Crime films , in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film , but also include comedy , and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as mystery , suspense or noir .
101-408: Infernal Affairs II is a 2003 Hong Kong crime - action film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak . It is a prequel to the 2002 film Infernal Affairs . Anthony Wong , Eric Tsang , Edison Chen , Shawn Yue and Chapman To reprise their roles from the original film alongside new cast members Carina Lau , Francis Ng , Hu Jun and Roy Cheung . Neither Andy Lau nor Tony Leung , who played
202-527: A triad and another police officer who is secretly a spy for the same triad. It is the first in the Infernal Affairs series and is followed by Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III (both 2003). At the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards , Infernal Affairs won seven out of the sixteen awards it was nominated for—including Best Film , Best Director , Best Actor (Leung), and Best Supporting Actor (Wong). It also won in those categories at
303-416: A Hollywood feature went from $ 20,000 in 1914 to $ 300,000 in 1924. Silver and Ursini stated that the earliest crime features were by Austrian émigré director Josef von Sternberg whose films like Underworld (1927) eliminated most of the causes for criminal behavior and focused on the criminal perpetrators themselves which would anticipate the popular gangster films of the 1930s. The groundwork for
404-478: A broader category called "film type", mystery and suspense as "macro-genres", and film noir as a "screenwriter's pathway" explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. Chinatown would be an example of a film that is a drama (film type) crime film (super-genre) that is also a noir (pathway) mystery (macro-genre). The definition of what constitutes a crime film is not straightforward. Criminologist Nicole Hahn Rafter in her book Shots in
505-505: A change signaled by films like Chinatown (1974) and The Wild Bunch (1969) noting that older genres were being transformed through cultivation of nostalgia and a critique of the myths cultivated by their respective genres. Todd found that this found its way into crime films of the 1980s with films that could be labeled as post-modern , in which he felt that "genres blur, pastiche prevails, and once-fixed ideals, such as time and meaning, are subverted and destabilized". This would apply to
606-575: A conservative era. For crime films, this led to various reactions, including political films that critiqued official policies and citizen's political apathy. These included films like Missing (1982), Silkwood (1983), and No Way Out (1987). Prison films and courtroom dramas would also be politically charged with films like Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) and Cry Freedom (1987). While films about serial killers existed in earlier films such as M (1931) and Peeping Tom (1960),
707-458: A cop while Lau has erased his criminal connections. At police headquarters, Chan and Lau meet for the first time. As Lau prepares to reinstate Chan into the police force, Chan deduces that Lau was the mole and leaves promptly. Realising what had happened, Lau takes possession of Chan's police identity file to use as leverage to dissuade Chan from exposing him. Chan meets with Lee, the only person left whom he can trust, and convinces her that he truly
808-454: A crooked shell" and portrayed gangsters who showcased the "romantic mystique of the doomed criminal." The 1940s formed an ambivalence toward the criminal heroes. Leitch suggested that this shift was from the decline in high-profile organized crime, partly because of the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 and partly because of the well-publicized success of the FBI. Unlike the crime films of the 1930s,
909-479: A desperate overture to Thai mafioso Paul for an alliance. Paul attempts to shoot Hon; the gun misfires. Hau also sends a man to kill Mary, but Lau kills him to save Mary. The police release Hau, who kills Law after discovering Law's wire . Chan saves Hau from a drive-by shooting , possibly conducted by Lau. Hau has a car bomb planted in Wong's car, which kills Wong's superior and friend, Superintendent Luk, while Wong
1010-421: A dialogue scene. Gordon Lam did not receive the full script and did not know his character was also a triad mole until the final scene. The script for Infernal Affairs originally belonged to Andy Lau's Teamwork Motion Pictures , but due to the company's entanglement in a lawsuit at the time, it was unable to produce the film. In addition, the creative team could not find investors because other studios at
1111-484: A film described as "crime/ action " or an "action/crime" or other hybrids was "only a semantic exercise" as both genres are important in the construction phase of the narrative. Mark Bould in A Companion to Film Noir stated that categorization of multiple generic genre labels was common in film reviews and rarely concerned with succinct descriptions that evoke elements of the film's form, content and make no claims beyond on how these elements combine. Leitch, stated that
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#17327913977051212-403: A lift, but is shot in the head by Big B. Big B then reveals to Lau that he is also a mole planted by Hon, and assures Lau of his loyalty. When they ride the lift down to the ground floor, Lau kills Big B. Six months later, Lee discovers records of Chan's identity as an undercover cop and he is buried with honours beside Wong. Lau salutes Chan at his funeral. Meanwhile, the internal affairs case
1313-491: A locker of the Hollywood Athletic Club. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) consolidated a tendency to define criminal subculture as a mirror of American culture. The cycle of caper films were foreshadowed by films like The Killers (1946) and Criss Cross (1949) to later examples like The Killing (1956) and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Leitch wrote that these films used the planning and action of
1414-684: A mobster known as The Snapper Kid. Regeneration (1915) was an early feature-length film about a gangster who saved from a life of crime by a social worker. These two early films and films like Tod Browning 's Outside the Law (1920) that deal with the world of criminal activity were described by Silver and Ursini as being gangsters "constrained by a strong moral code". Stuart Kaminsky in American Film Genres (1974) stated that prior to Little Caesar (1931), gangster characters were in films were essentially romances . European films of
1515-535: A psychopathic personality." Drew Todd in Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society described the character as different than films featuring rebellious characters from the 1940s and 1950s, with a character whose anger is directed against the state, mixed with fantasies of vigilante justice. Films like Dirty Harry , The French Connection and Straw Dogs (1971) that presented a violent vigilante as
1616-470: A remake of The Defiant Ones (1958). The cycle generally slowed down by the mid 1970s. Prison films closely followed the formulas of films of the past while having an increased level of profanity, violence and sex. Cool Hand Luke (1967) inaugurated the revival and was followed into the 1970s with films like Papillon (1973), Midnight Express (1978) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979). When Ronald Reagan became president in 1980, he ushered in
1717-413: A robbery todramatize the "irreducible unreasonableness of life." The themes of existential despair made the these film popular with European filmmakers, who would make their own heist films like Rififi (1955) and Il bidone (1955). Filmmakers of the coming French New Wave movement would expand on these crime films into complex mixtures of nostalgia and critique with later pictures like Elevator to
1818-422: A rooftop to discuss Hon's next drug shipment as well as Chan's fear of being uncovered. Hon learns about Wong's location from Lau and sends his henchmen to confront them. Chan escapes from the building while Wong tries to distract the gangsters but ends up being thrown off the roof to his death. Just then, the police show up and a shootout ensues. Henchman Keung, unaware that Chan is the mole, chauffeurs him away from
1919-615: A rookie cop, due to tips on criminal dealings from Hon. Meanwhile, Chan has become a small-time gangster after his and Keung's release from prison. Chan's girlfriend aborts their baby due to his gang association. Hau invites Chan to join the Triad, then tells the Big Four and Hon that he wants to emigrate, leaving them the Hong Kong underworld. Hau sends Hon to Thailand to link up with Thai cocaine smugglers, Hon leaves despite Mary's warning of
2020-420: A savior. By the mid-1970s, a traditional lead with good looks, brawn and bravery was replaced with characters who Todd described as a "pathological outcast, embittered and impulsively violent." Hollywood productions began courting films produced and marketed by white Americans for the purpose of trying to attract a new audience with blaxploitation film. These films were almost exclusively crime films following
2121-630: A television series, and attracted the attention of Hollywood . In 2003, Brad Pitt 's production company Plan B Entertainment acquired the rights for a Hollywood remake, named The Departed , which was directed by Martin Scorsese , written by William Monahan , starred Leonardo DiCaprio , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , Mark Wahlberg , Martin Sheen , Ray Winstone , Vera Farmiga , and Alec Baldwin , set in Boston , Massachusetts, and roughly based on
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#17327913977052222-488: A trap. Mary meets Wong; it is revealed that Wong ordered her to kill Kwun. Hau's right-hand-man, Law, an undercover cop, tips off the next deal of Hau's. There, the police arrest Hau, but instead of finding drugs, they find a video located by Hau's hired private investigators, showing Mary and Wong's conspiracy to murder Kwun. Simultaneously, Hau's men assassinate the Big Four. Mary admits the truth about Kwun to Hon. Spooked, Hon and Keung kill many Thai mafia. Trapped, Hon makes
2323-627: Is a cop. Chan then sends a CD to Lau's address containing a recording of Lau's earlier meeting with Hon. Lau's fiancée, Mary, inadvertently listens to the CD and discovers Lau's secret. Chan arranges to meet with Lau on the same rooftop where Wong was killed. There, he disarms Lau and points a pistol to his head. Lau states calmly that he wants to start over as a good person, but Chan rejects his plea to help him conceal his criminal past. Inspector "Big B" arrives and points his gun at Chan, ordering him to release Lau. Chan holds Lau hostage at gunpoint and backs into
2424-459: Is a cop. Meanwhile, Lau appreciates his life as a respected police officer and wants to sever his ties with the triad. Lau is tasked by Hon to identify the cop who infiltrated the triad; coincidentally, he is also assigned by the HKPF to lead the mission to uncover the triad's mole within their ranks. He uses his new role to have Wong surveilled, hoping to catch him meeting his mole. Wong meets Chan on
2525-402: Is a style of crime film that originated from two cinematic precursors: the gangster film and the gentleman thief film. The essential element in these films is the plot concentration on the commission of a single crime of great monetary significance, at least on the surface level. The narratives in these films focus on the heist being wrapped up in the execution of the crime more or at as much as
2626-470: Is actually more a recolonization than a decolonization of the capitalist Cantonese city by the mainland Mandarin master." Infernal Affairs opens with Buddhist classic Nirvana Sutra Verse Nineteen, stating that "The worst of the Eight Hells is called Continuous Hell. It has the meaning of Continuous Suffering. Thus the name." The film also closes with another quote from Buddha , stating that "He who
2727-533: Is better, but the Hollywood version is pretty good too. [Scorsese] made the Hollywood version more attuned to American culture." Andy Lau, one of the main actors in Infernal Affairs , when asked how the movie compares to the original, said: " The Departed was too long and it felt as if Hollywood had combined all three Infernal Affairs movies together." Lau pointed out that the remake featured some of
2828-566: Is closed after they conclude that Big B was the mole in the police force. A flashback shows the day that Chan was ostensibly expelled from the police academy, with Lau looking back with guilt and wishing he was the one expelled instead. An alternate ending for the film was shot in order to comply with Article 25 (7) of the Chinese Film Administration Regulations specifying that films cannot propagate obscenity, gambling or violence, or abet to commit crimes. In
2929-423: Is different just as crime are different than horror, science fiction and period drama films. Rafter also suggested that Westerns could be considered crime films, but that this perception would only be "muddying conceptual waters." The history of the crime film before 1940 follows reflected the changing social attitudes toward crime and criminals. In the first twenty years of the 20th Century, American society
3030-625: Is due to become Hon's prospective spy within the Hong Kong Police Force, assassinates Hon's Triad boss, Ngai Kwun, in a mission for Hon's wife, Mary, who wants Hon to rise up the triad ranks. Mary tells Lau to keep her order secret from all, including Hon. With Kwun dead, the Big Four triad underbosses intend to stop paying their dues to the Ngai family, but Kwun's successor and son Ngai Wing-Hau manipulates them to continue by blackmailing them on their mutual betrayals. As Lau enlists in
3131-598: Is in Continuous Hell never dies. Longevity is a big hardship in Continuous Hell." In Buddhism, Continuous Hell is also termed The Avici , where one can never reincarnate nor be relieved from guilt and suffering. This concept of timeless, placeless, and endless suffering especially applies to the character Lau throughout the trilogy, who infinitely bears the burden of self-betrayal (serves as a mole), loss of family and friendship, and unsettledness. Upon its premiere in Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs grossed $ 160,356 during
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3232-502: Is set for a remake for a two-picture deal Lau, Tsang, and Jacky Cheung parodied the cinema scene to promote the Hong Kong Film Awards . Lau and Tsang, in their respective characters, go through the scene where they meet to gather info on the undercover cop amongst Hon Sam's gang. Lau Kin-ming asks Hon, "Why do we always meet in a cinema?", to which Hon answers, "It's quiet. No one comes to movies". Cheung comes out from
3333-456: Is unharmed. Lau hides Mary in a safehouse. When she rejects his romantic advances and attempts to travel to Thailand for Hon, Lau anonymously betrays her to Hau's men, who kill her at Kai Tak Airport . Lau is promoted to Probation Inspector; Chan is a full-fledged triad member. Hon has a new wife and child in Thailand. Wong admits guilt of conspiracy to murder to an internal investigation, but
3434-919: The 2003 Hong Kong Film Awards , it could not match its predecessor's success. The film won only one award, Best Original Film Song, for the song "長空" (performed by Cantopop band Beyond ). The film won the Best Film award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards . 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards 10th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Crime film Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his Screenwriters Taxonomy , claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in
3535-775: The 40th Golden Horse Awards and 8th Golden Bauhinia Awards . The film was selected as Hong Kong's entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards but was not nominated. Miramax Films acquired the United States distribution rights and gave it a limited US theatrical release in 2004. Martin Scorsese remade the film in 2006 as The Departed , which won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Academy Award for Best Director , Scorsese's first and only Oscar in his career, and Best Adapted Screenplay . A 4K remaster of
3636-640: The British Board of Film Censors or conveyed mostly through narration. Box-office receipts began to grow stronger towards the late 1960s. Hollywood's demise of the Hays Code standards would allow for further violent, risqué and gory films. As college students at the University of Berkeley and University of Columbia demonstrated against racial injustice and the Vietnam, Hollywood generally ignored
3737-503: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935), promoted bigger budgets and wider press for his organization and himself through a well-publicized crusade against such real world gangsters as Machine Gun Kelly , Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger . Hoover's fictionalized exploits were glorified in future films such as G Men (1935). Through the 1930s, American films view of criminals were predominantly glamorized, but as
3838-583: The Infernal Affairs trilogy was released on 12 December 2022, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Infernal Affairs . Hon Sam, a Hong Kong triad boss, sends Lau Kin-ming, a young gangster, to the police academy to become his mole in the Hong Kong Police Force . Around the same time, cadet Chan Wing-yan is ostensibly expelled from the police academy, but is actually selected to be an undercover cop reporting only to Superintendent Wong Chi-shing, who sends him to infiltrate Hon's triad. Over
3939-1045: The Western film as they lack both the instantly recognizable or the unique intent of other genres such as parody films. Leitch and Rafter both write that it would be impractical to call every film in which a crime produces the central dramatic situation a crime film. Leitch gave an example that most Westerns from The Great Train Robbery (1903) to Unforgiven (1992) often have narratives about crime and punishment, but are not generally described as crime films. Films with crime-and-punishment themes like Winchester 73 (1950) and Rancho Notorious (1952) are classified as Westerns rather than crime films because their setting takes precedence over their story. Alain Silver and James Ursini argued in A Companion to Crime Fiction (2020) that "unquestionably most Western films are crime films" but that that their overriding generic identification
4040-438: The gangster film as both a genre on its own terms and a subgenre of the crime film. In these films, the gangster and their values have been imbedded through decades of reiteration and revision, generally with a masculine style where an elaboration on a codes of behavior by acts of decisive violence are central concerns. The archetypal gangster film was the Hollywood production Little Caesar (1931). A moral panic followed
4141-598: The identity crisis suffered by both Chan and Lau as moles hint at the struggle of Hong Kong residents, who faced both the colonization by the British and the reunification with Mainland China . Specifically, under Deng Xiaoping 's one country, two systems policy, the duplicity, unsettling, and uncertain nature of the future of Hong Kong residents is tightly echoed in Chan and Lau's character developments. Scholar Howard Y. F. Choy further claimed that "this postcolonial (re)turn
Infernal Affairs II - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-636: The "golden quotes" of the original but did have much more swearing. He ultimately rated The Departed 8/10 and said that the Hollywood remake is worth a view, though according to Lau's spokeswoman Alice Tam, he felt that the combination of the two female characters into one in The Departed was not as good as the original storyline. Media Asia released a limited edition of eight-DVD set of the Infernal Affairs trilogy in an Ultimate Collectible Boxset ( 無間道終極珍藏DVD系列(8DVD套裝) ) on 20 December 2004. Features included an online game and two Chinese novelisations of
4343-612: The 1940s films were based more on fictional tales with gangsters played by Paul Muni in Angel on My Shoulder (1946) and Cagney in White Heat (1949) were self-consciously anachronistic. Filmmakers from this period were fleeing Europe due to the rise of Nazism. These directors such as Fritz Lang , Robert Siodmak , and Billy Wilder would make crime films in the late 1930s and 1940s that were later described as film noir by French critics. Several films from 1944 like The Woman in
4444-689: The 1980s had an emphasis on the serial nature of their crimes with a larger number of films focusing on the repetitive nature of some murders. While many of these films were teen-oriented pictures, they also included films like Dressed to Kill (1980) and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and continued into the 2000s with films like Seven (1995), Kiss the Girls (1997), and American Psycho (2000). In an article by John G. Cawelti titled " Chinatown and Generic Transformations in Recent American Films" (1979), Cawleti noticed
4545-596: The 1990s with films like Wild at Heart (1990). Quentin Tarantino would continue this trend in the 1990s with films where violence and crime is treated lightly such as Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Natural Born Killers (1994) while Lynch and the Coens would continue with Fargo (1996) and Lost Highway (1997). Other directors such as Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet would continue to more traditional crime films Goodfellas , Prince of
4646-443: The 2004 TVB television drama Shades of Truth were re-writings based on the plot of the film. In Taiwan SHODA ( 劉裕銘 ) and a secondary school student Blanka ( 布蘭卡 ) cut and rearranged the original film and inserted new sound tracks to produce their videos Infernal Affairs CD pro2 and Infernal Affairs iPod on the web. The videos had many views and both producers removed their videos after receiving cease and desist letters from
4747-522: The 21st century. Being the most critically acclaimed film of his to date, it was ranked No. 30 in Empire ' s "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2019. Infernal Affairs gained significant traction during its festival run as it was nominated for sixteen awards during the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards , winning seven of those categories. It also won the Best Picture at the 40th Golden Horse Awards ,
4848-403: The 62nd Best Movie of 2004, 86th Most Discussed Movie of 2004, and the 95th Most Shared Movie of 2004. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a three-out-of-four star rating and described Infernal Affairs as offering "rare emotional depth." In his words, "The movie pays off in a kind of emotional complexity rarely seen in crime movies. I cannot reveal what happens but will urge you to consider
4949-686: The 8th Golden Bauhinia Awards , and the Best Foreign Language Film at the 46th Blue Ribbon Awards . Eventually, Infernal Affairs would spark the creation of two more films, with Infernal Affairs II getting 11 nominations and Infernal Affairs III getting 7 nominations during the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards , with Infernal Affairs II winning Best Original Film Song. Composer: Ronald Ng Lyrics: Albert Leung Sung by: Tony Leung, Andy Lau With star power, visual allure, and an engaging script, Infernal Affairs did very well critically and financially, spawned two sequels and
5050-498: The American crime film which began rejecting linear storytelling and distinctions between right and wrong with works from directors like Brian de Palma with Dressed to Kill and Scarface and works from The Coen Brothers and David Lynch whose had Todd described as having "stylized yet gritty and dryly humorous pictures evoking dream states" with films like Blood Simple (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986) and would continue into
5151-522: The City (1980), Q & A (1990), and Casino (1995). Other trends of the 1990s extended boundaries of crime films, ranging from main characters who were female or minorities with films like Thelma and Louise (1991), Swoon (1991), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), Bound (1996) and Dolores Claiborne (1996). Every genre is a subgenre of a wider genre from whose contexts its own conventions take their meaning, it makes sense to think of
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#17327913977055252-794: The Gallows (1958), Breathless (1960) and Shoot the Piano Player (1960). Following the classical noir period of 1940 to 1958, a return to the violence of the two previous decades. By 1960, film was losing popularity to television as the mass form of media entertainment. Despite To The crime film countered this by providing material no acceptable for television, first with a higher level of onscreen violence. Films like Psycho (1960) and Black Sunday (1960) marked an increase in onscreen violence in film. Prior to these films, violence and gorier scenes were cut in Hammer film productions by
5353-695: The Group Power Workshop Limited ( 群體工作室 ), the Taiwan distributor of the film. The hi-fi shop scene was later recreated with additions of excerpts of the film to encourage businesses to join the Quality Tourism Services Scheme in Hong Kong. The success of the film inspired many genres, including an open-world video game from United Front Games titled Sleeping Dogs (or True Crime: Hong Kong before being canceled by Activision Blizzard in 2011), with
5454-660: The Mirror: Crime Films and Society (2006) found that film scholars had a traditional reluctance to examine the topic of crime films in their entirety due to complex nature of the topic. Carlos Clarens in his book Crime Movies (1980), described the crime film as a symbolic representation of criminals, law, and society. Clarens continued that they describe what is culturally and morally abnormal and differ from thriller films which he wrote as being more concerned with psychological and private situations. Thomas Schatz in Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and
5555-459: The Ngai family to tie up loose ends, despite Hon's reluctance. The murders turn Hon into a top criminal target for Wong. Undercover cop Chan joins Keung in Hon's triad, while Lau, Hon's police spy, handles a case for a young woman, Mary, his future fiancée, setting up the events of Infernal Affairs . The film's score was composed by Chan Kwong-wing . The theme song, Eternal Realm (長空; Changkong ),
5656-516: The Studio System (1981) does not refer to the concept of crime film as a genre, and says that "such seemingly similar "urban crime" formulas" such as the gangster film and detective film were their own unique forms. Thomas Leitch, author of Crime Films (2004) stated that the crime film presents their defining subject as a crime culture that normalizes a place where crime is both shockingly disruptive and completely normal. Rafter suggested
5757-529: The Thai mafia were allied with him; they kill John. Hon also proves that Paul is holding the rest of the Ngai family hostage in Hawaii. The police arrive as an infuriated Hau prepares to shoot Hon. Hon accepts his death as revenge for Hau to be killed or jailed for life. Wong shoots Hau to save Hon. As Hau dies in Chan's arms, he discovers Chan's wire. Wong laments the failure to imprison Hau. Paul insists on executing
5858-461: The Window , Laura , Murder, My Sweet and Double Indemnity ushered in this film cycle. These works continued into the mid-1950s. A reaction to film noir came with films with a more semi-documentary approach pioneered by the thriller The House on 92nd Street (1945). This led to crime films taking a more realistic approach like Kiss of Death (1947) and The Naked City (1948). By
5959-486: The best way to skirt complexities of various films that may be defined as crime films as works that focus primarily on crime and its consequences, and that they should be viewed as a category that encompasses a number genres, ranging from caper films , detective films, gangster films, cop and prison films and courtroom dramas. She said that like drama and romance film, they are umbrella terms that cover several smaller more coherent groups. The criminal acts in every film in
6060-601: The box office. The success of the film and its sequel The Godfather Part II (1974) reinforced the stature of the gangster film genre, which continued into the 1990s with films Scarface (1983), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990) and Donnie Brasco (1997). Dirty Harry (1971) create a new form of police film, where Clint Eastwood 's performance as Inspector Callahan which critic Pauline Kael described as an "emotionless hero, who lives and kills as affectlessly as
6161-436: The central roles in the original, appear in this film as they are replaced by their younger versions portrayed by Chen and Yue respectively. The events of the film take place from 1991 to 1997. It was followed by Infernal Affairs III (2003), which is both a sequel and a semi-prequel to the original film. Hong Kong Police Force Senior Inspector Wong Chi-Shing meets his Triad informant, Hon Sam. Meanwhile, Lau Kin-Ming, who
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#17327913977056262-431: The character of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle who Leitch described as a "tireless, brutal, vicious and indifferent" in terms of constraints of the law and his commanding officers. The film won several Academy Awards and was successful in the box office. This was followed in critical and commercial success of The Godfather (1972) which also won a Best Picture Academy Award and performed even better than The French Connection in
6363-429: The continual breakdown and re-establishment of borders among criminals, crime solvers and victims, concluding that "this paradox is at the heart of all crime films." Rafter echoed these statements, saying crime films should be defined on the basis of their relationship with society. Leitch writes that crime films reinforce popular social beliefs of their audience, such as the road to hell is paved with good intentions ,
6464-412: The crime film was following changing attitudes towards the law and the social order that criminals metaphorically reflect while most film were also no more explicitly violent or explicitly sexual than those of 1934. White Heat (1949) inaugurated a cycle of crime films that would deal with the omnipresent danger of the nuclear bomb with its theme of when being threatened with technological nightmares,
6565-554: The criminal psychology and are characterized by and emphasis on the crime unfolding often though montage and extended sequences. The genre is sometimes used interchangeable with the term "caper". The term was used for the more dramatic films of the 1950s, while in the 1960s, it had stronger elements of romantic comedy with more playful elements as seen in films like The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) and Topkapi (1964). Leitch described combining genres as problematic. Screenwriter and academic Jule Selbo expanded on this, describing
6666-680: The decade ended, the attitudes Hollywood productions had towards fictional criminals grew less straightforward and more conflicted. In 1935, Humphrey Bogart played Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), a role Leitch described as the "first of Hollywood's overtly metaphorical gangsters." Bogart would appear in films in the later thirties: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and The Roaring Twenties (1939). Unlike actor James Cagney , whose appeal as described by Leitch "direct, physical, and extroverted", Bogart characters and acting suggested "depths of worldly disillusionment beneath
6767-488: The department clears him so that he can take down the increasingly powerful Hau. Wong persuades Hon to return to Hong Kong to testify against Hau, as revenge for Mary. Hau is arrested, ruining his attempt to enter politics. Hon's testimony would threaten a short jail sentence for Hau. Chan later passes Wong decisive evidence against Hau. Triad member John has the Thai mafia take Hon's Thai wife and child hostage. Hon escapes witness protection and confronts Hau. Hon reveals that
6868-401: The end of the decade, American critics such as Parker Tyler and Robert Warshow regarded Hollywood itself as a stage for repressed American cultural anxieties following World War II. This can be seen in films such as Brute Force , a prison film where the prison is an existential social metaphor for a what Leitch described as a "meaningless, tragically unjust round of activities." By 1950,
6969-410: The evidence. After this incident, Wong and Hon realise they each have a spy within their own organisations, and race each other to uncover the moles. By this time, both Chan and Lau are struggling with their double lives. Chan is afraid he is turning into an actual criminal while also fearing his cover will be blown; he begins undergoing sessions with psychiatrist Lee Sum-yee and jokingly tells her that he
7070-442: The film series by Lee Muk-Tung ( 李牧童 ), titled 無間道I+II小說 and 無間道III終極無間小說. In 2009, a Korean remake City of Damnation , which was directed by Kim Dong-won was released on 22 January 2009. In 2009, a Telugu remake Homam , which directed and acted by JD Chakravarthy along with Jagapathi Babu was released and became a notable movie. In 2012, Double Face ( ダブルフェイス ), a Japanese television remake starring Hidetoshi Nishijima
7171-410: The film. On Rotten Tomatoes , Infernal Affairs has an approval rating of 94% based on reviews from 64 critics, with an average rating of 7.50/10. The consensus from the site reads as "Smart and engrossing, this is one of Hong Kong's better cop thrillers." On Metacritic , the film has a score of 75 out of 100 based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". It was ranked as
7272-456: The films' events, with some minor characters reprising their roles alongside a new cast. The TV series uses the same concept as the film, but with an entirely new story and characters, and the setting expanded beyond Hong Kong to include Thailand and Shenzhen . It stretched through three seasons with each season consisting of 12 episodes. Hindi remake is going to be a joint development between Warner Bros. India and Mumbai – based banner Azure and
7373-536: The gangster films of the early 1930s were influenced by the early 1920s when cheap wood-pulp paper stocks led to an explosion in mass-market publishing. Newspapers would make folk heroes of bootleggers like Al Capone , while pulp magazines like Black Mask (1920) helped support more highbrow magazines such as The Smart Set which published stories of hard-edged detetives like Carroll John Daly 's Race Williams. The early wave of gangster films borrowed liberally from stories for early Hollywood productions that defined
7474-627: The genre has been popular since the dawn of the sound era of film. Ursini and Silver said that unlike the Western, the horror film, or the war film, the popularity of crime cinema has never waned. Infernal Affairs Infernal Affairs is a 2002 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak from a screenplay written by Mak and Felix Chong . The film stars Andy Lau , Tony Leung , Anthony Wong , Eric Tsang , Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen . The film follows an undercover Hong Kong Police Force officer who infiltrates
7575-412: The genre represents a larger critique of either social or institutional order from the perspective of a character or from the film's narrative at large. The films also depend on the audience ambivalence towards crime. Master criminals are portrayed as immoral but glamourous while maverick police officers break the law to capture criminals. Leitch defined this as a critical to the film as the films are about
7676-566: The genre with films like Little Caesar (1931), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface (1932). In comparison to much earlier films of the silent era, Leitch described the 1930s cycle as turning "the bighearted crook silent films had considered ripe for redemption into a remorseless killer." Hollywood Studio heads were under such constant pressure from public-interest groups to tone down their portrayal of professional criminals that as early as 1931. Jack L. Warner announced that Warner Bros. would stop producing such films. Scarface itself
7777-526: The growing rage against the establishment spilled into portrayal police themselves with films like Bullitt (1968) about a police officer caught between mob killers and ruthless politicians while In the Heat of the Night (1967) which called for racial equality and became the first crime film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture . The French Connection (1971) dispensed Bullitt ' s noble hero for
7878-445: The law is above individuals, and that crime does not pay. The genre also generally has endings that confirm the moral absolutes that an innocent victim, a menacing criminal, and detective and their own morals that inspire them by questioning their heroic or pathetic status, their moral authority of the justice system, or by presenting innocent characters who seem guilty and vice-versa. Crime films includes all films that focus on any of
7979-415: The life of famed Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger . The Departed was released on 6 October 2006 by Warner Bros. Pictures and won four Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Adapted Screenplay for Monahan, and Best Director for Scorsese. Andrew Lau, the co-director of Infernal Affairs , who was interviewed by Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily , said: "Of course I think the version I made
8080-415: The lift. This alternate ending was shown in mainland China and Malaysia. Writer Alan Mak had long wanted to write a story about police and gangsters. The script of Infernal Affairs was inspired by John Woo 's Face/Off (1997) but Mak knew that its science fiction elements were too implausible in reality, so he focused on the exchange of identity and psychology between the two leads as its themes. In
8181-498: The main gangster Jody Jarrett fights fire with fire. These themes extended into two other major crime films by bring the issues down from global to the subcultural level: The Big Heat (1953) and Kiss Me Deadly (1955) which use apocalyptical imagery to indicate danger with the first film which the film persistently links to images of catastrophically uncontrolled power and the "traumatic consequences" of nuclear holocaust and Kiss Me Deadly literally features an atom bomb waiting in
8282-413: The next ten years, Chan is under great stress due to his questionable actions working undercover. Meanwhile, Lau quickly rises through the ranks, becoming a Senior Inspector . After successfully infiltrating the triad, Chan informs Wong of a transaction between Hon and some Thai cocaine dealers, which Wong's team interrupts. However, Lau alerts Hon, giving him enough time to get his henchmen to dispose of
8383-405: The only or first gangster film following the fall of the production code, The Godfather (1972) was the most popular and launched a major revival of the style. The film followed the themes of the genres past while adding new emphasis on the intricate world of the mafia and its scale and seriousness that established new parameters for the genre. The heist film, also known as the "big caper" film
8484-554: The opening day (16–19 January). In total, the film grossed $ 7,035,649 during its run in Hong Kong theatres. The film was then released across Asia, where it grossed a further $ 169,659 from theatre receipts. In 2016, South Korean theaters re-released the film, which went on to gross $ 128,026 across three weeks. The total lifetime gross of the film in Korea is $ 977,903. In total, worldwide, the film grossed $ 8,836,958 across release in both domestic markets and European theatres which displayed
8585-441: The original Hong Kong ending, Lau concealed his true identity as a triad spy and identified himself as a police officer to avoid punishment. Therefore, the original ending was deemed to promote criminal activity and injustice, and an alternate ending was filmed to make the film suitable for mainland China. In the alternate ending, Inspector Cheung discovers evidence of Lau's criminal activity and immediately arrests him when he gets off
8686-511: The police academy, another police cadet, Chan Wing-Yan, is fired from the academy upon the discovery that he is also a (illegitimate) son of Kwun's, despite his dissociation with the Ngais. The police tell Chan to meet Wong, who enlists Chan as an undercover cop after Chan relays his purpose of being a righteous man. Chan is imprisoned on fake criminal charges to get close to one of Hon's men, Keung, whom Chan helped arrest previously. Lau has risen as
8787-418: The process of Mak's creation, his good friend Felix Chong also encouraged and supported him. The script, written by Mak and revised by Chong, took three years to complete. The dialogue in the famous rooftop showdown was created on the spot by Felix Chong and Tony Leung, with Chong playing Andy Lau's part. The script originally included a typical shootout in the third act, but Leung insisted on turning it into
8888-553: The protagonist of the story infiltrating the criminal underworld as an undercover cop. The original film score for Infernal Affairs was written and performed by Chan Kwong-wing . The theme song, Infernal Affairs ( 無間道 ), was composed by Ronald Ng, lyrics provided by Albert Leung , and performed in Cantonese and Mandarin by Andy Lau and Tony Leung. Although not included in the soundtrack album, Tsai Chin 's song "Forgotten Times" ( 被遺忘的時光 ) features prominently in this film as
8989-434: The release of the early gangster films following Little Caesar , which led to the 1935 Production Code Administration in 1935 ending its first major cycle. As early as 1939, the traditional gangster was already a nostalgic figure as seen in films like The Roaring Twenties (1939). American productions about career criminals became possible through the relaxation of the code in the 1950s and its abolition in 1966. While not
9090-454: The scene but succumbs to a gunshot wound he sustained earlier. When the news reports that Keung was apparently an undercover cop, Hon assumes he was the mole. Using Wong's phone, Lau contacts Chan and convinces him to collaborate in taking Hon down. The police successfully foils Hon's subsequent drug deal and arrests his henchmen. Lau then betrays Hon and kills him. Everything seems to have fallen into place—Chan can revert to his true identity as
9191-504: The shadows behind them and says, "I don't know...quite a few people watch movies" and we see a slew of Hong Kong celebrities watching various clips of Hong Kong films on the screen. Originally Tony Leung was going to appear but scheduling conflicts led to the recasting. The 2003 TVB spoof celebrating the Chinese New Year called Mo Ba To ( 吐氣羊眉賀新春之無霸道 ), the 2004 comedy film Love Is a Many Stupid Thing by Wong Jing , and
9292-536: The silent era differed radically from the Hollywood productions, reflecting the post-World War I continental culture. Drew Todd wrote that with this, Europeans tended to create darker stories and the audiences of these films were readier to accept these narratives. Several European silent films go much further in exploring the mystique of the criminal figures. These followed the success in France of Louis Feuillade 's film serial Fantômas (1913). The average budget for
9393-410: The success of Shaft (1971) which led to studios rushing to follow it's popularity with films like Super Fly (1972), Black Caesar (1973), Coffy (1973) and The Black Godfather (1974) The films were often derivations of earlier films such as Cool Breeze (1972), a remake of The Asphalt Jungle , Hit Man (1972) a remake of Get Carter (1971), and Black Mama, White Mama (1973)
9494-474: The thoughts of two men who finally confront their own real identities—in the person of the other character." New York Times reviewer Elvis Mitchell was so enraptured with the film that he stated that " Infernal Affairs is so beautifully shot that the images occasionally distract you from the condensed policier plot." Infernal Affairs played an integral role in Andrew Lau 's breakout films in entering
9595-407: The three parties to a crime: criminal, victims, and avengers and explores what one party's relation to the other two. This allows the crime film to encompass films as wide as Wall Street (1987); caper films like The Asphalt Jungle (1950); and prison films ranging from Brute Force (1947) to The Shawshank Redemption (1994). Crime films are not definable by their mise-en-scene such as
9696-409: The time thought that an undercover film wasn't novel enough to make money. Eventually, Andrew Lau made a hopeless bid and showed the script to John Chong at Media Asia Entertainment Group . To his surprise Chong and company chairman Peter Lam saw potential in the story. Lam proceeded to invest HK $ 20 million in the film, under the condition that Andy Lau will star the film. In Infernal Affairs ,
9797-450: The war in narratives, with exceptions of film like The Green Berets (1968). The crime film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) revived the gangster film genre and captured the antiestablishment tone and set new standards for onscreen violence in film with its themes of demonizing American institution to attack the moral injustice of draft. This increase of violence was reflected in other crime films such as Point Blank (1967). Leitch found
9898-450: Was composed by Wong Ka-keung , lyrics provided by Wong and Yip Sai-wing , and performed by the band Beyond . The film was highly anticipated prior to its release due to the success achieved by Infernal Affairs . However, the general response to the film was mixed. The film grossed HK$ 24,919,376 — big by 2003 Hong Kong standards, but only about half of the original's earnings. Although Infernal Affairs II earned twelve nominations for
9999-532: Was delayed for over a year as its director Howard Hughes talked with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America 's Production Code Office over the films violence and overtones of incest. A new wave of crime films that began in 1934 were made that had law enforcers as glamourous and as charismatic as the criminals. J. Edgar Hoover , director the Bureau of Investigation (renamed
10100-454: Was released by TBS and WOWOW . The production aired in two parts: "Police Impersonation" on WOWOW and "Undercover" on TBS. A TV series remake debuted in 2018 produced by Media Asia and former TVB producer Tommy Leung. The series, which is titled Infernal Affairs like the film, stars Gallen Lo , Damian Lau , Paul Chun , Lo Hoi-pang , Eric Tsang , Derek Kok , Dominic Lam , Toby Leung and Yuen Biao . The story takes place years after
10201-400: Was under intense social reform with cities rapidly expanding and leading to social unrest and street crime rising and some people forming criminal gangs. In this early silent film period, criminals were more prominent on film screens than enforcers of the law. Among these early films from the period is D.W. Griffith 's The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) involving a young woman hounded by
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