#andrew lau wai-keung

[film-cult]

Infernal Affairs (2002) dir. by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

[vibe-stash]

Chungking Express (1994)

Director: Wong Kar Wai Cinematography: Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau Wai Keung Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping Art Direction: Alfred Yau Wai Ming

[baddawg94]

Director Andrew Lau Wai Keung , Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Andy Lau Tak Wah on the set of "Infernal Affairs" (2002)

[wendoscillatewildly]

風雲雄霸天下 The Storm Riders pt.2

Origin: Hong Kong  Genre: Wuxia Fantasy Director: Lau Wai-keung Andrew Cast: Cheng Yee-Kin Ekin, Kristy Yang, Kwok Fu-shing Aaron, Shu Qi, Chiba Shinichi

[cinemacentury]

MOVIES 2024

Master list of all the movies/miniseries I watched in 2024.

New film Rewatch Theatrical Viewing

JANUARY

Monday, January 1 1. METROPOLITAN (Whit Stillman, 1990) 2. 2084: VIDEO CLIP FOR THE TRADE UNIONS’ REFLECTION AND PLEASURE (Chris Marker, 1984) (short) 3. THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS (Nazim Tulakhodzhayev, 1984) (short) 4. TERRORIZERS (Edward Yang, 1986)

Tuesday, January 2 5. BLOOD SIMPLE. (Joel Coen, 1984) 6. CHARADE (Jon Minnis, 1984) (short) 7. FEELINGS (Todd Solondz, 1984) (short) 8. BEVERLY HILLS COP (Martin Brest, 1984) 9. LITTLE NEMO: ADVENTURES IN SLUMBERLAND PILOT 2 (Yoshifumi Kondo, Andrew Gaskill, 1984) (short) 10. IN THE BLUE SEA, IN THE WHITE FOAM… (Robert Sahakyants, 1984) (short) 11. THE WIND (Edward Yang, 2006) (short) 12. IN OUR TIME (Tao Te-chen, Edward Yang, Ko I-cheng, Chang Yi, 1982)

Wednesday, January 3 13. FALLEN ANGELS (Wong Kar-wai, 1995) 14. THE WINTER OF 1905 (Yu Wai Cheng, 1982) 15. MAHJONG (Edward Yang, 1996)

Thursday, January 4 16. ANTONIO GAUDI (Hiroshi Teshigahara, 1984) 17. A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (Edward Yang, 1991) 18. MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Vincente Minnelli, 1944)

Friday, January 5 19. DESERT HEARTS (Donna Deitch, 1985) 20. MANDABI (Ousmane Sembène, 1968) 21. SONGS FOR EARTH & FOLK (Cauleen Smith, 2013) (short)

Saturday, January 6 22. THE HEROIC TRIO (Johnnie To, 1993) 23. EXECUTIONERS: THE HEROIC TRIO 2 (Johnnie To, 1993)

Sunday, January 7 24. A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION (Edward Yang, 1994)

Monday, January 8 25. POLICE STORY (Jackie Chan, 1985)

Tuesday, January 9 26. POLICE STORY 2 (Jackie Chan, 1988)

Wednesday, January 10 27. AS TEARS GO BY (Wong Kar-Wai, 1988) 28. ROUNDHAY GARDEN SCENE (Louis Aimé Augustin Le Prince, 1988) (short) (rewatch)

Thursday, January 11 29. EXOTICA (Atom Egoyan, 1994)

Friday, January 12 30. SWIPED (Joseph Kahn, 2017) (short)

Saturday, January 13 31. ODD/EVEN (Ya-Ting “Itchy” Yang, 2022) (short) 32. CENTER STAGE (Stanley Kwan, 1992)

Sunday, January 14 33. THE BARE-FOOTED KID (Johnnie To, 1993)

Monday, January 15 34. THE BOOK OF CLARENCE (Jeymes Samuel, 2024)

Tuesday, January 16 35. POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP (Stanley Tong, 1992) 36. FOLLOWING (Christopher Nolan, 1998)

Wednesday, January 17 37. THE SEVENTH CURSE (Lam Ngai Kai, 1986)

Thursday, January 18 38. BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE (Taylor Wong, 1984)

Friday, January 19 39. CARGO (Julio Luna, 2015) (short)

Saturday, January 20 40. IRMA VEP (Oliver Assayas, 1996) 41. ROUGE (Stanley Kwan, 1991) 42. HERO (Zhang Yimou, 2002)

Sunday, January 21 43. GOLIATH (Don Bitters, 2022) (short) 44. SIGMUND (Bruno Bozzetto, 1984) (short)

Monday, January 22 45. SHANGHAI BLUES (Tsui Hark, 1984) 46. GODS FROM SPACE (Annalize Pasztor, 2018) (short) 47. ONE FROM THE HEART: REPRISE (Francis Ford Coppola, 1981; recut 2024) 48. INFERNAL AFFAIRS (Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, Alan Mak, 2002)

Tuesday, January 23 49. GREEN SNAKE (Tsui Hark, 1993) 50. FLAMIN’ HOT (Eva Longoria, 2023) 51. THE DARK KNIGHT (Christopher Nolan, 2008) (rewatch)

Wednesday, January 24 52. THE EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER (Lau Kar-leung, 1984)

Thursday, January 25 53. 2084 (Taz Goldstein, 2015) (short) 54. FLOREANA (Louis Morton, 2018) (short)

Friday, January 26  55. THE CREATOR (Gareth Edwards, 2023)

Saturday, January 27  56. BOAT PEOPLE (Ann Hui, 1982)

Sunday, January 28 57. OPPENHEIMER (Christopher Nolan, 2023) (rewatch) 58. THROW DOWN (Johnnie To, 2004)

Monday, January 29 59. ALL THE CROWS IN THE WORLD (Tang Yi, 2021) (short) 60. TWO WORLDS (Andy Lefton, 2015) (short)

Tuesday, January 30 61. HAPPY GHOST III (Johnnie To, 1986)

Wednesday, January 31 62. A DROWNFUL BRILLIANCE OF WINGS (Sofia Bohdanowicz, 2016) (short) 63. A HISTORY OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GETTY IMAGES (Richard Misek, 2022) (short) 64. THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY (John Mackenzie, 1980)

FEBRUARY

Thursday, February 1  65. THE TENDER GAME (John Hubley, 1958) (short) 66. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH (Leah Shore, 2014) (short) 67. THE PLEASURE OF LOVE IN IRAN (Agnes Varda, 1976) (short)

Friday, February 2  68. YOUR NAME. (Makato Shinkai, 2016)

Saturday, February 3  69. ARGYLLE (Matthew Vaughn, 2024)

Sunday, February 4  70. 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE (Michael Winterbottom, 2002) (rewatch) Monday, February 5 71. IN BETWEEN LOVES (Allan Fung Yi-Ching, 1989) Tuesday, February 6 72. MATEWAN (John Sayles, 1987) Wednesday, February 7 73. LOCAL HERO (Bill Forsyth, 1983)

Thursday, February 8 74. NOMADS (John McTiernan, 1986) Friday, February 9 75. WARSHA (Danie Bdier, 2022) (short) Saturday, February 10 76. NAI NAI & WAI PO (Sean Wang, 2023) (short) 77. THE ICEMAN COMETH (Clarence Yiu-leung Fok, 1989) Sunday, February 11 78. NIGHT AND FOG (Alain Resnais, 1956) (short) Monday, February 12 79. MRS. MINIVER (William Wyler, 1942) 80. DUNE (Denis Villeneuve, 2021) (rewatch) Tuesday, February 13 81. MOLOKA'I BOUND (Alika Maikau, 2019) (short) 82. FOREVER SLEEP (Zac Stracner, 2022) (short) Wednesday, February 14 83. THE EAGLE SHOOTING HEROES (Jeffrey Lau, 1993) 84. DON'T LOOK NOW (Nicolas Roeg, 1973) Thursday, February 15 85. PREDATOR (John McTiernan, 1987) Friday, February 16 86. PAPER MARRIAGE (Alfred Cheung, 1988) Saturday, February 17 87. HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (Alain Resnais, 1959)

Sunday, February 18 88. THE MISFITS (John Huston, 1961) 89. A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (John Cassavetes, 1974) Sunday, February 19 90. ALL'S WELL, ENDS WELL (Clifton Ko, 1992) Monday, February 20 91. THE WAGES OF FEAR (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953)  92. BEAU TRAVAIL (Claire Denis, 1999) Wednesday, February 22 93. FACE SWAP (David Gidali, Einat Tubi, 2019) 94. HOW TO PICK GIRLS UP! (Wong Jing, 1988) Friday, February 23 95. OPUS II (Walter Ruttmann, 1921)  Saturday, February 24 96. SEVEN SAMURAI (Akira Kurosawa, 1954) Sunday, February 25 97. WOMEN OF THE NIGHT (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1948)

Monday, February 26 98. THE MASK (Conner O'Malley, 2023) (short)

Tuesday, February 27 99. THE THIRD MAN (Carol Reed, 1949) (rewatch)

Wednesday, February 28 100. ALIEN (Ridley Scott, 1979) (rewatch) 101. BLADE RUNNER (FINAL CUT) (Ridley Scott, 1982/2007) (rewatch) Thursday, February 29 102. DUNE: PART TWO (Denis Villeneuve, 2024) 103. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Victor Erice, 1973)

MARCH

Friday, March 1 104. ONIBABA (Kaneto Shindō, 1964)  105. AUDITION (Takashi Miike, 1999) Saturday, March 2 106. AVALON (Barry Levinson, 1990)

Sunday, March 3 107. UGETSU (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1953) 108. A PAGE OF MADNESS (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926) 109. THRONE OF BLOOD (Akira Kurosawa, 1957) 

Wednesday, March 6 110. ROSE (aka BLUE VALENTINE) (Samson Chiu, 1992) 111. KLUTE (Alan J. Pakula, 1971) 112. LONE STAR (John Sayles, 1996) Thursday, March 7 113. THE GHOST OF YOTSUYA (Nobuo Nakagawa, 1959)  114. RING (Hideo Nakata, 1998) 115. BLIND WOMAN’S CURSE (Teruo Ishii, 1970)

Friday, March 8 116. DARK WATER (Hideo Nakata, 2002)

Saturday, March 9 117. PERFUMED NIGHTMARE (Kidlat Tahimik, 1977) 118. HOODLUM (Bill Duke, 1997) 119. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (Céline Sciamma, 2019)

Monday, March 11 120. BLIND BEAST (Yasuzō Masumura, 1969) 121. KURONEKO (Kaneto Shindō, 1968) 122. SOUTHLAND TALES (Richard Kelly, 2006)

Tuesday, March 12 123. WE OWN THE NIGHT (James Gray, 2007)

Wednesday, March 13 124. YOUR TURN: JURY SERVICE IN NEW YORK STATE (Harold Gold, 2016) (short) 125. JURY SERVICE AND FAIRNESS: UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE OF IMPLICIT BIAS (Jennifer Dworkin, 2021) (short) 126. MOTHRA (Ishirō Honda, 1961) 127. JIGOKU (Nobuo Nakagawa, 1960) 128. HORRORS OF MALFORMED MEN (Teruo Ishii, 1969)

Thursday, March 14 129. CHINESE BOX (Wayne Wang, 1997) 130. MOON WARRIORS (Sammo Hung, 1992)

Friday, March 15 131. BETWEEN THE LINES (Joan Micklin Silver, 1977)

Saturday, March 16 132. LAST ACTION HERO (John McTiernan, 1993)

Sunday, March 17 133. EL FANTASMA DEL CONVENTO (aka THE PHANTOM OF THE MONASTERY) (Fernando de Fuentes, 1934) 134. CARNIVAL OF SOULS (Herk Harvey, 1962)

Monday, March 18 135. REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (Tsai Ming-liang, 1992) 136. DAYS OF BEING WILD (Wong Kar-wai, 1990)

Tuesday, March 19 137. LOVE LIES BLEEDING (Rose Glass, 2024)

Wednesday, March 20 138. THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS (Roberto Rossellini, 1950) 139. WALPURGIS NIGHT (Gustaf Edgren, 1935)

Thursday, March 21 140. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (Wong Kar-wai, 2000)

Friday, March 22 141. 2046 (Wong Kar-wai, 2004)

Saturday, March 23 142. SHERLOCK: THE SIGN OF THREE (Colm McCarthy, 2014)

Sunday, March 24 143. HISTORY OF THE OCCULT (Cristian Ponce, 2020)

Monday, March 25 144. HOLY WEAPON (Wong Jing, 1993) 145. WEST INDIES: THE FUGITIVE SLAVES OF LIBERTY (Med Hondo, 1979)

Tuesday, March 26 146. THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM (Ken Russell, 1988)

Wednesday, March 27 147. DOUBLES CAUSE TROUBLES (Wong Jing, 1989)

Friday, March 29 148. LE SAMOURAÏ (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)

Saturday, March 30 149. HEARTBEAT 100 (Kent Cheng Jak-Si, Lo Kin, 1987) 150. DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (John McTiernan, 1995)

Sunday, March 31 151. IT’S A DRINK! IT’S A BOMB (David Chung, 1985)

APRIL

Monday, April 1 152. THE ROMANCING STAR (Wong Jing, 1987)

Wednesday, April 3 153. FULL MOON IN NEW YORK (Stanley Kwan, 1989)

Friday, April 5 154. SHE AND HER CAT (Makoto Shinkai, 1999) (short) 155. SCOOP (Philip Martin, 2024)

Saturday, April 6 156. DUNE: PART TWO (Denis Villenueve, 2024) (rewatch)

Thursday, April 11 157. BOYS ARE EASY (Wong Jing, 1993)

Sunday, April 14 158. THE DRAGON FROM RUSSIA (Clarence Yiu-leung Fok, 1990)

Monday, April 15 159. CIVIL WAR (Alex Garland, 2024)

Wednesday, April 17 160. O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA (Ezra Edelman, 2016) 161. WANDERERS (Erik Wernquist, 2014) (short)

Friday, April 19 162. COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY (Peter Chan, 1996)

Monday, April 22 163. DUVIDHA (Mani Kaul, 1973)

Tuesday, April 23 164. LUCA GUADAGNINO'S CHALLENGERS (Luca Guadagnino, 2024)

Sunday, April 28 165. NIGHT TIDE (Curtis Harrington, 1961)

Monday, April 29 166. CINEMANIA (Stephen Kijak, Angela Christlieb, 2002)

Tuesday, April 30 167. MY NEXT GUEST WITH DAVID LETTERMAN AND JOHN MULANEY (Michael Steed, 2024)

MAY

Wednesday, May 1 168. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1946)

Thursday, May 2 169. LOVE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE (Stanley Fung, 1988)

Friday, May 3 170. PERFECT BLUE (Satoshi Kon, 1997)

Saturday, May 4 171. I SAW THE TV GLOW (Jane Schoenbrun, 2024) 172. THE FALL GUY (David Leitch, 2024)

Saturday, May 11 173. FAREWELL, CHINA (Clara Law, 1990) 174. MILLENNIUM ACTRESS (Satoshi Kon, 2001)

Sunday, May 12 175. KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (Wes Ball, 2024)

Monday, May 13 176. TIME OF THE HEATHEN (Peter Kass, 1961) 177. ROCK ALL NIGHT (Roger Corman, 1957)

Wednesday, May 15 178. CHUNGKING EXPRESS (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)

Thursday, May 16 179. ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS (Roger Corman, 1957)

Saturday, May 18 180. THE MAD MONK (Johnnie To, 1993) 181. DIVA (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1981) 182. DRESSED TO KILL (Brian De Palma, 1980)

Sunday, May 19 183. THE KING OF COMEDY (Martin Scorsese, 1982) 184. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (Amy Heckerling, 1982) (rewatch) Monday, May 20 185. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF WILLIE BINGHAM (Matthew Richards, 2015) (short)

[dr-archeville]

This weekend (Friday, July 21st to Sunday, July 23rd, 2023) at the Carolina Theatre of Durham, it’s Retro's Criterion Collection Film Series!

The Criterion Collection is a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films. Since 1984 Criterion has aimed to reflect the breadth of filmed expression. It tries not to be restrictive or snobby about what kinds of films are appropriate. An auteur classic, a Hollywood blockbuster, and an independent B horror film all must be taken on their own terms. All Criterion asks is that each film in the collection be an exemplary film of its kind.

Featuring:

Ron Shelton's Bull Durham (1988)

Terrence Mallick's Days of Heaven (1978)

David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1988)

Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love (2000) [in Cantonese w/ English subtitles]

Andrew Lau Wai-keung & Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs (2002) [in Cantonese w/ English subtitles]

Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror (1975)  [in Russian w/ English subtitles] Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious (1946)

Jean Cocteau's Orpheus (1950) [in French w/ English subtitles]

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006) [in Spanish w/ English subtitles]

Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980)

Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story (1953) [in Japanese w/ English subtitles]

Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue (1993) [in French w/ English subtitles]

Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) [in Japanese w/ English subtitles]

Movie tickets are $12.00 each, or you can get a 10-pack for $100.  Check here for schedule.

“Along with the City of Durham, we have made major investments in the Carolina Theatre for the comfort and safety of our guests during our closure,” says Randy McKay, the Carolina Theatre’s President & CEO. “That includes tens of thousands of dollars in new state of the art HVAC upgrades from Global Plasma Solutions (GPS) that remove biohazards, pollen, and other contaminants to make our air as pure — and sometimes purer — than outdoor air.”  The theater has also earned a Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC) STAR™ accreditation for its cleaning practices to ensure that guests have a safe and enjoyable experience.  “Together, these cleaning practices and advanced air filtration make the Carolina Theatre one of the safest spaces to attend a film or live event in the region,” says McKay.  [source]

Carolina Theatre of Durham 309 W. Morgan St., Durham, NC http://www.carolinatheatre.org/

[byneddiedingo]

Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

Cast: Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Valerie Chow, Piggy Chao, Kwan Lee-Na, Huang Zhiming, Zhen LIang, Zuo Songshen. Screenplay: Wong Kar-Wai. Cinematography: Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau. Production design: William Chang. Film editing: William Chang, Kai Kit-Wai, Kwong Chi-Leung. Music: Frankie Chan, Michael Galasso, Roel A. García. 

The American title, Chungking Express, may echo Josef von Sternberg's 1932 Marlene Dietrich classic Shanghai Express, but it resembles that film only in the presence in both of a blond femme fatale -- and in Wong Kar-Wai's film the blond is one only by virtue of a wig. The translated title -- the original meant something like "Chungking Forest" or "Jungle" -- fuses the film's two major settings: the Chungking Mansions, a low-rent building in Hong Kong, and the Midnight Express, a sandwich shop that provides the linkage between the film's two segments. The first part deals with the infatuation of a young police detective, He Qiwu, aka Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro), with the woman in the blond wig (Brigitte Lin), who is mixed up in a drug-smuggling scheme that goes awry. The second part tells the story of Cop 663 (Tony Leung), and his involvement with Faye (Faye Wong), a young woman who works the counter at the sandwich shop. You might say that Chungking Express begins in the world of film noir and ends in that of romantic (and slightly screwball) comedy, but Wong's film transcends the simplicity of genres. As in his masterly In the Mood for Love (2000), Wong is dealing with characters on the brink of an uncertain future, but with a much lighter touch than the later film. The performances are uniformly fine. Faye Wong, a Hong Kong pop star, brings the quirky character of the young Shirley MacLaine to her role, but with a much greater fragility. Like MacLaine, she has been unfairly labeled with the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stereotype. The extraordinary cinematography is by Christopher Doyle and Wai-Keung Lau.

TAKESHI KANESHIRO Chungking Express (1994)

[editingkeyboard]

Future Cops (1993) / Dir. Wong Jing, Cinematography by Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

[byneddiedingo]

Brigitte Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro in Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai, 1994)

Cast: Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Valerie Chow, Piggy Chao, Kwan Lee-Na, Huang Zhiming, Zhen LIang, Zuo Songshen. Screenplay: Wong Kar-Wai. Cinematography: Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau. Production design: William Chang. Film editing: William Chang, Kai Kit-Wai, Kwong Chi-Leung. Music: Frankie Chan, Michael Galasso, Roel A. García. 

The American title, Chungking Express, may echo Josef von Sternberg's 1932 Marlene Dietrich classic Shanghai Express, but it resembles that film only in the presence in both of a blond femme fatale -- and in Wong Kar-Wai's film the blond is one only by virtue of a wig. The translated title -- the original meant something like "Chungking Forest" or "Jungle" -- fuses the film's two major settings: the Chungking Mansions, a low-rent building in Hong Kong, and the Midnight Express, a sandwich shop that provides the linkage between the film's two segments. The first part deals with the infatuation of a young police detective, He Qiwu, aka Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro), with the woman in the blond wig (Brigitte Lin), who is mixed up in a drug-smuggling scheme that goes awry. The second part tells the story of Cop 663 (Tony Leung), and his involvement with Faye (Faye Wong), a young woman who works the counter at the sandwich shop. You might say that Chungking Express begins in the world of film noir and ends in that of romantic (and slightly screwball) comedy, but Wong's film transcends the simplicity of genres. As in his masterly In the Mood for Love (2000), Wong is dealing with characters on the brink of an uncertain future, but with a much lighter touch than the later film. The performances are uniformly fine. Faye Wong, a Hong Kong pop star, brings the quirky character of the young Shirley MacLaine to her role, but with a much greater fragility. Like MacLaine, she has been unfairly labeled with the Manic Pixie Dream Girl stereotype. The extraordinary cinematography is by Christopher Doyle and Wai-Keung Lau.

[scenesandscreens]

Chungking Express (1994)

Director - Wong Kar-Wai, Cinematography - Christopher Doyle & Lau Wai-Keung

"Actually, really knowing someone doesn't mean anything. People change. A person may like pineapple today and something else tomorrow."

[film-cult]

Infernal Affairs (2002) dir. by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

[vibe-stash]

Chungking Express (1994)

Director: Wong Kar Wai Cinematography: Christopher Doyle, Andrew Lau Wai Keung Production Design: William Chang Suk Ping Art Direction: Alfred Yau Wai Ming

[movie-shot-stash]

INFERNAL AFFAIRS (2002)

Mou gaan dou (original title)

Cinematography by: Yiu-Fai Lai & Wai-Keung Lau

Directors: Wai-Keung Lau & Alan Mak

[wendoscillatewildly]

風雲雄霸天下 The Storm Riders pt.1

Origin: Hong Kong  Genre: Wuxia Fantasy Director: Lau Wai-keung Andrew Cast: Cheng Yee-Kin Ekin, Kristy Yang, Kwok Fu-shing Aaron, Shu Qi, Chiba Shinichi

[darringauthier]

Infernal Affairs (2002)

Classic Film Review

Genre: Action/Drama/Thriller

Who’s In It: Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Eric Tsang, Anthony Wong, Kelly Chen

Who Directed It: Andrew Lau Wai-Keung+Alan Mak

Plot:  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.

Running Time: 1 Hour 41 Minutes 

IMDB Score: 8.1

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics 94%   Audience 95%

Viewing Experience: I rented this knowing very little but it got great reviews and it was in my wheelhouse.  I should mention yes this film is from Hong Kong, so it’s foreign and it has sub-titles, please don’t ever watch the dubbed versions of films trust me reading is fun.

Also I should bring up yes this film was remade into a Hollywood Epic called the Departed, I haven’t seen the Departed cause I don’t need to cause I love Infernal Affairs the way it is.  I would like to make this point the film is 1 hour and 41 minutes the remake Hollywood style is 2 hours and 31 minutes.  I rest my case here.

The film is so well written and so tight it takes you’re breath away, the plot seems like it could be very slow and brooding but this film just keeps going and there’s some scenes that are just so well filmed and acted it’s amazing.  For me the best scene is the cell phone scene, film making at it’s best.

The thing I liked about Infernal Affairs is that it took me by surprised, sure it had good reviews but this was an instant classic for me.  The set up is simple but the thing the film does is never judges either lead, both are flawed and both are lost and they are truly two sides of the same coin.  The film is thrilling but also it has a very human element the directors did a very tough and tricky thing they made a character based thriller and they do it very well.  

Like I mentioned early everything is good to great across the board, the score, the acting it’s just  a very well made film.

I should also mention this got turned into a trilogy, there’s a sequel and prequel, neither in my opinion is as good as the first, the prequel I disliked the third which is the sequel is good but not great.

Standing: For me it’s a classic and like I said look at the numbers but I feel because it’s a foreign film many people haven’t seen it and if they’ve seen The Departed they feel they don’t have to see this one.  You could call it a cult classic but for me it’s a great film so it’s a Classic.

[cadwalladery]

# 16 - Infernal Affairs (Andrew Lau & Alan Mak, 2002)