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Infernal Affairs Vs. the Departed

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Infernal Affairs Vs. the Departed Paige Dahlke 12/7/15 Asian 156 Prof. Ka Wong Chinese Gangsters VS the Irish Mafia Infernal Affairs vs. the Departed The creative vision of a filmmaker determines the overall product. This is why Martin Scorsese is able to recreate Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s film, Infernal Affairs, in his own style. He does this in his film, the Departed. The American version is almost an exact remake of the original Chinese film, but because of Scorsese’s cultural and stylistic inspirations, they can be differentiated from one another. Production techniques as well as plot elements and character traits are slightly altered from one version to the other, but are these differences enough? Both films have the same basic storyline: a gangster goes undercover as a cop and vice versa. However, plot elements and character traits differentiate the two. One of the most prominent differences is that the characters in the Departed are more developed. The two undercover characters in Infernal Affairs, Inspector Lau and Chen, lead much more mysterious lives than their counterparts in the American film, Collin Sullivan and Billy, because of this. Also, rather than having separate love interests for the leads, Scorsese chooses to have them both fall for the psychiatrist. By doing this, he is able to develop her character, give her more screen time, and make her more important for the storyline. Unfortunately, her role in the storyline is merely to reassure the masculinity of the two leads while simultaneously giving them another reason to be adversaries by means of a love triangle. This causes the storyline to become sexualized. The original version is focused on crime and the psychological effects of being undercover, but Scorsese’s version puts that on the backburner. Where the psychological tension thrives in Lau and Mak’s film, Scorsese’s utilizes gore and foul language. In part, this is why it is harder to feel sympathetic for Colin Sullivan; his inner turmoil isn’t shown nearly as clearly as it is for his counterpart, Inspector Lau. Sullivan also dies in the end, but Lau is left to live in guilt for the remainder of his life. In terms of the filmmaking techniques used, the two films also vary. For one, the pacing in Lau and Mak’s film is much faster; it runs just under an hour shorter than the Departed. The splicing together of Infernal Affairs is focused on getting the storyline across in a time efficient way, where as Scorsese takes his time and uses it to further develop the characters in his film. The soundtracks are different; Infernal Affairs features Chinese action movie/ pop music, while the Departed utilizes loud rock music and some songs with an Irish bar song feel. This music blends with their location choices: Hong Kong and Boston. Additionally, emotional music is used more so in the Chinese version; Scorsese prefers to utilize silence to make the violence more poignant. This is noticeable in both the elevator death scene and the scene in which the sergeant falls from the roof. On another note, in the Chinese version there are black and white flashbacks and in the American an iris effects is used. American and Chinese filmmakers differ stylistically. The American remake is more focused on masculinity, sex, violence, and justice while the Chinese original is based on loyalty, honor, and betrayal. In the theater scene, for example, one version shows a nice, classic looking film, whereas the other displays porn. The sexualized nature of the Departed aligns with the sexualized movie industry of the United States. Infernal Affairs isn’t nearly as focused on sex and violence, which is reflected in their in the film. Scorsese adapted the film to his style and culture, but he earned more credit for it than he was due. He won multiple academy awards for the Departed, but Infernal Affairs wasn’t even nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film. Granted, the ending is different, there is one female lead rather than two, and there is the extra character of Dignam, but the storylines are simply too similar. .
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