Some marketing schemes deserve the respect a foot soldier would show a mob boss.
Take for instance today’s savvy DVD releases of the Hong Kong trilogy “Infernal Affairs” ($39.99) and the two-disc special edition of Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed ($34.99), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Oscar-nominated Mark Wahlberg.
Scorsese’s visceral feature about a mole (Matt Damon) in the Massachusettes State Police Department and an undercover cop (DiCaprio) in the bilious world of organized crime has its violent roots in Siu Fai Mak’s “Infernal Affairs” screenplay.
Yes, we’ve grown accustomed to Asian horror flicks finding their way into translation quicker than you can say “The Ring” or “The Grudge.”
Yet, having one of America’s most gifted directors deliver what feels like a decidely homegrown crime story makes the call and response all the more intriguing.
“The Departed” and “Infernal Affairs” (in particular the first installment) reward a weekend’s viewing not simply with bouts of recognition. But thoughts arise about what is specific to a place – Hong Kong, South Boston; to a group – Triad gangsters or the “Southie” toughs under mobster Frank Costello’s jurisdiction. And how much crime, intimidation, betrayal and loyalty remain fluent-tongued themes.
Both movies pack a wallop. Or they would if mobsters settled things with fists. Though DiCaprio’s character, Billy Costigan, does a fine job of battering two Italian made guys from Providence.
But those who’ve seen “The Departed” know that a fine mist of blood and gray matter hangs in the air like a burst of aerosol spray. And, true to the original, “The Departed” hurtles toward its end with such
efficient dispatch that you can’t be blamed for being brought up short. Violence does that, Scorsese and Hong Kong director Andrew Lau seem to say.
“Infernal Affairs” begins with a quote: “The worst of the eight Hells is called Continuous Hell.” And the perpetual pit of deceit the series’ clandestine cop and mole occupy lives up to the quote. But this isn’t just the story of two similar men locked in an interminable embrace, it’s about cops and bad guys living cycles of brutality.
A prequel, “Infernal Affairs II,” grants us delicious time with the gangster Sam (Eric Tsang), not yet a crime boss, and Wong (Anthony Wong) before he rose in Hong Kong’s anti-crime unit. In “Infernal Affairs,” each is a mentor to the two men pitted against each other but unaware of the other’s identity. Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen play their counterparts over in that twisted sister city on the East Coast.
Using flashbacks, “Infernal Affairs III” depicts the disintegration of long-time police mole Ming’s personality; like so many classic characters he requires his nemesis to keep his indentity together.
At the outset of “Infernal Affairs,” crime boss Sam toasts his youngest recruits in front of a shrine of the Buddha. He has just planted a number of these fresh-faced youngsters in the police department’s organized crime division. The most gifted, Ming (Edison Chen plays the young man, then Andy Lau steps in) rises quickly.
Because of his half-brother’s involvement in organized crime, police cadet Yan (Shawn Yu, later Tony Leung) must give up his dream of being a “righteous” cop or he can go undercover, Superindentent Wong tells him.
“Infernal Affairs” arrived in Asian cineplexes in 2002 to muscular box office. Then it walked off with the Golden Horse, Chinese film’s biggest prize, for best picture.
Its brutal Irish cousin is a good bet to take the best-picture statuette come the night of the Academy Awards (Feb. 25). And, with a domestic gross of $130.748 million and counting, the film is Scorsese’s richest theatrical release to date.
Director Lau’s revved tale of betrayal, loyalty and the vulnerability of identity had its American premiere at New York City’s New Directors/New Film fest held at the Museum of Modern Art in 2003.
Boston-born writer Monahan honors what Scorsese calls “these extraordinary Hong Kong films” with a dark appreciation of South Boston’s mean streets.
A fine surprise amid “The Departed” extras is a featurette about James “Whitey” Bulger, the man who ran the Irish mob for two decades. Frank Costello isn’t entirely based on Bulger, but writer and director knew to tap the rich similarities.
The Southie legend remains on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List. As nasty and uncouth as Nicholson’s Costello is, Whitey’s own activities were meaner than fiction. A Boston Globe reporter says of Whitey’s reign (which ended in 1995 when he went on the lam) that some folk in the old neighbhorhood were still in denial about his crimes, even after finding out the mobster and his lieutenant, Stephen Flemmi, were FBI stooges. It took learning that Flemmi had murdered two 26-year-old women to tip the balance.
Extras like the Turner Classic Movies’ profile “Scorsese on Scorsese,” the featurette on how the director’s gangland films were influenced by his childhood spent in New York City’s Little Italy neighborhood, and the director’s charming tutorial on letting go of nine beloved scenes provide a very fine argument for why Scorsese should win on Oscar night.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com; try the Screen Team blog at denverpostbloghouse.com.
