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 It’s never safe to assume anything, but I would wager that most serious film fanatics have already seen Martin Scorsese’s 2006 Oscar-hopeful, The Departed. If you haven’t, you really should. I do feel that it is an exceptional film with great acting and I wish Scorsese much luck on Oscar night. If he wins for The Departed, he will end his Susan Lucci-like streak of being overlooked, and it’s a great enough film that I wouldn’t consider it a guilt vote.
What many people don’t realize is that The Departed is a remake. To top it off, it’s not simply a remake of one movie, but three – The Infernal Affairs trilogy.
“How’d I miss three movies?” you ask yourself. Don’t tax your brain too hard. These never came to your local megaplex. This series comes straight outta Hong Kong, and while they were all critically acclaimed, Infernal Affairs never got a wide release in the states. Thankfully, Dragon Dynasty and the Weinstein Co. have seen fit to rectify this by releasing The Infernal Affairs Trilogy box set day-and-date with the DVD debut of The Departed. Now they can properly be examined, enjoyed and critiqued by anyone interested.
For those unfamiliar with the story, it goes something like this: There are two men training to be police officers. One man, Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung, In The Mood For Love, Hero), is approached by his superiors and somewhat forced into working as an undercover agent due to his prior history with the Triads. Another recruit, Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau, House Of Flying Daggers) continues to work for the department after he graduates, eventually reaching Inspector rank. His real dubious nature is that he is actually a plant from gang leader Hon Sam (Eric Tsang) – the same mafia boss that Yan is a mole for.
 Nearly ten years after Yan’s “expulsion” from the academy, he is still undercover, and during a botched drug deal, it becomes clear to both Sam and the police that they each have moles in their midst, but neither Sam or SP Wong Chi Shing (Anthony Wong, Black Mask) have any clue to their identities. The film follows both anti-heroes as they try to outwit each other, while still pretending their allegiance to both the department and the mafia. Their paths cross constantly, and they are each frequently near-exposed but remain one-step ahead of eachother until their final epic meeting atop a Hong Kong sky rise.
Essentially a subdued, but still stylized Hong Kong gangster epic, Infernal Affairs easily stands above any average example of the genre. Its plot is fun, its characters interesting, and it moves at an incredible pace. After watching it - and the impressive conclusion - you might not think there is much left to say about the Infernal Affairs universe, but the filmmakers obviously thought otherwise.
 The second film, cleverly titled Infernal Affairs 2, is actually a prequel. This chapter focuses on the time between Yan first going undercover and the main story arc of the first film. Many new supporting characters are introduced, but the real heart of the story is watching Yan and Lau follow the path that leads to their already revealed fates. But that is only the blueprint. Along with that we also get to see cinema akin to Mann’s Heat as we follow a great deal of Hon Sam’s personal life, his wife, and a rival triad boss who proves to be a burden to both him and the police. In following private time, this film carries with it a very different tone than the first. The action takes a much larger step back so that the narrative, along with a great deal of back-story that helps explain why the characters act as they do in the first film, can take center stage. Knowing their fates ahead of time only makes the film serve up much more impact, although it does also kill off some potential surprises and suspense.
 Finally, the trilogy closes with Infernal Affairs 3, which takes the middle ground, showing all different points in time, but mostly the weeks leading up to the finale of the first film and the events that follow it. The highlights of this final chapter are the return of Tony Leung playing Yan, and Kelly Chen as Dr. Lee, Yan’s therapist, last seen in the first film. The relationship between Yan, Lau and Dr. Lee is integral to the plot, as Dr. Lee becomes the viewer - trying to discern what is good and what is evil, and if it’s okay to do evil things if they are meant to bring good results. The “infernal affair” between the three characters is the film’s poetic center, and it isn’t made any less so in this chapter. It’s near impossible to delve too much into the film without spoiling it, especially since it hinges on the dénouement of the first film, but Infernal Affairs 3 is as exceptional as series finales can get. If you are going to see Infernal Affairs 2, you owe it to yourself to finish off the series right and get the whole story.
The Departed runs considerably longer than the first Infernal Affairs film, and that’s because it not only remade it, but took from the others as well. For as jumbled a prospect as that must have been on paper, a damn fine movie came to fruition. But the Infernal Affairs trilogy is three epic films, tightly edited and incredibly revealing to its characters. Anyone who loved The Departed absolutely should see all three of the films that inspired it.
 The DVD Presentation
All three films look fantastic. With the oldest film having only aged five years, this shouldn’t surprise anyone, but based on some of the materials in the extras, it appears as though at least some remastering has been done. Surround sound is available for all three films in their original Cantonese language, and each film also has an English dub. However, only on the first Infernal Affairs film is it 5.1. The sequels are 2.0. I strongly suggest listening to the original tracks, though. I spot-checked the dubs, and they could have been considerably worse, but they don’t come close to the impact the Cantonese audio delivers. All three films have English and Spanish subtitles. You can’t complain about the presentation on any of these.
For those who may be curious, the first Infernal Affairs film was released on Miramax DVD way back in 2004 before The Departed was on anyone’s radar. It’s that same disc that is included here. Thankfully, it’s a good disc, but it does make the cases inconsistent with the otherwise stylistically designed sequels. Still… minor issue, at best.
And the Extras Are?
Infernal Affairs -
The Making of Infernal Affairs – (15:19)
It’s somewhat comforting that fluffy extras are not exclusive to American films. This set of interviews with the cast doesn’t really reveal anything except for the plot. I imagine this was an Entertainment Tonight! type piece for Asian television.
Confidential File: Behind-the-scenes look at Infernal Affairs – (6:03)
This is merely a collection of the cast and crew when not lost in their work.
Alternate Ending – (2:53)
For those familiar with the ending used in the film, this ending is the same until the moment that Inspector Lan steps off of the elevator. It makes for a more crowd pleasing, yet more predictable ending.
International Trailer – (2:19)
Original Chinese Trailer – (1:46)
Watching these two trailers together is interesting. The international trailer is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. The voice-over narration is appalling, sounding like something from a Charles Band film. The Chinese trailer has no subtitles, and is anamorphic, but of very low video quality. That said, the Chinese trailer still kicks all sorts of ass over the alternative. It’s great to have both included.
SneakPeaks – trailer gallery –
An added bonus, we get trailers for Hero (1:51), The Blind Swordsman Zatoichi (1:09) and a 25th Anniversary spot for Miramax (2:10) all of which are non-anamorphic. Nothing worth your time.
Infernal Affairs 2
Feature Commentary with the filmmakers and cast –
This commentary is in Cantonese with English subtitles. If you are willing to listen through it, there are lots of neat things that are discussed, but most of them you can gather by simply watching the film. It surprises me that a similar feature wasn’t done for Infernal Affairs 3.
Deleted Scenes – (11:41)
There are seven deleted scenes in all. Presented in non-anamorphic widescreen, none of these scenes are particularly important (and the sound mixing wasn’t completed on some of them, with a lot of noise on the audio) but it is nice they are included for those interested.
The Making of Infernal Affairs 2 – (21:54)
While still somewhat fluffy, this is considerably more interesting than the feature on the first film. All of the main actors are back to talk about the film, how it differs from the first Infernal Affairs, and what the plot and characters mean to them. A decent watch for the fan.
Confidential File – (5:41)
This isn’t considerably different than the feature on the first disc. After a blessing for the production, we see some glimpses of the actors practicing their scenes.
Teaser Trailer – (1:44)
Theatrical Trailer – (2:57)
Trailers don’t get classier than this. The teaser does a great job in promoting Infernal Affairs 2, with it’s usage of quotes from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. The full trailer delivers heavy with the drama that the sequel/prequel packed in. Too bad neither of these are anamorphic.
Infernal Affairs 3
The Making of Infernal Affairs 3 – (12:02)
Another meaty installment is covered by a great making-of. Particularly interesting about this one is the added benefit of the interview with Kelly Chen and the different mannerisms that the same characters carry in this chapter. The dissection of the chapter’s new villain makes for an added bonus.
Teaser Trailer #1 – (0:45)
Teaser Trailer #2 – (2:05)
Theatrical Trailer – (2:51)
Once again, all three of the trailers are cool, although the teasers definitely assume that you know who these characters are merely by glance. Although quotes like “On December 12th, what the whole world is waiting for…” make me believe that most of Asia could recognize them by glance. Good stuff.
 The Bottom Line
If you’ve seen The Departed, you really should take the time to see where it comes from. Personally, I think that it is a better film than Infernal Affairs, but on its whole as a trilogy, the story is much more fleshed and much more satisfying. With decent extras and great audio and video, I can’t recommend The Infernal Affairs Trilogy enough. And if you already own the first Infernal Affairs DVD, Dragon Dynasty has seen it fit to release Infernal Affairs 2 & Infernal Affairs 3 individually.
Three great movies at less than $40 retail… GET THIS SET!
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