Infernal Affairs is a 2002 action movie made in Hong Kong. Being a fan of the main actors of this film, I was excited to watch Andy Lau as a police officer. I also made attention to the similarities between this original and the American remake, The Departed. Upon watching both movies one after the other, I noticed more differences than similarities. The Hong Kong original was filmed earlier on with less special effects. The grittiness of the way it was filmed fits the storyline of the local mafia and police force interactions. The unexpected twists throughout the movie are unpredictable, keeping the audience at the edge of their seat. The plot for both movies were very much the same, following the lives of an undercover cop in the local mafia and a mole disguised as a police officer. Infernal Affairs shows more flashbacks and internal conflict of the characters. I find that the character development was much deeper in Infernal Affairs. Comparing these two films side by side highlights how Hollywood produces movies in a more dramatic way than the Hong Kong film industry. If I were to show my students these movies, I would preface them with how much money was spent on each. Although, Hollywood has a monopoly on filmmaking in terms of budget and starpower it still takes scripts from Hong Kong and other countries to remake them. The writing in Infernal Affairs is witty, edgy, and fits the action suspense genre in a honest way that I frankly enjoyed more than The Departed.
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