The Departed, the remake of the 2002 Hong Kong modern classic, Infernal Affairs, is not one of them ;) But it is a finely crafted film, and I do think Martin Scorsese did his best, as did his cast. In some small aspects he even brought new dimensions to the core story, which is admirable on his part.
When the making of The Departed was first announced I was really excited. As a proud Hong Kong film supporter (well, I was prouder then) I went about making sure everyone knew that legendary director Martin Scorsese's new film was actually a remake of a Hong Kong cinematic masterpiece starting huge talents such as Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong etc.
Infernal Affairs, in my opinion, it is one of the best pieces of writing in Chinese film history, and one of the few movies I’ve seen where the sequel is almost better than the original (this is an amazing feat because the first movie is spectacular) I implored all who were interested in seeing the Hollywood version, to see the Chinese original as well. Of course this was easier said than done, for years the only way to pick up a copy of Infernal Affairs was at your local Chinatown bootleg store, not a source that everyone can be convinced to patronize. By the time the Infernal Affairs trilogy had a North American DVD release, the Departed had long screened in theatres and was quickly becoming a faded memory in our amnestic society. Needless to say, Infernal Affairs didn't exactly see any big screen time in Toronto...
...until now! As part of The Event Screen shows at Cineplex Yonge & Dundas this month, there will be two double bill screenings of Infernal Affairs, followed by The Departed -- this coming Sunday, January 27th starting at 2:45pm and again on Wednesday, January 30th starting at 7:30pm. Screenings are $6 (each movie?), quite the bargain for an opportunity to see 2 finely crafted films on the big screen in the comforts of reclining chairs & stadium seating. If you've been enjoying films like Gangster Squad or Broken City, you'll likely appreciate the similar content in Infernal Affairs and The Departed.
I'll be checking out the Sunday afternoon screenings, whether you know me or not, I invite to you come along. It's a big theatre, you don't have to sit anywhere near me. If you do recognize me and want to say hello, I promise to be nice :)
Back when Hollywood first bought the rights to Infernal Affairs, I was so obsessed I even came up with my dream cast for the remake (I don’t think a single person wound up in the film lol, so much for my career as a casting director). I'd also like to add a further disclaimer that I made these pics 9 years ago, many actors were churning out performances of a different calibre or at different stages (and ages) of their careers at that time! (Though I still stand by most of my choices) Here are my original notes (some spoilers):
January 25, 2004
I’m curious whether Hollywood purchased the rights to remake just the first Infernal Affairs, or the 2nd & 3rd one too? It’s just amazing, it’s gonna be really hard to find a Hollywood cast to do this film justice, but here is what I’ve come up with for the main characters....now if only they’d let me direct it!
- Inspector Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau)- the cop who is the triads’man on the inside should be played by Ed Norton
- Chen Wing Yan (Tony Leung) - the mole infiltrating the highest ranks of the triads to stand next to the head boss should be played by Benicio Del Toro
- SP Wong Chi Shing (Anthony Wong) - the police chief who has black society alliances and bends the rules a bit to get certain ppl killed or behind bars should be played by Kevin Spacey
- Hon Sam (Eric Tsang) - formerly in alliance with the police chief until his opportunity came to rise to become the head boss should be played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Young Chan Wing Yan (Shawn Yue) could be Colin Farrell (but in my dream version, they would have to work on making him look like Benicio Del Toro…)
- Young Lau Kin Ming could be Jared Leto
- the female roles are easy to fill… some suggestions include Scarlett Johansen, Jennifer Connelly, Charlize Theron, Clea Duvall, Julianne Moore, etc (subsequently in the The Departed they reduced the number of female roles anyway...)
To further demonstrate my compulsion, after seeing The Departed, I just randomly wrote a blog/article comparing the two. Not because it was an assignment, nor a job, nor even posted to a blog that had much of a movie/entertainment following... just because I felt like it. This one contains many details and should be read after you have seen both movies. Enjoy, and hope to see you at the movies.
October 17, 2006
The following is a contrast & comparison between The Departed & the original Hong Kong verson Infernal Affairs, it includes HUGE spoilers for both movies and I recommend you not read this review unless you've seen at least one of the movies or have no intention of seeing either.
Please feel free to leave me long elaborate comments as I would be absolutely delighted to discuss these films in detail. [btw...no one ever did...]
The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong cinematic smash Infernal Affairs (and greatly anticipated and possibly superior prequel Infernal Affairs 2) about two individuals working undercover within the mob and police force. One has ties to the mob but has infiltrated the police force and holds a respectable title; the other is a cop who has blood ties to the mob and masquerades as one of their own.
Casting in both versions contain powerhouse talent: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Dillon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorsese’s Hollywood version The Departed; and critically acclaimed international talents Tony Leung and Andy Lau (and Anthony Wong) in the original Infernal Affairs.
The story traces the lives of the two moles, their history, motivations, desires, and race to discover the identity of the other in a battle of good and evil where all the lines are blurred. The Departed has a 30 min longer running time than Infernal Affairs because it encompasses all of Infernal Affairs and parts of Infernal Affairs 2. The Departed delves into DiCaprio’s character’s family ties to the mob and how he infiltrates slowly over time. Matt Damon’s character’s back-story was not nearly as developed, though almost equally as interesting in Infernal Affairs 2. The Departed only took a small chunk of Infernal Affairs 2, so there was no back story on Martin Sheen/Mark Wahlberg, and no part of Mary at all (which is a shame because she was my favourite person in Infernal Affairs 2, she was a very cool mob chick who executed her own hits and took matters into her own hands)
The two cops in charge – Martin Sheen & Mark Wahlberg (vs. Anthony Wong & partner in Infernal Affairs) had some changes made to them in the Hollywood version. I absolutely loved Mark Wahlberg’s character, he was the single best written character in The Departed. His character was kept alive to the very end in order to wrap up things up neatly in Scorsese’s vision, which by the way, is the first time I’ve seen Hollywood up the body count from an Asian film version. I was actually quite surprised. All of this is fine I suppose, but what is with Hollywood’s need for the bad guy to die? Their logic is still predominantly black and white compared to other countries. They did not even make any attempt to make Matt Damon’s character want to be good and just killed him. I guess there couldn’t have been a sequel/prequel anyway since they already took a chunk out of Infernal Affairs 2 for The Departed, what’s left isn’t enough for a whole movie.
There were a good number of scenes in The Departed that were almost shot for shot identical to Infernal Affairs, it is proof that powerful cinematography transcends cultural barriers. But naturally some poignant dialogue had to be changed as its meaning was lost in translation otherwise. Although English is my first language, I found myself more moved by the Chinese dialogue. The slang used by gangsters in Hong Kong is a specific type of dialogue and the English just doesn’t have anything nearly as distinctive (think ‘hit’, ‘whack’, & ‘cement shoes’ only more elaborate).
The scene I hated most in The Departed was the scene in which they exchanged the microchips with the Chinese gangsters. First of all, why electronics/microchips? That speaks of James Bond and espionage to me, it should be drugs or weapons otherwise it’s just not the mob in my eyes. And why make the exchange with the Chinese? Especially ones that spoke simplified bungling Cantonese? It completely destroyed the image of Asian gangster slick for me. I really could’ve done without Chinese characters at all instead of this quarter-assed (not even half-assed!) tribute to the movie’s original heritage. Alternatively, I thought it would’ve been cool if they’d hired a few guys who were in Infernal Affairs to do a cameo. The Chinese characters only spoke Chinese anyway, so any of the Infernal Affairs cast could’ve done it. Now that would’ve been a tribute!
On the flipside, The Departed really got it right by combining the two female characters from Infernal Affairs – Tony Leung’s psychologist and Andy Lau’s fiancée. I always thought Andy Lau’s fiancée in Internal Affairs was a really pointless role. By combining the characters in The Departed, it compacted the story and provided a connection between the two main characters. (In Infernal Affairs the two met at the stereo store, which was a good scene too.) Vera Farmiga also gave a very good performance.
The following is a huge spoiler and a bit hard for me to judge because I already knew what was going to happen by the time I saw The Departed. When Martin Sheen was thrown from the building, his death was shocking but there didn’t seem to be as much at stake for DiCaprio’s character because Mark Wahlberg’s character was still alive and knew his identity. In Infernal Affairs you’re shocked that Anthony Wong dies, but your stomach also drops because you realize that’s it for Tony Leung, that was the only person who could’ve restored his identity.
Overall, The Departed was a bit too long for my liking. The first third of the movie (the part taken from Infernal Affairs 2) was slow and I thought for the most part it was unnecessary. Infernal Affairs conveyed the story and the history of the two men just fine without revealing that portion to the audience; The Departed could have done the same. I would have to say I still enjoyed the original Infernal Affairs much more, but as far as remakes go, this one is actually fairly impressive.
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