Infernal Affairs – Die achte Hölle (2002)

Infernal Affairs – Die achte Hölle: Directed by Andrew Lau, Alan Mak. With Andy Lau, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Eric Tsang. A story between a mole in the police department and an undercover cop. Their objectives are the same: to find out who is the mole, and who is the cop.

“Iu0026#39;m late in discovering the Hong Kong crime thriller genre so I can only compare u0026quot;Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou))u0026quot; to its Hollywood compatriots. It grippingly is the equal of such intense examinations of the anguish of undercover cops as u0026quot;Donnie Brascoeu0026quot; or dirty cops such as u0026quot;Narcu0026quot; or u0026quot;Training Day.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKey is the dynamic opposite pairing of two leonine, charismatic actors, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the self-sacrificing heart throb from u0026quot;Hero (Ying xiong)u0026quot; and the languid lover from u0026quot;In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa)u0026quot; here as an antsy, anguished too long undercover cop versus Andy Lau as his crisply efficient, ambitious counterpart. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe plot, propelled as well by the music, unpredictably twists and takes hairpin turns from the beginning so that even with helpful flashbacks itu0026#39;s a thrilling roller coaster ride to try to follow the constantly changing loyalties, manipulations, deals and revelations, not unlike the TV series u0026quot;The Wire.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRegardless, you get that the real battle is for the charactersu0026#39; souls as much as their lives and you hold your breath to the last surprising minute. The initial motivations for how the men came to be at this crossroads will doubtless be explored in the prequel and sequel that havenu0026#39;t been released in the U.S. yet. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe women are just the girlfriends, but they do have separate lives, jobs and choices that impact the men in their lives. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWith noted cinematographer Christopher Doyle is listed as a u0026quot;visual consultantu0026quot; in the credits, the great bulk of the film takes place at night, like a comparable chase film u0026quot;Collateral,u0026quot; so it was unfortunate that the print I saw was not pristine. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was also annoying that the subtitles were white on white illegible and that ideograms that are shown in the scene are not translated, even when the camera rests on them for a length of time that makes one assume something significant is written there.”