A marathon screening of the three “Infernal Affairs” films has been announced at the long-delayed 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival.
The three films, all of which have been restored and upgraded to 4K digital prints, led a segment of six of the restored classics in Chinese at the festival.
This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival has been postponed from its usual March-April date to August, due to the fifth wave of the COVID pandemic that closed Hong Kong cinemas for the first months of 2022. It will now take place from August 15 to 31 of the year for 17 days , again adopting a hybrid format, featuring audience engagement shows and events in theaters and online.
Other titles in the department include: “The Boat People” by An Hoi from 1982; “Suzhou River” Lu Yi from 2000; and “Millennium Mambo” by Hu Hsiao Hsin from 2001.
Introduced in 2002 and featuring a story about a secret cop fighting a triple mole, Infernal Affairs was one of the most successful and creative films of the 21st century, cementing Hong Kong’s reputation as a global hub for sleek, hard-boiled crime films. The festival called it, ‘arguably, final [Hong Kong] Post-1997 era film,” referring to the date when Hong Kong was no longer under UK control and officially returned to Chinese control.
The film also had a stimulating effect on the life of co-director Andrew Lau (also known as Lau Wai-keung), who also produced through his primary visuals, and screenwriters Alan Mack and Felix Chung.
Andy Lau (aka Lau Tak-wah) from Kantopop has had great success taking on Tony Leung (aka Leung Chiu-wai). The film came quickly after his roles in Wong Kar-wai “In The Mood For Love” and Zhang Yimou “Hero”, and the film also cemented Wong as one of the best acting stars in Asia.
The first film was followed by “Infernal Affairs II” in 2003, and “Infernal Affairs III” later that same year. Martin Scorsese used parts of the trilogy to make the 2006 movie The Departed starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. “The Departed” collected four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (William Monaghan).
A lot has changed in Hong Kong’s film industry since the days of Infernal Affairs. These include losing market share through local titles, embracing co-production and co-financing with mainland China, and a 2021 review of Hong Kong’s censorship law injecting national security considerations into the city’s film rating system.
Many filmmakers, performers, and artists have since left the area, including Anthony Wong and Chapman Toe who played major supporting roles in Infernal Affairs.
Some commentators have questioned whether it is possible, under current circumstances, to conduct “infernal affairs” today, given that its themes of police corruption and organized crime are essentially taboo in mainland China.
Despite these doubts, Chinese company Tencent Video has revealed plans to make an online series based on Infernal Affairs. The rights deal was handled by Media Asia, the local studio that was the original film’s sales agent and which held the Chinese language rights. Warner Bros. maintains , the Hollywood studio behind Scorsese’s “Departed,” with rights, including reproduction rights, in most other territories.
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