Long thread, didn't get to read through all the posts. But I just throw in my two cents. I tend to like the originals better than the remake, even if it was a foreign language film. Eg. I liked "La Femme Nikita" better than "Point of No Return". If its the same story, same characters, just a different city or part of the world then I prefer the original.
If the remake is significant story such that putting similar characters in a totally new environment gives you a whole new dimension in the story, then I like the remake. Eg. Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress was an enjoyable period piece about 2 peasants inadvertently getting caught up in the wars in feudal Japan. But turn these two characters into droids and put them a galaxy far, far away.... Well, you know the rest.
So here, I think IA/Departed is closer to the first senario. Only difference is that Departed got an oscar but Point of No Return didn't. Whether it deserved it? Well I can't remember what it was up against, but since IS so much like IA, it probably did deserve the oscar. But some how Americanizing a foreign film takes something away from it. Like La Femme Nikita, its worth it to go through the original with subtitles than to have it retold in an American setting. Perhaps the exotic locales at least in part made the originals what they are.
Lastly, I think Departed had a bit of a 'copped out' ending where they have to make the bad guy dead by having Dignam kill off Sullivan. That was just to satisfy the western audience who is used to seeing justice served (at least on film). But this was never the case in AI-1, Andy Lau's character basically trimuphs at the end and blame was put on the second mole, end of story. Undercover work is dangerous, people get killed without being avenged. That's life. I think the audience could've lived with that in Departed.
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ednalyn99
16 years ago
I saw THe Departed first, and while it was my favorite movie for a time, it simply paled in comparison when I finally got to watch IA two nights ago.
Scorceses is a great director, and quite a master storyteller, but I felt that he gave too much time for "oscar moments" for his actors. Which led the story to drag at some points.
Whereas IA was really more about the story, the twists and the events that shaped the characters. Plus, IA had Inspector Wong who, for me, steals the show most of the time. Same case in IA2. He was the best part of the movie. And he does it with so little lines and even just short scenes.
Plus, what's with the nearly frame-by-frame copy of some scenes in The Departed? It would have been ok if they gave proper credit to Infernal Affairs. But they rarely mentioned IA when they promoted The Departed.
Although there are things I like better in The Departed. Like the soundtrack, and I do prefer Leo DiCaprio's performance to Tony Leung's. I loved Leung in "In The Mood For Love", but he just didn't do it for me here in IA. On the other hand, I loved Andy Lau's performance when compared to Matt Damon's acting. Lau just kept you guessing the whole time. The perfect double agent.
Anyway, Infernal Affairs is the winner for me.
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