First, decline and glory
At the end of the last century, Hong Kong cinema gradually went downhill. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Wu Yusen, etc. have gone to Hollywood to develop, the Hong Kong film market has fallen into a downturn, and many people have changed careers because they have no jobs to open.
Zhuang Wenqiang once recalled that when he was drinking and chatting with several directors and screenwriter friends, a director who still had a job to open once said, "Hong Kong films have declined to the point where they can no longer decline, and it seems that the miracle of "The True Colors of Heroes" is about to appear, but I don't know who will create the miracle." ”
On December 12, 2002, "Infernal Affairs", directed by Lau Wai-keung and co-starring Leung Chao-wai, Andy Lau, Tsang Chi-wai, Cheng Xiu-man and Chan Wai-lin, was premiered in Hong Kong, breaking the downturn of most Hong Kong films at the box office of no more than three or four million at that time, creating a 2002 Hong Kong film box office miracle with 55.05 million Hong Kong dollars, becoming a rescue work in the Hong Kong film industry.
However, it was released in the mainland in September of the following year, and the box office failed miserably, one was destroyed by piracy, and the other was the ending (Liu Jianming was taken away by the police).
At the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards, it was nominated for 16 awards and eventually won 7 awards, including Best Film.
The huge sales and good reputation of "Infernal Affairs" made it a hit, and in 2003, five companies participated in the bidding, and finally Warner Bros. Pictures acquired the rights to the "Infernal Affairs" remake for $1.75 million.
In 2007, "Infernal Affairs" was renamed "Infernal Affairs" and was adapted to the Hollywood screen, and won two Oscar awards for best film and best director, in a thank you speech, the director of the film said "thank you Chinese director Liu Weiqiang".
South Korea's "New World", director Park Hoon-jeong also admitted that 100% of the ideas came from "Infernal Affairs".
All of this undoubtedly proves the important position of "Infernal Affairs" in the history of Hong Kong cinema.
Even after 18 years, Hong Kong movies have long ceased to be brilliant, "Infernal Affairs" is still regarded as a classic in the hearts of countless fans, and it is repeatedly reminisced in the middle of the night.
Second, a new era
Compared with the brilliance it created, the preparation process of "Infernal Affairs" seemed less smooth, when Hong Kong's police films had laid the basic aesthetic in the long-term development process - focusing on fierce fight scenes.
And "Infernal Affairs" such a large number of literary drama to render the inner effect of the film can be regarded as an outlier, no one dares to be the first person to eat crabs, no film company dares to invest, until the owner of Hong Kong Huanya Film Company Lin Jianyue learned through one of the company's executive producers that the script of "Infernal Affairs" is good, and then it has landed.
Lin Jianyue believes that compared with the theme, the more attractive part of Hong Kong films is that the big stars who starred in the film immediately decided to invest 40 million Hong Kong dollars and found Leung Chao-wai, Andy Lau, Tsang Chi-wai and other actors for the film. He also found the famous "White Dragon King", measured the title of the film, and changed the title of the movie from "Infernal Walker" to "Infernal Affairs".
Before "Infernal Affairs", Hong Kong's police films often focused on martial arts rather than police bandits, the theme was relatively single, and they fell into the dilemma of "routineization", with various bullets flying around and fists to flesh, making people watch more than enough and think less.
"Infernal Affairs" opened a new aesthetic era of Hong Kong police films, it no longer pursues Wu Yusen's "violent aesthetics", there is almost no fierce gun battle, no longer pursues simple gorgeous and cool visual effects, and it is not protected by the protagonist's aura, even if it is hit, it is still the absolute winner who does not swallow the last breath.
It focuses on the repression of the protagonist's decade of undercover, shaping a psychological showdown that moves on the brink of light and darkness.
The film's martial arts director, Lin Dian, is dedicated to designing the most suitable martial arts action for the film. He rejected Superintendent Wong's proposal that Police Superintendent Huang and the gangsters meet in the elevator for a fierce battle, only to let Dililuya reach in at the last moment of the elevator closing, and when Chen Yongren returned to the main entrance of the apartment, the corners of his mouth fell from the upper floor stained with blood.
So Superintendent Wong's experience upstairs became unknown. The audience can only barely imagine from the description of silly "playing for ten minutes, not saying anything" and Dililuya's sympathetic "Superintendent Huang", and it is precisely because of this sense of unknown that the death of Superintendent Huang seems so shocking.
He also vetoed the drama of adding a drama duel to Chen Yongren and Liu Jianming on the last rooftop, and changed the martial arts drama to a literary drama, so that there is a rooftop dialogue that still sounds like a lot of people and has endless memories.
Third, the joys and sorrows of misplaced people
"Infernal Affairs" was originally inspired by Wu Yusen's "Changing Faces", but at that time, Mak Zhaohui thought that the exchange faces in "Changing Faces" were too far away from real life, so he proposed whether it was possible to tell a story without surgery, but let the identities and hearts of the two people be exchanged, and the story of Chen Yongren and Liu Jianming began...
At the moment when the police academy passed by, the young Liu Jianming looked at Chen Yongren, who was getting farther and farther away from the police academy with his backpack, and said, "I want to be him", at that time, he longed for Chen Yongren, who had left the police academy, to be free and not have to suffer the pain of being an undercover in the police academy.
In front of Chen Yongren's tombstone, he said "I want to be him", at this time he longed for Chen Yongren's liberation, and did not have to be like him, deep in the mud of whether he was a good person or a bad person.
And Chen Yongren? He spent his whole life trying to get rid of the darkness, to have a bright and upright identity, to be an upright policeman, but he could only follow Han Yan all day, carefully hiding his identity, and living an unsightly life. In a sense, they all envy the other person who has lived as themselves, but they have to accept that they have lived as others.
Fourth, the end: the end
At the end of the film, Liu Jianming and Chen Yongren take to the roof, Liu Jianming asks Chen Yongren "can you give yourself a chance", and Chen Yongren's answer is "I'm sorry, I'm a policeman". At this point in the story, without having to have a playful tone and without fear of being killed, Chen Yongren can finally calmly and completely tell his identity.
Although in the end, his life ended in that small elevator room, in a sense, he still fulfilled his wish.
And Liu Jianming? In fact, in the end, the film filmed two endings, although in the mainland version of the ending, justice triumphed over evil, and Liu Jianming was taken away by the police. But it is obvious that the Hong Kong version of the ending is more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, Liu Jianming stepped out of the elevator, he still can't escape his "undercover life". It seems that justice has not triumphed over evil, but Liu Jianming must continue to wear a mask, play with himself, and live a life that does not know the truth and falsity forever.
Everyone in the movie does not believe in fate, but in the end they all go to their own destiny. The sun was shining on the roof, but the next second they went deeper into the darker depths, and the elevator door that could not be closed was like the fate of two people who would never get back on track. Whether alive or dead, they all fell into the "endless hell" along with the downward elevator... (Reported by Lana)