The Departed Vs. Infernal Affairs

In short, the winner: Infernal Affairs.

I liked Martin Scorsese's The Departed, though never felt it to be breathtaking in any sense, and I definitely shared the view that Scorsese won his Academy Award for his career rather than the film (although if the film wasn't decent, I think he'd have been passed over again).

And so while I felt that it was certainly praise-worthy, yesterday I got to watch "Miu Gaan Diy" - the Hong Kong thriller released as "Infernal Affairs" back in 2002 - on which it was based. That film won many awards as well, but after watching it (as part of a 5-hour marathon of the whole Infernal Affairs trilogy), The Departed seems almost pedestrian, and even forgettable.

The IA trilogy was written by Felix Chong and Siu Fai Mak, the latter of which co-directed the films with Wai Keung Lau, and was released all in the space of two years (2002-3). The three of them have recently teamed up again on Seung Sing (Confession of Pain, 2006), which I've yet to see, and Wai Keung Lau is making his English-language directorial debut this October with edgy/perverse-sounding The Flock, a thriller with Richard Gere and Claire Danes.

The films are shot beautifully, and the cast in fantastic. Jack Nicholson's character is beautifully portrayed by Eric Tsang (mind you, remove Jack from a role and the character is immediately de-sensationalized), and makes Jack's character a phony by comparison. Tony Leung (known stateside more for his comedies Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer) better emotes than Leonardo DiCaprio, and an understated but tortured Andy Lau (the spurned lover in House of Flying Daggers) outshines Matt Damon (who I generally love to watch), and really excels in the other two films. And while other cast members are decent, their direction and writing stand out more than anything. While Anthony Wong Chau-Sang plays his role well, I was more excited about the possibility of seeing his counterpart, Martin Sheen, should they ever adapt IA2 & 3 (his role in all three films is substantial, but especially in IA2). But even in IA1, his character is more involved and involving than Sheen's in The Departed.

I really do hope that they don't Americanize the sequels; they altered the first in a way that would require some creative futzing to enable them, and I'd rather people see them in their original, brilliant form. Not that American viewers would know they're out there, or be able to find them very easily....