"Infernal Affairs" gives me the feeling that it is a rare all-round excellence, from the intense drama conflict from the plot to the psychological double line, from the tension and the soothing mature rhythm control that gives the characters the opportunity to dig deep into the heart, to the few The excellent performance of the group acting skills of the actors, and even the soundtrack feels just right. Cai Qin's "Forgotten Time" and the sentimental "Goodbye to the Police" sounded in a form that was closely integrated with the important moments of the plot, giving people a sense of hearing. The feeling of walking around the beam for three days. In fact, as a movie with two-way inner ghosts as the plot, Liu and Mai did not play the "suspense" card, but told you who was the undercover and who was the inner ghost, and turned the plot into dramatic conflicts and characters. Deep psychological excavation, which increases the difficulty of creating viewing pleasure for the film, but also raises the quality of the film to a higher level because it successfully achieves its purpose. "Infernal Affairs" is very successful in excavating people's sense of loss of identity, and this depends on the excellent performance of the two actors Andy Lau and Tony Leung, and what is interesting is that the two of them are performed in a style that matches their respective roles. .
Tony Leung played Chen Yongren, who worked hard in the gang, naturally with a kind of irritability and frankness that has been nurtured and infected in this environment for a long time. Therefore, his communication with the leader Huang Sir is also straightforward, and his anxiety is all in his words and temper. Fully demonstrated, and the branch line with the psychiatrist can also express his inner desire for peace and the weakness of gaining identity. In contrast, Liu Jianming is a member of the police station and has a high political consciousness. Therefore, he does not have the opportunity to express his anxiety frankly like Chen Yongren. The contrast of the happiness of the marriage hall at your fingertips shows his embarrassment in itself. Andy Lau's performance is very restrained. For example, after Huang was murdered, he had a conversation with Han Chen, from indifferently asking why he did so, to after hanging up the phone, the expression in front of the camera and the slight changes in his eyes showed his anxiety. And what's interesting is here, two people who are supposed to be a policeman and a gangster, exchange their positions, which leads to the exchange of characters and emotions. In contrast, the sense of psychological conflict is stronger. But despite their different positions, the two point to a seemingly consistent line: being a good person. However, from Chen Yongren's heart, we can feel his integrity from the heart, his pain, his sacrifice, and his bravery, all of which have finally created a sympathetic and sad image of a good policeman. As for Liu Jianming's choice of "good man", the film also highlights the essence of its realism from multiple angles. What to choose between a police executive with a bright future and a controlled and possibly disgraced inner ghost, it is obvious that he The cowardice and viciousness are also fully reflected.
The ending of Infernal Affairs is regrettable, but in movies, the art of regret is often more perfect. The Liu Mai combination, however, is not ready to end here, but begins to advance towards the series. And in Infernal Affairs 2, you'll find that the sequel was a success, not that it was better than Infernal Affairs, but that it did a better job than people expected. The success of "Infernal Affairs 2" positioned as a prequel is that it is an upward continuation of the style and temperament of "Infernal Affairs". Chen Yongren's story is even more tragic. He originally wanted to be a good policeman, but he had a background he didn't want to face. So, before he fell into this infernal path, he had already endured an identity crisis and wanted to abandon the tradition of gangsters and join the police. Jie, who knew it, was thrown back into this identity purgatory by chance, and its fate was even more embarrassing. And Liu Jianming and the character of "Infernal Affairs" also have an evolutionary process, starting from willful and irritable, to because of an emotional entanglement and betrayal with the eldest woman, his transformation process has brought himself and more others a tragic fate . In this sequel, the most amazing and most supportive of the film is a character, an actor, that is Ni Yongxiao played by Wu Zhenyu, from the moment he appeared on the stage to deal with the underworld senior who was about to rebel, to the massacre after four years of forbearance The type of revenge, the composure and viciousness are all vividly displayed by Wu Zhenyu. Yes, Ni Yongxiao's character and the plot surrounding him are very similar to "The Godfather", but Wu Zhenyu still showed his personality and interprets the rise and fall of a Hong Kong godfather with his outstanding personality. His performance is worthy of praise!
In fact, the release time between "Infernal Affairs 2" and "Infernal Affairs 3" is very short, and the filming is basically the same period, which also makes me feel a little puzzled, why the quality of "Infernal Affairs 3" has declined at a landslide level, so that the quality It is difficult to classify it as a series with the previous two works. This time, the Liu-Mai group has engaged in a two-threaded time-staggered narrative, as well as schizophrenia. The elements are very fresh, but they are very unskilled. Just looking at the flashbacks that don't stop between the two parallel lines, it's abrupt and abrupt, and the whole film is "scattered" by the structure of the flashes. Liu Mai seems to want to create a sense of fate, so he also created a classmate of Chen Yongren, Yang Jinrong. In the end, Yang Jinrong died in this case. It seems that everything has returned to the original point, but Yang Jinrong and the line including Shen Cheng and the beginning of "Infernal Affairs" The main lines seem too separated to make me feel integrated. In "Infernal Affairs 3", the Liu Mai combination also played suspense and reversal, but unfortunately, I was dazed by the constant flashbacks, and I really couldn't feel how wonderful this "suspense" was.
In "Infernal Affairs 2" and "Infernal Affairs 3", the Liu Mai group also tried to integrate a background of the times, such as the return of Hong Kong in "Infernal Affairs 2", the mainland forces in "Infernal Affairs 3", It should be said that the interaction between the era background and Ni Yongxiao's fate in "Infernal Affairs 2" still strongly sets off the atmosphere. And the last "reversal" in "Infernal Affairs 3" makes people feel broken. In this regard, it is not as successful as the later "Underworld". When it comes to "Underworld", which was released in succession from 2005 to 2006, compared with "Infernal Affairs" released in succession from 2002 to 2003, the former focuses on the conspiracy within the underworld itself, with a cold and dark style, while the second part of the latter also involves these contents. But there are more complex conflicts around the police, and the style is full of tragic beauty. And the actors are also very interesting. "Infernal Affairs" gathers stars such as Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Huang Qiusheng, Zeng Zhiwei, and Wu Zhenyu, while "Underworld", except for Lin Jiadong, basically brings together stars such as Gu Tianle, Ren Dahua, Zhang Jiahui and so on. It is interesting to watch the two films together from the story to the star.
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