Head-to-Head: Infernal Affairs vs The Departed

Direction

Andrew Lau and Alan Mak for Infernal Affairs

v.s.

Martin Scorsese for The Departed

As much as I really, really admire Infernal Affairs, I wouldn't necessarily say its direction is one of its strongest suits. It's certainly competent enough in terms of establishing a very appropriate universe for its world of crime and the police universe, but compared to say Beast Cops it doesn't manage to do it with as stylistically memorable flair. Plus there are a few moments where Lau and Mak delve into melodramatic territory with their direction, in particular one death scene where the use of slo-mo. The Departed on the other hand is one of Scorsese's most concise and technically immaculate pieces of work as a director. Regardless of whether or not his Oscar win was an 'overdue' prize, I do think he deserved it because his work on the film is rather brilliant. Not Goodfellas level brilliant of course, but he manages to expand upon the scenes established in the original and wih his style of montage, seamless exposition, and increased grit managed to create in Boston a whole new police and underworld life that is very vividly realized. By just contrasting the two crucial scenes below you can see exactly how Scorsese's work really works in a more understated but effective fashion than Lau and Mak's solid but sometimes overblown work which kind of nullifies the impact of deaths (although the acting is a different matter...)

Winner: Martin Scorsese, The Departed

The Undercover Cop:

Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Chen Wing-yan

v.s.

Leonardo DiCaprio as William "Billy" Costigan, Jr

These two performances are actually incredibly difficult to compare. One reason why I do appreciate The Departed as a remake is because it takes a different approach to many of its characters in terms of their history and role within the story; it's taken some time for me to truly take to it in this fashion, but I do like how DiCaprio's Billy Costigan and Leung's Chen have differentiated approaches to the writing behind their characters. Costigan is a recently integrated mole into the gang life, with a family history of crime to back him up, while Chen is something of a veteran mole who has grown weary of his life as an undercover cop and wants 'an identity', to be a 'good man' once again. Technically they both go over the same sort of character arcs - both want out of the undercover business, especially once they realize there's also a mole in the police department - but the way they go about performing it is a different story.

Leung has a world-weariness and easygoing charm to his portrayal that works in particularly good tandem with the performances of the gangster types around him who are more energetic and loud with their portrayals. He completely nails the 'triad' aspects of the character by his innate cockiness and familiarity to the crime life, but he's also terrific at showing the tired man behind it all who just wants to break free from it. DiCaprio's performance is in contrast more high-octane and broad, which also fits perfectly in with his film. It's a performance that's grown on me a great deal; it's certainly very tic-cy and neurotically infused, but over time I've realized that DiCaprio know exactly what he's doing in playing the character as such a ball of conflicted emotions brimming underneath the hardened surface he must maintain. Both actors are brilliant at bringing out the innate weaknesses of their characters with a certain strength to them keeping up their respective 'acts' and fishing out the police moles, and lend a terrific amount of weight to every scene they show the toil of undercover work taking its toll. In the more 'personal' and intimate scene where they reveal their inner natures completely to their therapists, or when confronted with the deaths of their friends. I'd say they're about on par throughout their whole performance, but I'd say Leung trumps DiCaprio ever so slightly in that his emotional reactions to his closest friend's death and finally nabbing the mole are absolutely brilliant, even though DiCaprio's equivalent handling of the rat in the police department is terrific too. 

Winner: Tony Leung-Chiu Wai, Infernal Affairs

The Police Mole:

Andy Lau as Senior Inspector Lau Kin-ming

v.s.

Matt Damon as Staff Sgt. Colin Sullivan

Interesting case of casting for both these characters. In the same way one could describe Tony Leung Chiu-wai as the DiCaprio of Hong Kong in many ways (similar stature as actors, respect, although their approaches to roles are quite different), Matt Damon and Andy Lau both have a sort of 'squeaky clean' onscreen persona in terms of their roles usually being that of heroic figures or likeable average joes. Both are good at that sort o thing, Damon in particular using it to terrific effect in the likes of The Martian and The Adjustment Bureau, but it's always interesting to watch them step out of their comfort zones, Lau in Love on a Diet for example, Damon in True Grit and The Informant! and both actors here. Their approaches are interesting to compare in that one decides to play the police mole as an outright villain and the other attempts something else altogether.

Damon is an actor with limits, I'll admit that, but he is very well aware of them and manages to use them to his advantage here. Technically speaking Damon's Colin Sullivan has a 'squeaky clean' sort of stature within the police force, earnest, keen, always willing to try and move up in the department. Damon brings that energetic enthusiasm he's very good at into his performance but also rids himself of pretty much all the charm he also usually brings to his roles. In that Sullivan could be best described as a pain in the ass, and Damon brings a unique sort of sleaziness to his portrayal of the slimey toady that works well for the film. Beyond that I don't think he tries to do anything too daring with the character and maintains a consistent portrayal of this till the final scenes of the film where he does show a bit of regret in the character, but smartly not too much so as to make the film's conclusion VERY satisfying. The conclusion to Infernal Affairs however is less satisfying, and not just because the 'bad' mole lives while the 'good' mole dies. Because Lau's police department mole is a rather sympathetic character in many ways, a criminal that's for sure, and a very ruthless one who's opportunistic in his ways, but Lau manages to convey an underlying regret at his past and a desire to reform himself into a 'real' cop that's quite moving. While Damon gives a very effective performance for the film he's in, I'd say Lau gives the far more intriguing, complex portrayal of a regretful mole. 

Winner: Andy Lau, Infernal Affairs

The Mob Boss:

Eric Tsang as Hon Sam

v.s.

Jack Nicholson as Francis "Frank" Costello

Easy choice. Nicholson's Costello is one of his worst performances; it's cartoonish to the extreme, completely destroys the extreme realism that Scorsese's direction creates when he goes too over the top, and for all his snarling and posturing ends up being more bizzare than menacing. He has a few good moments like his final scene and a few moments with DiCaprio, and he is Jack Nicholson after all so he does have presence, but overall it doesn't work for me. Tsang's Hon Sam is a more straightforward sort of gangster fiure, more understated and far less mannered in his portrayal of a man who enjoys his position of power immensely, and though it's not a masterful portrayal of a mob boss, it's a good one that only adds to the film in a positive fashion. 

Winner: Eric Tsang, Infernal Affairs

The Police Superintendent/Captain:

Anthony Wong as Superintendent Wong Chi-shing

v.s.

Martin Sheen as Capt. Oliver Charles Queenan

On a sidenote, I've always been surprised that Sheen's only collaboration with Scorsese thus far has been in this. Anyway, Sheen's portrayal of the warm but stern fatherly police figure to DiCaprio's Costigan is very effective in giving an otherwise rather heartless film a bit of heart, and makes his swift departure from it rather heartbreaking. Wong gives a more stoic performance as the Superintendent, he's rather good at that though I prefer a Wong who lets loose like in Beast Cops, or who has a it more deadpan fun like in The Mission, but I repeat he's good at doing the stoic cop routine. I actually really like his fun little scene leading up to his demise where he masquerades as a Hong Kong stockbroker to hide away from the gangster, unfortunately the film botches up his death scene BIG-TIME. I hate to keep yammering on about the death scenes but it's one of the aspects of Infernal Affair that really push it down from a technical standpoint while strengthening my view of The Departed's direction (credit to Leung for selling it, though). 

Winner: Martin Sheen, The Departed

The Other Policemen:

Berg Ng as Senior Inspector Cheung, Wan Chi-keung as Officer Leung, Gordon Lam as Inspector B




v.s.

Mark Wahlberg as Staff Sgt. Sean Dignam, Alec Baldwin as Capt. George Ellerby, and Anthony Anderson as Trooper Brown, James Badge Dale as Trooper Barrigan

I'm probably in the minority but I love that Wahlberg got nominated for the Oscar over Nicholson because he's probably my favourite supporting performance in the film. His foulmouthed Dignam technically doesn't serve much purpose to the plot outside of comedic relief and the final scene, but I don't care he's such an entertaining presence and adds so much to each scene, especially in his rapport with an equally hilarious Alec Baldwin as another uncouth, but rather charmingly so, cop. Anderson and Badge Dale have more limited roles but do manage to make an impression, unlike their Hong Kong counterparts who are completely forgettable. I'd say that yes, the film does not give them much to do, and in turn makes them mere bystanders for much of the plot.

Winner: The Departed

The Love Interest:

Kelly Chen as Dr. Lee Sum-yee, and Sammi Cheng as Mary

v.s.

Vera Farmiga as Dr. Madolyn Madden

One of the weakest aspects in both films are the romantic suplots. At least in Infernal Affairs they're not dwelt upon too much, and Chen and Cheng have a certain charm and likeability in their roles, and chemistry with Leung and Lau, respectively. Farmiga technically has a 'meatier' role as a love interest to both the main characters but she's a rather bizzare and boring presence, doesn't really add much to the film and when she makes an impact it's a poor one with her bizzare line readings and reactions. She has one kind of okay scene, some of her reactions to DiCaprio explaining his demons in the therapists office, but otherwise she's kind of terrible. 

Winner: Infernal Affairs

The Henchmen:

Chapman To as "Crazy" Keung, Dion Lam as Del Piero

v.s.

Ray Winstone as Arnold "Frenchy" French, David O'Hara as "Fitzy" Fitzgibbons, Mark Rolston as Delahunt

I have to say, well done to both films on casting very convincing crooks. Infernal Affairs has a criminal ensemble that stands out way more than its 'good' guys because of how much energy each of the triad cast members, small or big roles, bring to their performances. To in particular is a charmingly funny and vulgar presence, who has some nice chemistry with Leung, and though Leung does the heavy lifting in their final scene together To is also very affecting in showing the dying moments of 'Crazy' Keung as a sort of final blessing and warning to his best friend. I'll have to give the edge to The Departed here though. The always dependable face and presence of David O'Hara is solid as always, Ray Winstone is actually rather terrific and fits perfectly into the grimy Bostonian underworld as the rather menacing Frenchy, and both do really good accents. I prefer To to Rolston ever so slightly in their sorta equivalent roles, but overall the criminals in The Departed are more memorable and help to make up for Nicholson's overblown performance.  

Winner: The Departed

The Screenplay

Controversial but I'll give the edge to Infernal Affairs here. The Departed has a great script in terms of its concise and efficient plotting, and exposition, its very economic backstory to characters, and best of all its firebrand and coarse dialogue that's all so tripping to the tongue. However, Infernal Affairs has a downright brilliant screenplay that, while sometimes compromised by the film's direction, still manages to stand out very well. I love how it structures the dynamic between the two central cops over the course of the film, fleshing out their discourses in the two main scenes they interact with each other in some beautifully written scenes, and there's singularly standout speeches like Keung's dying words and of course the film's heartbreaking conclusion. It may not be as flashy and watertight as The Departed's Oscar-winning script, but it has an emotional core and depth that's rather remarkable. 

Winner: Infernal Affairs

Cinematography

Easy win to The Departed here. Infernal Affairs has slightly workmanlike camerawork, although not without a few inspired colour touches, that works well enough for the film, but hardly makes it stand out among the Hong Kong flock, it's certainly no Wong Kar-Wai film from a visual standpoint. The Departed has low-key brilliant cinematography that makes use of grimy environments in a stylized fashion that has traces of Goodfellas to it. 

Winner: The Departed

Editing

Both films are really, really well edited. I'll give the edge to The Departed since it makes a 150 plus minute film flow along beautifully, but Infernal Affairs's editing is no slouch, In particular, these two scenes are great examples of editing. 

Winner: The Departed

Sound

Winner: The Departed

Soundtrack


Winner: The Departed

Both to The Departed easily. Infernal Affairs has a few corny sound editing and mixing moments (see: the death scenes I've posted above), while The Departed in classic Scorsese fashion, sounds immaculate and utilizes its musical score and eclectic collection of contemporary songs marvelously.

Final Result: Infernal Affairs 5, The Departed 8

I've grown to really appreciate both films over time. The Departed is definitely the 'better made' film overall just in terms of being a film, watchable through every minute and technically immaculate as a crime thriller. Infernal Affairs is flawed, holding it back from perfection, but also has an underrated poignancy and emotional core that makes its ending particularly memorable, not taking the easy way out at all. Though again, The Departed too has a brilliant ending, just in a different way. They're both very, very good films, so check them both out.