INFERNAL AFFAIRS II
aka WU JIAN DAO 2

Year: 2003
UK: Tartan Films
Cast: Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Francis Ng, Hu Jun, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Carina Lau, Liu Kai Chi, Roy Cheung, Alexander Chan, Andrew Lin, Wai Ying-hung, Chau-Sang, Chapman To, Bey Logan, Ricardo Mamood, Brandon Rhea, Cheung Tung Cho 'Joe', Chiu Chung-yue, Fung Hui Kam, Keung Wan Chi, Wong Ngok-Tai
Directors: Andrew Lau; Alan Mak
Countries: Hong Kong / China / Singapore
Language: Cantonese (English subtitles)
UK: 119 mins
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong violence
UK Release Date: 6 August 2004

Synopsis

A Legend

Considered one of the most artistically made commercial blockbusters ever to come out of Hong Kong, INFERNAL AFFAIRS has garnered coveted film awards galore and record-breaking box-office returns to date. This thriller of a fatal tug-of-war between Yan, an undercover cop in the triads, and Ming, a triads' mole in the police force, not only introduces two of the most memorable tragic heroes in contemporary world cinema, but also a trove of compelling characters like Wong, Yan's mentor in the police force, and Sam, Ming's clandestine boss in the triads.

Birth of a Legend

INFERNAL AFFAIRS opens with Yan and Ming as young men in 1991 embarking on their journeys as moles for life, and then jumpstarts to 2002 when their pasts finally catch up with them, culminating in a climactic showdown in the finale. Set between the years 1991 and 1997, INFERNAL AFFAIRS II supplies the missing link as to how and why these two fledgling innocents will ultimately become a callous mole and an undercover cop with ennui.

While Yan is embroiled in the family saga of a triad cartel inextricably tied to his origins, Ming is enmeshed in an oedipal fixation with his boss's wife. Meanwhile, mind-boggling twists and turns are injected into the plot that both shatter established presumptions and shed new light on the characters' convoluted relations. Friendships fracture. Foes join forces. Nothing is what it appears to be.

Making of a Legend

Teenage heartthrobs Edison Chen and Shawn Yue reprise their roles of Ming and Yan as young men with an eye-opening melange of fluidity and depth.

Awards-winning Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang dazzle as Wong and Sam again, but this time they start off as collaborators instead of sworn enemies as they will later become in INFERNAL AFFAIRS.

Other noteworthy new characters include Hau played by Francis Ng (THE MISSION), the kingpin of a triad cartel; SP Lok by Hu Jun (LAN YU), Wong's closest friend and colleague; and Mary by Carina Lau (DAYS OF BEING WILD), Sam's wife.