INFERNAL AFFAIRS
(Lau/Mak / Hong Kong / 2003 / Cantonese (English subtitles) / 101 mins / cert15) (Tues 28th / 8pm / £2ttt)

Here's another chance to this flaming great psychological thriller from Hong Kong- just as IA2 (the prequel) hits the streets. Two cops on opposite sides of the law face off- Detective Yan (Tony Leung) is an undercover narc who has spent ten years of his life infiltrating one of the city's most notorious triad gangs. Detective Ming (Andy Lau) is a bent copper working on the inside as a mole for the same gang. Each knows that the other man exists, but neither knows the other's identity. At least, not yet...

Tension builds from the characters' tortuously untenable situations. Opening with a Buddhist quotation about the lowest level of hell, a place of continuous suffering, it's pretty clear that directors want us to see that Ming and Yan are trapped in a hell of their own making. Two sides of the same coin (Ming/Yan - Yin/Yang), these men are on the verge of losing their very identities through the stresses of their deep cover roles.

Phenomenally successful at home, theres a second sequel on the way and it's been picked up for a Hollywood (Scorsese) remake.