Video

Watch: A side-by-side analysis of Infernal Affairs and The Departed

Words by Leigh Singer

Two men in suits standing on a rooftop, one pointing a gun at the other.
Two men in suits standing on a rooftop, one pointing a gun at the other.
In the latest Remake/Remodel, Leigh Singer interrogates Martin Scorsese’s remake of a Hong Kong crime classic.

Hit Asians movies have a long history of being remade for the US market, yet few have ever snagged as high-profile a director as Martin Scorsese. For his 2006 gangland thriller The Departed, the acclaimed American filmmaker turned to cult Hong Kong cop drama Infernal Affairs for inspiration.

In this new video essay, part of an ongoing series entitled Remake/Remodel, Leigh Singer looks at how directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak put an irresistible double twist to the undercover cop genre, and how Scorsese re-interpreted the film’s central themes and narrative devices for his own crime epic.

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