One thing to say here from the start (which I found out after the fact) is that Infernal Affairs is a trilogy of films. Since I didn't watch all three, I can only make comparisons between Infernal Affairs and The Departed. I only mention this because, apparently some small character points from the trilogy made it into the single film remake. So, if you are well versed in the Infernal Affairs universe, forgive me.
Some of the differences I noticed can be chalked up to cultural norms, language and directorial vision. One thing I did realize in watching Infernal Affairs, was that given my lack of knowledge of the Hong Kong movie scene, the events were a little tough to understand at first. This movie has a large cast and if I don't have actors that are as recognizable as Leonardo DiCaprio or Jack Nicholson in the roles, it can be tough to follow. This is one thing that supports the idea of doing U.S. remakes of foreign films, but more on that as I look at the rest of the foreign films on my list.
One of the most broad differences I could see in the two versions was the level of violence. Which one did you think had more gratuitous violence? If you said The Departed you'd be right. I was a little surprised by that. It's not that I thought Hong Kong films were filled with violence (some might be but I don't know if the director in this case was making a choice to imply the violence more than show it), but I thought there would be more than I saw. Infernal Affairs had a much more reserved feeling to it, I won't go so far as saying the movie was more about the characters than the violence because although The Departed was much more violent, I thought it was more about the characters than Infernal Affairs. It's worth mentioning that The Departed was almost 45 minutes longer than it's counterpart. Which can go a long way towards fleshing out your characters.
When it comes to the violence, one scene in particular comes to mind, the two plot points were handled quite differently. I don't want to describe exactly what the scene was comprised of because it is a WTF moment in both movies. Let's just say that one of the main characters has an very "impactful" demise. The death of this character in Infernal Affairs was very emotional (well, it didn't play that way for me really. I saw what they were trying to do story-wise but I didn't care enough about the character to think the amount of emotion involved with his death was warranted) and drawn out. In The Departed the moment was punctuated more with gore than sadness. DeCaprio's character is quite affected by it, and it does make for a pretty intense scene. Scorcese did take the time to get us emotionally attached to the late character, so it worked for me, even if it was shorter. It did illustrate the difference in tone in the two movies, though. I'll mention the greater amount of humor in The Departed here as well, because I think it has a lot to do with the amount of violence. The Departed was almost a comedy at some points. I think this might just be a Scorsese thing, with a good amount of violence it helps to have moments of dark humor, it makes it more palatable for some reason. I wasn't offended by the level of violence, I'm not easily offended but when looking at the two movies side by side, it was noticeable.
Another difference I noted in the movies was the treatment of the character's love interests. Seems to me that in this case, one of the Hollywood gimmicks worked the opposite of they way I usually see it work. In Infernal Affairs, our two main characters had their own separate love interests (Bad Cop inside the SIU, had a perfect wife and the Good Cop gang infiltrator, had a love interest with a department mandated shrink). In The Departed, they combine the two female love interests into a single character. It does work in a economic sense, and creates an interesting plot device. The merged character, through some plot wrangling becomes the love interest of both characters, without their knowledge, of course. This adds another level of tension to the events, since as the viewer we know this is happening and the characters don't. Well, done. Even if it is a little too convenient.
I'm not sure if the expanded back story of the Crime Boss was a planned goal or if the role was expanded after they hired Jack Nicholson, but he had a much beefier story in the The Departed. As I said before, the remake came after the the trilogy, so there could have been much more Crime Boss character development in the U.S. version. But it was a welcome addition, we get some really chilling scenes with Nicholson slowly unraveling.
When comparing the two, these movies are really very close in their quality. Both are top notch and there wasn't too much changed in the U.S. version. To the first of the two main questions then: was it in need of a remake? The short answer? No. Infernal Affairs was a great movie on it's own, I couldn't find much wrong with it, if it was being remade right now I would definitely be asking why. So, which is better? Hmmm. This will be one of those situations where I have to be a little cheap and say it's basically a push. If you had seen Infernal Affairs first, that may well be your favorite. For me it's close, but with the american actors I love and the more relatable setting, The Departed is the one I prefer, but only by a slight margin. See, both. You will definitely be seeing a great film in Infernal Affairs.
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