Overview
Chinese Name：无间道
English Name：Infernal Affairs，Wu Jian Dao
Director: Andrew Lau 刘伟强, Alan Mak 麦兆辉
Screenwriter: Alan Mak 麦兆辉 , Felix Chong 庄文强
Starring: Andy Lau 刘德华， Tony Leung 梁朝伟， Anthony Wong 黄秋生， Eric Tsang 曾志伟
Release Year：2002
Running time : 101 Minutes
Brief Introduction of Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs 无间道（Mou gaan dou) is 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.
Infernal Affairs is a 2002 Hong Kong action thriller film co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Jointly written by Mak and Felix Chong, it stars Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen. The film follows a police officer who infiltrates a Triad, and another officer secretly working for the same gang. It is the first in the Infernal Affairs series and is followed by Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III.
In 2003, the film won the best film award of the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards and the best film of the 40th Taiwan Film Golden Horse Awards. With this film, Liang Chaowei won the best actor award of the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards
Plot of Infernal Affairs
As the scenes opens, Sam (Eric Tsang), the leader of the Triad Society, trains and releases a group of young men to join the police force as spies. Out of all his trainees, Ming is the most successful and lives up to his obligation as Sam’s informant. He successfully rises up the ranks and wins the respect of many in the police force.
Yan, on the other hand, shows potency as a young recruit in the police force only to be expelled in his early years in the force. This happens only as a cover-up for him to work as Wong’s informant in the Triad Society. Wong (Anthony Wong), the police superintendent, and Yip, the police-training academy principal, remain to be the masterminds behind Yan’s undercover job and they are the only people he reports to. Yip later dies and Wang becomes the only person aware of Yan’s undercover job.
All seems to go well until an incident happens that raises suspicion of moles on either side. The police led by Wang, cuts short a meeting between Sam and a Thai drug dealer. Sam is however well informed of the interruption and his men cover-up any kind of evidence of the drug deal. Both Sam and Wang come to a common conclusion; there are spies working among them.
Ming follows up a secret meeting between Yan and Wang, and sends Sam’s gangsters to confront them. Inspector B (Gordon Lam), Ming’s subordinate, also follows up the meeting and sends a Hong Kong Police squad to his rescue, but Wang dies in the confrontation. Yan escapes unhurt but Ming tracks him through Wang’s cell phone. They arrange a meeting and agree to set Sam up through a drug deal. Their plan is successful leading to Sam’s death and the arrest of most of his gang members.
Yan goes back to the police department, a fulfillment of his desires, while Ming assumes a normal life. For Ming, this is a great achievement but another problem arises. Yan discovers he was a mole working for Sam in the police department . His desire is to erase any evidence that he worked for Sam, and all other illegal activities connected to him from the pastor. He wants to be clean. Yan’s discovery comes in as an obstacle to achieve his goals hence, plans to eliminate him.
They both agree to meet on the same building Wang was killed. They finally meet, and after Yan disarm Ming and hold a gun on his head; Inspector B comes to his rescue by unexpectedly shoots and kills Yan. He then informs Ming that he is also Sam’s spy. It becomes clear to Ming that Yan is not the only person aware of his state; he therefore kills Inspector B to clean all traces of evidence about his past life.
Accolades of Infernal Affairs
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Udine Far East Film Festival | Audience Award | Won |
| Asia Pacific Film Festival | Best Sound | Won |
| 46th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Won |
| Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Grand Prix | Nominated |
| 40th Golden Horse Awards | Best Picture | Won |
| Best Director | Won | |
| Best Actor | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Won | |
| Best Sound Effects | Won | |
| Viewer’s Choice Award | Won | |
| 9th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards | Film of Merit | Won |
| Best Actor | Won | |
| 8th Golden Bauhinia Awards | Best Picture | Won |
| Best Director | Won | |
| Best Actor | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Won | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Won | |
| 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | Won |
| Best Director | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Won | |
| Best Actor | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Won | |
| Best Film Editing | Won | |
| Best Original Film Song | Won |
Film Review of Infernal Affairs
An excellent game of cat and mouse…but who’s the cat and who is the mouse?!
IMDb
Infernal Affairs hangs on the operatic confrontation of cop and villain that feels a little like the great De Niro-Pacino face-off in Michael Mann’s Heat. But for my money, it’s got something more elusive and complex than Mann ever achieved.
The Guardian
With gloss as well as depth, this super-stylish Asian crime thriller should play beyond UK arthouses to become more than another cult favourite.
Empire