“Infernal Affairs” A historical masterpiece that brings back the spirit and passion of Hong Kong movies of yesteryear *Note! Contains spoilers.

The last all-star blockbuster from the Hong Kong film industry

``Infernal Affairs'' was released at the same time as director Zhang Yimou's martial arts action `` HERO '' (box office gross of HK$26 million) and the comedy ``Golden Rooster'' starring Sandra Ng (box office gross of HK$1,700 million). HK$ 10,000,000) and succeeded in attracting young audiences who had been away from the movie theaters due to factors such as the proliferation of pirated copies. In the end, it became a mega-hit with a box office gross of HK$55 million, close to the HK$60 million that Shaolin Soccer , which was released the previous year, achieved. Furthermore, immediately after its release, they announced an unusual "trilogy concept" comparable to " The Godfather " (1972-90), and " Infernal Affairs" depicting the Intolerance period from 1991 to 1997. ” (03), which leads to “ Infernal Affairs: Shuukoku Mugen ” (03), which takes place 10 months after the first film.

In this way, while the film was a success in Hong Kong, the big wall of mainland Chinese censorship stood in its way. The story, in which police officer Yang loses his life and Lau, a member of the black community, survives, was never about good or bad. As a result, although the ending in which Lau is arrested was filmed, it was ultimately decided not to release it in China due to the fact that it was different from the purpose of the film and its connection to the third film. However, it goes without saying that pirated versions of the Hong Kong release version have been circulating).

“Infernal Affairs: Endless” preview

Furthermore, the entire Hong Kong film industry was hit hard by the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which began shaking the world in early 2003. Therefore, in order to produce an all-star blockbuster like this one, we found ourselves in a situation where we had to take the position of a joint production with mainland capital, with a view to releasing it in China. In other words, it has become essential to always keep censorship in mind when making films, such as ``the black community cannot be depicted as heroic beings'' or ``the public security police are portrayed as a competent organization.'' It is.

Although ``Infernal Affairs'' went through many twists and turns after its release, it is a film that should go down in film history as the original version of the Oscar-winning film `` The Departed Departed,'' and as the last all-star blockbuster released by the Hong Kong film industry. I can say that.

Text: Hibiki Kurei

Born in Tokyo in 1971. While attending university, won the quiz show "Cult Q" (a B-grade movie). After that, he worked as a variety show producer and an editorial staff member for Yosensha's ``Eiga Hiho'' before becoming a freelancer. Currently, as a film critic, he contributes to film magazines, information magazines, websites, theater programs, etc. He is also active as a writer in a wide range of fields, and has been writing a serialized culture column for the Hong Kong Post, a local newspaper in Hong Kong, for over 20 years.

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“[Great value! 】 Infernal Affairs''

Blu-ray & DVD now on sale

Blu-ray: ¥2,750 (base price ¥2,500)

DVD: ¥1,980 (base price ¥1,800)

Publisher: Culture Publishers

Seller: Pony Canyon

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