Just out of curiosity, are most of the people who are saying "infernal affairs" is better than "the departed" Asian?
Im Chinese by the way and i thought Departed was better. However, I think it really depends on if you grew up in an American or Chinese society.
I'm Irish and I preferred Infernal Affairs, though I thoroughly enjoyed both films. Maybe the order in which you see them is important. Having seen IA first, The Departed didn't have so much suspense.
shareI saw departed first but IA is so much better. I can understand how the departed is more accessible for a mainstream audience (no subtitles, no subplots, streamlined story), but it lacks any emotional depth or suspense, and i think TD made a hash of the ending
shareI'm Chinese, grew up in the United States. I thought IA was far superior to The Departed. The Tony Leung and Andy Lau characters were better developed. Andy Lau was more nuanced and I could feel sympathy for the character. The Matt Damon character had no really redeeming qualities. I loved the Tony Leung character. I could see his pain and mixed loyalties. Also didn't think they needed to swear so much in The Departed. Grittiness doesn't necessarily mean every other word needs to be a curse word. It took away from the movie for me. Lastly, the ending in IA was far superior. The Mark Wahlberg character coming out of nowhere to kill Matt Damon. Too pat for me. The surprised ending in IA made it for me. Like the rest of the movie, it shows that nothing is black and white, and like real life, sometimes, good people die. If you loved IA, you need to see IA2 and 3. IA2 shows how the two main characters come to be who they are and IA3 comes full circle for the Andy Lau character showing the tragic consequences of the choices he made.
shareThe Tony Leung and Andy Lau characters were better developed. Andy Lau was more nuanced and I could feel sympathy for the character. The Matt Damon character had no really redeeming qualities.^ Saw this last night and this sentence summed up my thoughts exactly. I was never completely sold on the Departed but in this version, Andy Lau brought another layer to this character that was missing entirely in the remake and which (for me) elevated the film to another level.
Canadian, I prefer Infernal. When it comes to Asian films vs. their American remakes, I usually prefer the original. I'm not sure why exactly, but I think it has to do with me being just way too used to American directing styles and Hollywood films in general, so it's nice to have something different. Plus, a lot of adaptations are of horror films, and I always tend to get creeped out more by the originals, but that has a lot to do with the acting.
shareAnd, having just watched IA 2&3, I can say I definitely like the original better. Having the trilogy (or, well, one's a prequel and one's a prequel/sequel so I don't know what you'd call that) really rounds out the story and gives it this "epic tale" feel. It's like Chinese Godfather or something.
shareSwedish and I think Infernal Affairs is much better.
shareIm American and I saw Infernal Affairs back in 2004 (Tony Leung is one of my favorite actors i.e Hard Boiled used to be my favorite action movie in the early nineties and In The Mood For Love and 2046 are two of my favorite movies so I bought IF off Ebay in college) then I saw they were remaking it. They're both great in their own right, however I think IA is better on the soul principal that they don't placate the audience with BS. The end isn't as neat. the "bad" character is left open and may redeem himself. I enjoy IA much better, although I do really think Departed was awesome (similarly to the fact I think Girl With the Dragon Tattoo remake is awesome but played a bit differently than the Swedish version; but theyre both amazing
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I am chinese but do not have the command of the language at all. IA was far better than TD. Its not even close
Many comments here are pretty spot on as well.
I am Mexican, I love a lot of the american remakes but... Infernal Affairs.
IA was so intense, I like Departed, the cast was amazing and the acting.
The ending was better in IA, where Departed wanted give a very americanized ending, "bad always loses", and to be realistic, the bad sometimes wins or could change to become good to the point of killing everyone around it and like the writer said, different personalities that he doesn't even know himself.
I am sure we could understand where I am going with this. It's way deeper. But I am sure you get the idea
No I am Canadian (Ukranian and English parents) and while I do love both movies alot, I find Infernal Affairs to be slightly better.
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