Infernal Affairs II
| Infernal Affairs II 無間道II |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Traditional | 無間道II |
| Simplified | 无间道II |
| Directed by | Andrew Lau Alan Mak |
| Produced by | Andrew Lau |
| Written by | Felix Chong Alan Mak |
| Starring | Anthony Wong Eric Tsang Edison Chen Shawn Yue Carina Lau Francis Ng Hu Jun Chapman To |
| Music by | Chan Kwong-wing |
| Cinematography | Andrew Lau Ng Man Ching |
| Editing by | Danny Pang Curran Pang |
| Studio | Media Asia Films Raintree Pictures Eastern Dragon Film Co. Basic Pictures |
| Distributed by | Hong Kong: Media Asia Distribution United States: The Weinstein Company (DVD) Dragon Dynasty (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | October 1, 2003 (Hong Kong) |
| Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Gross revenue | HK$24,919,376 |
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| Traditional Chinese | 無間道II | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 无间道II | ||||||||||
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Infernal Affairs II is a 2003 Hong Kong crime-thriller film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak.[1]
It is a prequel to the 2002 film Infernal Affairs. Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, and Chapman To reprise their roles from the original film alongside new cast members Carina Lau, Francis Ng, Roy Cheung and Hu Jun. Both Tony Leung and Andy Lau, who played the central roles in the original, do not appear in the film, as they are replaced by the younger versions played by Yue and Chen, respectively. The events of the film take place from 1991 to 1997.
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[edit] Plot
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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2009) |
[edit] Act 1
The film opens in 1991, 11 years before the events of Infernal Affairs. Inspector Wong Chi-shing is discussing the death of his first partner with Hon Sam, the triad boss in the first film. At this point, Hon is a member of Ngai Kwun's triad family, and is also working as Wong's informant. Carrying a nondescript paper bag, a young Lau Kin-ming makes his way through the streets of Mongkok before stopping at an ostensible martial arts school, where he kills Ngai Kwun with a gun concealed in the bag and walks away.
Lau arrives at a secluded office where he is greeted by Hon's wife, Mary, who is testing her new stereo system. She casually ascertains whether he has any reservations about being Hon's mole in the police force. Appearing aloof, Lau accepts the task and Mary packs a bag of cash for him, advising him to maintain a low profile and prepare for the police academy. Lau has a crush on Mary but he is unwilling to express his feelings due to his low position in the triad. It is then revealed that Mary was the one who ordered Ngai Kwun's assassination. She confesses that Hon has no knowledge of this transgression and urges Lau to remain silent, as she wants Hon to replace Ngai as the triad boss.
Meanwhile, a young Chan Wing-yan, his girlfriend and a young Tsui Wai-keung are seen waiting for something. Chan is a promising police cadet, who has apparently assaulted and subdued Tsui over a car theft. Superintendent Luk Kai-cheung arrives with several senior officers, and admonishes Chan about his actions, but decides not to report the incident to Yip, principal of the police academy. Chan and Luk attend Yip's birthday dinner later, during which Yip expresses high expectations for Luk to be his successor and Chan to become a cop.
Later, Yip and Luk come across a heated argument between Chan and a triad henchman called Law Kai-yin. Ngai Wing-hau, Ngai Kwun's middle son, calmly explains that his father would have wanted all his children to know if something were to happen to him; Chan is revealed to be Ngai Wing-hau's half-brother. By using his mother's surname to hide his connection to the Ngai family triad, Chan is subsequently discharged from the Hong Kong Police Force. Chan is later approached by Wong, who asks him why he wants to be a cop, to which Chan replies, "I want to be a good guy." There begins Chan's journey as an undercover agent in the triads as he is sent to prison by Wong to get close to Tsui Wai-keung. Meanwhile, Lau joins the police force and goes through training ala the montage from the first film.
Ngai Wing-hau takes his late father's place as the triad boss, as he is the only Ngai child directly involved in the family business. With Ngai Kwun dead, four other triad bosses, known as the "Big Four", excluding Hon, scoff at Ngai Wing-hau's leadership capability and debate on whether to pay their tithe to the Ngai family. However, Ngai Wing-hau proves to be an adept and understated heir to his father, and he blackmails the Big Four one by one with his knowledge of their mutual betrayals. Hon has covertly remained loyal to Ngai and he acts as an agent provocateur in this affair.
[edit] Act 2
Act 2 takes place in 1995, with Chan out of prison as a small-time gangster and Lau as a rookie cop. Luk learns that Chan is a mole and questions where Chan's true loyalty lies: with the police or his half-brother. Chan's continual association with Hon and Ngai causes his girlfriend to have an abortion because she does not want their child to follow in Chan's footsteps. Ngai wishes the troubled Chan to be integrated into the Ngai family and invites him to his daughter's birthday party, where he brings Chan closer to the triad business. On the other hand, Lau's path is considerably smoother; with Hon supplying information on criminal dealings, Lau is able to apprehend many local gangsters, thus getting him promoted quickly.
Back at the party, Ngai tells the Big Four and Hon that he is planning to retire to Hawaii with his family and wants to divide his business among them. He rewards Hon for his loyalty by sending him to a contact in Thailand with the promise of total control over the cocaine racket. Next, Ngai invites Chan to join him for his next dealing. Chan proceeds to provide information he has collected on the triad to Wong during a clandestine meeting. Luk, who was tailing Wong, reveals himself and confronts Chan on his loyalty, to which Chan affirms that he is a cop.
In a hotel room, Mary is revealed to have conspired with Wong in Ngai Kwun's assassination. Meanwhile, Luk organizes a strike team to catch Ngai Wing-hau in his next dealing. When confronted by Wong about the sudden change of date for the operation, Luk confesses that he has an informant in the Ngai triad for seven years, who tipped him off about a change in plans. Chan uses Morse code to relay the location of the deal to Luk. Ngai is arrested by Luk and Wong while exchanging suitcases with two men, but the men turn out to be actually private detectives he hired to investigate his father's murder. In Ngai's suitcase is a videotape recording of the meeting between Wong and Mary in the hotel room. This evidence becomes leverage to prevent the police from interfering in Ngai's business.
Ngai's real plan was to assassinate the Big Four and Hon, whom he believes to have played a role in his father's murder. The plan sets into motion while Ngai is taken away for questioning: the Big Four are killed by Ngai's men; an ambush awaits Hon in Thailand; an assassin edges towards Mary. Mary calls Sam, who is accompanied by Tsui Wai-keung, revealing to her husband that she arranged Ngai Kwun's assassination. Hon recognizes the danger he is in and escapes from the ambush with help from Tsui. He takes a Thai gangster (the one in the first film) hostage and tries to strike a deal with the Thai at the airport. Hon offers his gun to the Thai, believing in their friendship, to which the Thai regretfully apologises and shoots Hon.
In the aftermath of the assassinations, Ngai rounds up and orders Law Kai-yin to kill three henchmen whom Mary supposedly bribed to leave his father vulnerable. Ngai then reveals that he knows that Law is actually an undercover cop and kills him as well. As the bodies are burned, Chan takes a bullet for Ngai in a drive-by shooting. Luk goes to Wong's apartment after he is acquitted in a tribunal hearing, and forgives Wong for the murder conspiracy, but is later killed by a car bomb meant for Wong. Lau had saved Mary from the assassin and they go into hiding for two months. Lau reveals his true feelings for Mary and offers to protect her, but she rejects him and goes to Kai Tak Airport, preparing to fly to Thailand to find her husband. A bitter Lau is seen communicating Mary's travel plans to an unknown recipient, after which he phones her, distracting her long enough to be mowed down by a car driven by Ngai's henchmen.
[edit] Act 3
Act 3 is set in 1997 against the backdrop of the handover of Hong Kong to China. Lau is one of the officers involved in the ceremony and Chan has taken Law's place by Ngai's side. Ngai attempts to bring glory to his family by going into politics, but is arrested at a government party. The police have compiled enough evidence to charge Ngai, which rests on the testimony of a star witness - Hon, who had survived the shooting in Thailand and apparently started a new family with a Thai woman. Wong brings Hon back to Hong Kong under witness protection and introduces him to the newly promoted Lau, after which he admits to Hon that the evidence is sufficient to put Ngai behind bars for a few years. Hon and Lau talk for the first time in years.
Ngai's political aspirations disintegrate as his backers withdraw support, while his lawyer says that he has no legal chance of winning and resigns. Ngai decides to immediately relocate his family to Hawaii while he awaits trial, as a defensive measure. At Luk's grave, Chan expresses to Wong his desire to get out of undercover before his criminal persona consumes him and provides him the last piece of evidence against Ngai before saluting Luk's headstone. Within a few days of the trial, Hon escapes witness protection with Lau's help and confronts Ngai and his triad alone. Ngai has kidnapped Hon's Thai wife and child to prevent him from testifying, but Hon outmaneuvers Ngai, revealing that his Thai friends are also holding Ngai's family hostage in Hawaii. Through Wong, it is revealed that the Thai woman Ngai is holding hostage is actually Hon's maid. In desperation, Ngai holds Hon at gunpoint as Wong and a police squad arrive. The film reaches a climax at a standoff between Ngai's triad and the cops, with Hon taunting Ngai to kill him. When Ngai shows signs of intent to fire his weapon, Wong shoots him and Ngai collapses, dying in Chan's arms; moments before succumbing to his wound, Ngai discovers the wire in Chan's jacket and concludes that his half-brother is an undercover cop.
In the aftermath, Wong questions Hon on whether he killed Ngai's family and condemns Hon's tactics, to which Hon retorts that he did not expect to leave alive and they part ways. Before leaving, Wong reveals to Hon that he could have gathered enough evidence to make Ngai serve life imprisonment if only he had been more patient. In his car, Hon receives a call from the Thai gangster who shot him earlier, asking him if he should "close" Ngai's case, and Hon replies that they should not go too far. The Thai explains that it was fated that he failed to kill Hon, and that to become powerful, they must be in control of fate. A remorseful Hon hangs up and the entire Ngai family is killed.
The pieces are set in place for the first film: Hon goes down the dark path of replacing Ngai as one of the most ruthless triad bosses, becoming Wong's new foe; Lau is a police inspector and Hon's mole; Chan is forced to remain undercover, returning to join Hon's triad. As the handover ceremony takes place, Hon sheds tears over the loss of his beloved Mary, while back at the police station, Lau handles a case involving a young woman, who is coincidentally also called Mary.
[edit] Cast
- Edison Chen as Lau Kin-ming (劉健明), Hon's mole in the police force
- Shawn Yue as Chan Wing-yan (陳永仁), Ngai Wing-hau's half-brother and an undercover cop
- Anthony Wong as Superintendent Wong Chi-shing (黃志誠), Lau's superior
- Eric Tsang as Hon Sam (韓琛), a triad member and Wong's friend
- Carina Lau as Mary, Hon's wife
- Francis Ng as Ngai Wing-Hau (倪永孝), a triad boss and Ngai Kwun's son
- Hu Jun as Superintendent Luk Kai-cheung (陸啟昌), Wong's partner
- Chapman To as Tsui Wai-keung / "Crazy Keung" (徐偉強) / (傻強), Hon's henchman and Chan's friend
- Roy Cheung as Law Kai-yin / Law Kai (羅繼賢 / (羅雞), undercover cop planted in Ngai's triad by Luk
- Liu Kai-chi as Third Uncle / Uncle John (三叔), Ngai Kwun's younger brother
- Joe Cheung as Ngai Kwun (倪坤), triad boss
- Henry Fong as Gandhi (甘地), one of the Big Four
- Ngor Chi-kwan as Negro (黑鬼), one of the Big Four
- Wong Ngok-tai as Kwok-wah (國華), one of the Big Four
- Teddy Chan as Man-ching (文拯), one of the Big Four
- Chan Mong-wah as Ngai Wing-yi (倪永義), Ngai Kwun's son
- Andrew Lien as Ngai Wing-chung (倪永忠), Ngai Kwun's son
- Wan Chi-keung as Officer Leung (梁Sir)
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[edit] Theme song
- Composer: Wong Ka Keung
- Lyricist: Wong Ka Keung, Yip Sai Wing
- Singer: Beyond
[edit] Reception
The film was highly anticipated prior to its release due to the success achieved by Infernal Affairs. However, the general response to the film was mixed.[2]
[edit] Box office
The film grossed HK$24,919,376[3] — big by 2003 Hong Kong standards, but only about half of the original's earnings.
[edit] Awards
Although Infernal Affairs II earned ten nominations for the 2003 Hong Kong Film Awards, it could not match its predecessor's success. The film won only one award, Best Original Film Song, for the song "長空" (performed by Cantopop band Beyond).[4] The film won the Best Film award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.
- Won: Best Original Film Song (Wong Ka Keung, Yip Sai Wing, Beyond)
- Nominated: Best Film (Andrew Lau)
- Nominated: Best Director (Andrew Lau, Mak Siu-fai)
- Nominated: Best Screenplay (Mak Siu-fai, Chong Man-keung)
- Nominated: Best Actor (Francis Ng)
- Nominated: Best Actress (Carina Lau)
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Chapman To)
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Liu Kai-chi)
- Nominated: Best Cinematography (Andrew Lau, Ng Man-ching)
- Nominated: Best Editing (Curran Pang, Danny Pang)
- Nominated: Best Original Film Score (Chan Kwong-wing)
- Nominated: Best Sound Effects (Kinson Tsang)
10th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
- Won: Best Film
[edit] See also
- Infernal Affairs
- Infernal Affairs III
- List of films set in Hong Kong
- List of Hong Kong films
- List of Dragon Dynasty releases
[edit] References
- ^ New York Times
- ^ Singer, Leigh. "Infernal Affairs II (Wu Jian Dao 2)". Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=134579§ion=review. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ^ "Infernal Affairs II (2003)". HKMDB.com. http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?id=10370&display_set=eng. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- ^ "23rd Annual Hong Kong Film Awards". Lovehkfilm.com. http://lovehkfilm.com/features/hkfa_2003.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official site on Miramax
- Infernal Affairs II at the Internet Movie Database
- Infernal Affairs II at AllRovi
- Infernal Affairs II at Rotten Tomatoes
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Chinese Odyssey 2002 |
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for Best Film 2003 |
Succeeded by McDull, Prince de la Bun |
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