Our selection for today is the title song from the 2002 Hong Kong gangster film "Infernal Affairs". This is the movie that rejuvenated the Hong Kong film scene and ended up inspiring "The Departed" with an absolutely brilliantly structured double-mole plot. In addition to a great looking cast, the film also has an inspired English translation. The original Chinese title literally translates as "the never-ending road". That is a Buddhist reference to hell and the overall theme of this song as well.
If you've been around Popup Chinese for a while you'll know we're huge fans of Andy Lau and Tony Leung. Which gives us another reason to like this song. In addition to starring in the film both of these great actors are contributing lead vocals here. So grab your headphone and listen up.
Lunetta
said on February 18, 2009
Great film. If you haven't seen get a copy asap and watch it right away. You won't regret it.
trevelyan
said on February 18, 2009
True. I actually thought The Departed was better (I like Leo) but the original is very solid cinema. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the two sequels. I think I actually fell asleep during the third movie.
Lunetta
said on February 19, 2009
Good to know they aren't worth a late night film session. One of the film channels here have been showing them late at night recently but reading this I won't waste any sleep over them.
I really liked The Departed too. I won't go into too many details in case there's still someone out there who hasn't seen it but I've never heard a whole movie theater go so silent with shock as it did after a certain scene in The Departed.
And Leo is good even if some people don't seem to be able to get past the looks.
trevelyan
said on February 19, 2009
I saw them ages ago so my memory could be faulty (and my Chinese wasn't very good at the time either so I could have been missing major plot points), but I remember the second one mostly consisting of flashback footage from the first film.Reminded me of those sitcom episodes where they film a minute or two of the cast sitting on sofas with lines like, "remember the time when..." or "I haven't laughed so hard since Joey..." and then hard cut to five or ten minutes of recycled footage. Which can be fun, but the Godfather II would be a different film if Coppola cut the Robert DeNiro plot and filled it in with two hours of Marlon Brando shuffling paper and "remember that time at your sister's wedding?"Totally agree about Dicaprio.
