, the mob boss and his mole's meeting together at a movie theater, and the police captain getting tailed to the roof of a building. As expected there are some differences as well, such as that in Infernal Affairs the mob boss seems to play a smaller role. He isn't as memorable or large a personality as Jack Nicholson was in The Departed. Also in Infernal Affairs for some reason there is a scene which portrays the undercover cop meeting an ex-girlfriend. Not sure what this was about as it was a small scene, perhaps an attempt at character build up. Overall Infernal Affairs is a pretty good movie in its own right, however Martin Scorsese does seem to have done a great job. I personally enjoyed The Departed a little more. Not sure why I like it better as it's about the same story. Perhaps Scorses did a better job of building up his characters more in The Departed, for example the scene where Leonardo Dicaprio's character is first interviewed by the police Special Investigations Unit. The scene devotes times to bring out his background, how the character was raised, even details about what accents he has. On the other hand, there isn't much character build up or introduction for the characters in Infernal Affairs, consequently they seem more distant, emotionless, and cold, almost seems like one's watching random individuals in various scenes. One item of interest is that the DVD for Infernal Affairs carries an alternate ending. The ending of Infernal Affairs as shown in the movie is more like that of The Departed although there seem to be some differences. However, the alternate ending version which the DVD for Infernal Affairs has is totally different. It was interesting to watch the original movie and compare it to the 2006 remake.
