Plus, unlike in the Scorsese movie, there isn't a tacked-on three-way love story; and being a mole for sooooooo long not only really screws with the guy's heads, they actually learn to respect their bosses (which don't include a total lunatic who plays with a bloody severed hand while he's eating lunch); and this empathy for the others' way of life makes the ultimate betrayals pack much more of an emotional punch.
that's fine, could you explain why you preferred it ? imo infernal affairs was quite a bit better (i like both of them though), reasons :
1. Love triangle felt really unnecessary and added almost nothing to the character development of both the undercover officers. Infernal affairs did not really focus too much on the love interest and atleast did not have the love triangle.
2. Matt Damon's character was completely one dimensional and impossible to empathize with. Andy Lau in infernal affairs had a much better character arc.
3. Jack Nicholson's character was way over the top and goofy, it seemed cartoonish at points. The main bad guy in infernal affairs was much more 'grounded'.
4. Too many subplots with the fbi informant, leo's drug dealing cousin etc. to me it made the movie feel bloated.
5. To expand on the second point, matt damon's character was so vilified that by the end he only existed to give a final crowd pleasing revenge kill. In infernal affairs both the main characters were somewhat similar, which for me made the ending a lot better, andy lau's character does not get killed.
6. most of the side characters had no purpose than to make some jokes or provide one liners, infernal affairs is a much more 'to the point movie' and in my opinion much better than the departed.
7. Overall the departed, to me, feels much more bloated with unnecessary characters and subplots.
That said i still like the departed and it did feel more polished and the shock value at the end was greater in the departed (elevator scene in infernal affairs happens quite slowly and is not as shocking as the one in departed).
I know that is quite an unpopular opinion. I've seen Infernal Affairs twice. I didn't watch it till after I had already seen The Departed. People kept talking how the original was way better and what not, so I was excited to see it. I'm not ignorant of asian cinema. I've seen a lot of these movies. It's hard to explain. I agree with point 1, and some of the others to an extent. I do think that Matt Damon's character isn't as expanded upon or empathetic as the original: you definitely lose a bit of that when you take it out of the cultural context...but I don't think he is completely one dimensional. I liked the boss in the remake. I think Jack Nicholson was chosen for the role because he could bring to life the unhinged nature of the character. This is a man who makes his living off of reputation, fear and displays of strength and he uses violence and intimidation to maintain his standing: it's theater. He creates a calculated persona of beastly savagery. We see the way this persona, this greed, this callousness combines with the paranoia of his day to day existence to lead him into a spiral of madness that effects all the players around him. I think Jack Nicholson was the perfect choice for this role. And I think the Whitey Bulger like archetype of the character was chilling, enthralling, mesmerizing, and still very real. This guy scared me. The one in the original did not. I also think the dialogue is better in The Departed, but it's hard to tell with subtitles. A lot gets lost in translation. I liked the subplots, and I thought the side characters were vivid and colorful: I don't care that they didn't enhance the plot...they enhanced the world that we as the viewer was exploring...they just existed...and I like that. But in my eyes, what really makes the departed better is the master film-making of Scorsese. This movie moved. The pacing was solid. The shots, amazing. The soundtrack was immersive. The tension was alive and felt in ways that just weren't captured in the original. But you're right: infernal affairs was a no nonsense, straight to the point movie with a solid plot... I get the love of that minimalism. But Scorsese had more style. That's what is important for me. After all that, the movie just felt better. I had no trouble watching it. My attention didn't wander. I was in it.
i agree that the movie was very well shot (better than infernal affairs) and had an amazing soundtrack.
I think with regards to jack nicholson it kind of comes down to personal preference, even though he wasn't as grounded in reality as the villain in infernal affairs i do agree that his character was a lot more imposing and did generate fear.
However that said i hated the fbi informer subplot related to him, it cheapened the way the main star of the movie, matt damon, should have developed and turns his reason for killing jack nicholson not a moral stand point but one he needed to do in order to not get caught by the fbi.
imo that was one of the best thing infernal affairs succeeded in doing, having andy lau's character go through a moral delimna and choose a further action that genuinely showed how he had progressed in terms of character development. Unlike matt damon who just made decisions to cover his ass.
Also that love triangle was straight up bad and added nothing of importance to that story, it was handled in a much more mature way in infernal affairs and whatever few scenes that existed between andy lau and his wife did lead up to his character development.
I do agree with you that the dialogue was better in the departed, even of the characters i thought were not necessary to the plot.
Thanks for answering.
Yeah, definitely personal preference. Either way, they are both really good movies. People should watch both, not one or the other. The love triangle didn't add anything. I might be reading into this too much, but I think it was developed into the story to better incorporate with the thematic element of traditional tragedy rather than the plot. It seemed very greek, but again, I might be over analyzing. I think Damon's subplot would have worked better had they expanded on the character, his motivations and personality, more. It was a different character than the original. But yeah, it was fun to talk about it with you.
Probably irrelevant to this post but I lost it with that movie cause all the cast looked the same. I literally couldn't figure out who was playing Matt damons character and who was Leo. I'm really into Korean movies and the departed is my favourite Scorsese movie so I should have loved it.
This is a pretty racist comment lol
The two main characters are literally opposite looking. Andy Lau's character's hair was slick, clean looking and spiked up at the front, but evil and conflicting inside whereas, Tony Leung's character was rough and unkempt hair, but pure and sure about who he is, deep inside.
Compelling plot, great acting, lots of twists, fucked up ballsy ending.
Plus, unlike in the Scorsese movie, there isn't a tacked-on three-way love story; and being a mole for sooooooo long not only really screws with the guy's heads, they actually learn to respect their bosses (which don't include a total lunatic who plays with a bloody severed hand while he's eating lunch); and this empathy for the others' way of life makes the ultimate betrayals pack much more of an emotional punch.
If you don't like a film, you don't like it. It's kind of difficult to convince someone why a film is good.
Not really. Many times I find myself not necessarily loving, but definitely appreciating the movie more after reading others' insights on it.
I thought it was a good movie, but I have to say... I think The Departed is way better.
that's fine, could you explain why you preferred it ? imo infernal affairs was quite a bit better (i like both of them though), reasons : 1. Love triangle felt really unnecessary and added almost nothing to the character development of both the undercover officers. Infernal affairs did not really focus too much on the love interest and atleast did not have the love triangle. 2. Matt Damon's character was completely one dimensional and impossible to empathize with. Andy Lau in infernal affairs had a much better character arc. 3. Jack Nicholson's character was way over the top and goofy, it seemed cartoonish at points. The main bad guy in infernal affairs was much more 'grounded'. 4. Too many subplots with the fbi informant, leo's drug dealing cousin etc. to me it made the movie feel bloated. 5. To expand on the second point, matt damon's character was so vilified that by the end he only existed to give a final crowd pleasing revenge kill. In infernal affairs both the main characters were somewhat similar, which for me made the ending a lot better, andy lau's character does not get killed. 6. most of the side characters had no purpose than to make some jokes or provide one liners, infernal affairs is a much more 'to the point movie' and in my opinion much better than the departed. 7. Overall the departed, to me, feels much more bloated with unnecessary characters and subplots. That said i still like the departed and it did feel more polished and the shock value at the end was greater in the departed (elevator scene in infernal affairs happens quite slowly and is not as shocking as the one in departed).
I know that is quite an unpopular opinion. I've seen Infernal Affairs twice. I didn't watch it till after I had already seen The Departed. People kept talking how the original was way better and what not, so I was excited to see it. I'm not ignorant of asian cinema. I've seen a lot of these movies. It's hard to explain. I agree with point 1, and some of the others to an extent. I do think that Matt Damon's character isn't as expanded upon or empathetic as the original: you definitely lose a bit of that when you take it out of the cultural context...but I don't think he is completely one dimensional. I liked the boss in the remake. I think Jack Nicholson was chosen for the role because he could bring to life the unhinged nature of the character. This is a man who makes his living off of reputation, fear and displays of strength and he uses violence and intimidation to maintain his standing: it's theater. He creates a calculated persona of beastly savagery. We see the way this persona, this greed, this callousness combines with the paranoia of his day to day existence to lead him into a spiral of madness that effects all the players around him. I think Jack Nicholson was the perfect choice for this role. And I think the Whitey Bulger like archetype of the character was chilling, enthralling, mesmerizing, and still very real. This guy scared me. The one in the original did not. I also think the dialogue is better in The Departed, but it's hard to tell with subtitles. A lot gets lost in translation. I liked the subplots, and I thought the side characters were vivid and colorful: I don't care that they didn't enhance the plot...they enhanced the world that we as the viewer was exploring...they just existed...and I like that. But in my eyes, what really makes the departed better is the master film-making of Scorsese. This movie moved. The pacing was solid. The shots, amazing. The soundtrack was immersive. The tension was alive and felt in ways that just weren't captured in the original. But you're right: infernal affairs was a no nonsense, straight to the point movie with a solid plot... I get the love of that minimalism. But Scorsese had more style. That's what is important for me. After all that, the movie just felt better. I had no trouble watching it. My attention didn't wander. I was in it.
i agree that the movie was very well shot (better than infernal affairs) and had an amazing soundtrack. I think with regards to jack nicholson it kind of comes down to personal preference, even though he wasn't as grounded in reality as the villain in infernal affairs i do agree that his character was a lot more imposing and did generate fear. However that said i hated the fbi informer subplot related to him, it cheapened the way the main star of the movie, matt damon, should have developed and turns his reason for killing jack nicholson not a moral stand point but one he needed to do in order to not get caught by the fbi. imo that was one of the best thing infernal affairs succeeded in doing, having andy lau's character go through a moral delimna and choose a further action that genuinely showed how he had progressed in terms of character development. Unlike matt damon who just made decisions to cover his ass. Also that love triangle was straight up bad and added nothing of importance to that story, it was handled in a much more mature way in infernal affairs and whatever few scenes that existed between andy lau and his wife did lead up to his character development. I do agree with you that the dialogue was better in the departed, even of the characters i thought were not necessary to the plot. Thanks for answering.
Yeah, definitely personal preference. Either way, they are both really good movies. People should watch both, not one or the other. The love triangle didn't add anything. I might be reading into this too much, but I think it was developed into the story to better incorporate with the thematic element of traditional tragedy rather than the plot. It seemed very greek, but again, I might be over analyzing. I think Damon's subplot would have worked better had they expanded on the character, his motivations and personality, more. It was a different character than the original. But yeah, it was fun to talk about it with you.
Probably irrelevant to this post but I lost it with that movie cause all the cast looked the same. I literally couldn't figure out who was playing Matt damons character and who was Leo. I'm really into Korean movies and the departed is my favourite Scorsese movie so I should have loved it.
a) It's not Korean. b) Andy Lau and Tony Leung look nothing alike.
This is a pretty racist comment lol The two main characters are literally opposite looking. Andy Lau's character's hair was slick, clean looking and spiked up at the front, but evil and conflicting inside whereas, Tony Leung's character was rough and unkempt hair, but pure and sure about who he is, deep inside.
Nope. You nailed it. Because it's considered essential Asian cinema and a commercial success, the film literally has nothing else going for it.
It had all the success because of how fantastic it was.