On this week’s episode of the HomeVideodrome podcast, we discuss Ozzy and Dio in Black Sabbath, wonder why Julia Roberts ever became America’s sweetheart and dedicate “Hell Awaits” by Slayer to Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky. So go listen, and enjoy!
“The Departed” may have won Martin Scorsese a long overdue Oscar, the film doesn’t quite stack up to the source material, “Infernal Affairs.” Originating from Hong Kong and directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, “Infernal Affairs” has roughly the same basic plot as “The Departed,” in that it follows two moles on opposite ends of the law being driven to the edge of madness as the number of people they can trust dwindles as the body count rises.
“The Departed” is certainly more relatable to western audiences, given Scorsese’s flair for stylish, swear-laden dialogue, however “Infernal Affairs” is not only a tighter picture narratively, it also is a stronger piece of work thematically. Andy Lau and Tony Leung inhabit the roles later filled by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, respectively. Lau has a golden-boy sheen about him that can turn sinister and threatening, while Leung has a world-weary demeanor that trumps DiCaprio’s overcooked performance.
DiCaprio is an actor I’ve never been sold on in the masculine roles he insists on playing. He’s an actor with a boyish look that serves him well in films like “Catch Me If You Can,” but he feels like a counterfeit male doing a tough-guy act whenever he works with directors like Scorsese. A friend of mine described bad acting as “when you can see the gears turning” in the actor’s head. If you look at DiCaprio’s latest, “J. Edgar,” and not only can you see the gears turning, you can hear them clack as loud as the cogs inside Big Ben just from looking at the stills.
In “The Departed,” he plays a character who is worried the criminals he’s embedded with will discover he’s a cop, but it almost feels like DiCaprio’s real fear is that the audience will see his phony streetwise Bah-stonian facade for what it really is.
While “The Departed” flirts with religious metaphor and ultimately ignores it, “Infernal Affairs” spins a compelling crime yarn that serves as symbolism for the Buddhist idea of Hell on Earth, the idea of “continuous suffering.” The film’s two protagonists find themselves living a existence of perpetual suffering, slowly losing their identities in the high tech war on crime. While Leung’s undercover cop is a character who yearns for release from his personal Hell posing as a criminal, Andy Lau’s gangster mole seeks to immerse himself in his role as a police officer, destroying those who know his true identity, ultimately looking to erase the man he was.
To say where the two films differ in the final act would be to spoil the movie, but let’s just say that “The Departed” opts for an ending that only serves to satisfy audience bloodlust, while “Infernal Affairs” has an ending you can’t shake. The film’s final shot makes the ending ambiguous and haunting. The final shot in “The Departed” is a bad joke.
“The Departed” is a film that runs at 151 minutes and says less than “Infernal Affairs” does in 101 minutes. That’s not to say that Scorsese’s film isn’t ultimately a solid one, but like most remakes it’s an inferior piece of work compared to the movie that spawned it. If you enjoy “The Departed,” give “Infernal Affairs” a whirl. It’s ultimately a tighter, more successful film than its little brother.
Available on Blu-ray
Other Noteworthy Releases
West Side Story: In case you missed it, check out fellow Parcbencher Greg Victor’s coverage of this much-heralded Blu-ray release of this classic musical.
Available on Blu-ray or in a deluxe box set
My Fair Lady: Another beloved musical coming to Blu-ray this week, this one being George Cukor’s adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” starring the lovely Audrey Hepburn and the charismatic Rex Harrison.
Available on Blu-ray
Three Colors – Blue, White, Red: Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski’s final three films, which serve as a trilogy in which each film vaguely symbolizes one of each of the words in the motto of the French Revolution: liberty, equality, and fraternity. Kieślowski explores his protagonists with a graceful hand that reveals the soul of each character in a way few directors are capable of doing. The way he shoots stunningly beautiful actresses like Irene Jacob (“Red,” “The Double Life of Véronique“) is absolutely hypnotic, you can’t take your eyes off his films, even when it seems like nothing is happening.
The Rules of the Game: One of the great classics of French cinema, Criterion is updating their edition of this 1939 Jean Renior film to include it on Blu-ray.
Evil Dead 2: Sam Raimi’s comedic redux of his classic debut gets another release on Blu-ray. It seems like each of the “Evil Dead” movies got dipped each year on DVD, and given this is already the second release on Blu-ray, it seems we’re in for the same ol’ song and dance on this format. I’ve got the Book of the Dead edition on DVD, so they won’t get me again.
Available on Blu-ray
Larry Crowne: A Nia Vardalos-scripted nothingburger directed by Tom Hanks. Hanks rolling around on a scooter in the trailer, along with the added presence of Julia Roberts, made me perfectly okay with never, ever seeing this movie.
Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis: Kino has done a fantastic job restoring the full cut of Fritz Lang’s silent science fiction masterpiece. However this week they’re bringing us a restored edition of the long out-of-print version of “Metropolis” Giorgio Moroder put together that was released in 1984. Moroder’s version made some audacious choices, including replacing the title cards with subtitles, using a score of contemporary pop music and even adding color. Though it’s doubtful that it was intended to replace the original, it’s interesting that someone had the stones to do this to such a film classic.
Tom Cruise Blu-ray Collection: Includes “Collateral,” “Top Gun,” “War of the Worlds,” “Minority Report” and “Days of Thunder”.
Available on Blu-ray
This post originally appeared over at Parcbench
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