Rach on Film: Infernal Affairs vs The Departed

Heeeeey! Ya found me!

Yep, this my first post as Rach On Film (though all my previous Rach’s Media Opinions post are still here). Why did I change? Because :)

So, just prior to my 4-Week Subtitle Sensation I purchased the Infernal Affairs trilogy. It took a while, but I finally watched it. Naturally it blew me away, but it also got me thinking about The Departed. I knew that the stories were very, very similar (except that one involves the Triads and the other the Irish Mob) but I found them SO similar that it’s actually changed the way I see The Departed.

Let me explain. When I first saw The Departed, I was suitably blown away. The story was ingenious, the acting superb, and the direction masterful. As with most Scorsese films, the brilliance was in the smaller details. After watching it, I found myself going back over it over and over again in my head. It’s a sign of a great film when it sits in your mind and refuses to leave you be. So, what the fuck am I whining about?

Simple. Most of the things that utterly impressed me about The Departed appear in the original Infernal Affairs. My favourite plot twists, the joking dialogue about if you’re looking at the gangsters but pretending to do something else then you’re a cop, the entire cinema scene, all of them were written by the original writers (Alan Mak and Felix Chong). It leads me to form the opinion that Master Scorsese should not have won Best Director and the film should not have won Best Film.

Now, before you all lynch me, I’m not saying Scorsese doesn’t deserve AN Oscar, we all know he’s been robbed time and time again. I just feel that this wasn’t the movie he should have won it for. And yes, the film is brilliant, but I have incredibly strong feelings about what movies deserve awards and what don’t. Number 1 on my list of attributes a “Best” film should possess is originality. If that means that no remake should ever be eligible, then so be it.

Or maybe I just prefer Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai to Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio.