Every scene is breathtaking

This movie came out 9 years ago, and stunned the Hong Kong cinema with
its great cinematography, overwhelmingly great performances,
ashtonishing soundtrack, and just a CLEVER and intelligent story to
tell.

9 years ago I watched the movie, and now today, 9 years later I watched
the movie again, and the movie surprised me again with new inventive
clues, twists, and even more depth in the characters.

From start to end, every scene is as breathtaking - compare the use,
the expertise with colors and the colourpalet with Zhang Yimou's Hero,
or Wong Kar Wai's repertoire - every scenery is truly an artwork - look
at the long shots, look at the styling.

So why do I love this movie - to start with the intensity of the
actors. Tony Leung, as always has the quality to render every possible
emotion with credibility and intensity. Andy Lau speaks his eyes, and
strong and sharp gestures. The scene is the audio shop is a true
classic as we see our protagonist and antagonist (however.. this is the
discutable part - who is the true good guy and bad guy;) meeting in an
ambiance with no offence - SHARING on the surface their passion for
music (and as we shall discover, they even share more roles then they
could imagine). I would say that this scene is as classical as the
openingsscene of Inglourious Bastards where we would meet the superb
Christoph Walz creating this suspense you want to bite your nails off.

How to determine whether you are watching a great movie is to 'watch'
the pace of the movie - as I can say; the pace of the movie is fast -
the story unfolds smoothly and gives you an indept insight into human
nature.

Are there any minor points- there are: the roles of Kelly Chen of Sammi
Cheng are slightly redundant, as they - particularly Kelly not so
effective - play the love interests of the main characters. Where as I
do appreciate Sammi as a singer, she doesn't seem to be able to deliver
versatile performances.

The soundtrack is literally sublime as it manages to transcribe the
aimed emotions. Recall scene in the audio store, as Inspector Wong hit
the car and when Tony is shot in the head.

I definitely would rate this movie a 10, as you can list this movie
along with Wong Kar Wais Chung King Express - Zhang Yi Mou's Hero - as
it is both an important piece of art, insight into human psychology,
the ever intriguing balance and quest of evil and bad, and reference to
Hong Kong culture.