Infernal Affairs 3 by Andrew Lau Wai Keung and Alan Mak Siu Fai (2003)
11 October 2006While this is the worst film of the trilogy, it is still a very enjoyable film. Sure maybe a little convoluted, but it has enjoyable and compelling performances, and acts as both as sequel and a prequel to the first film. Sure we get excuses to go back further into the stories and see the dead characters show up again, but I like this trilogy so much that I am game, especially with such great actors making a return.
This film follows the former mole Ming (Andrew Lau Tak Wah) who is going through an Internal Affairs investigation of the death of Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) and dealing with a possible new mole, who seems to be killing off the rest of Sam’s (Eric Tsang Chi Wai) former moles. This is the brutal and shady Security Inspector Yeung (Leon Lai Ming).
The film also deals with a Shen (Chen Dai Ming) a mainland gun runner who had a relationship with Sam and we see the burgeoning of that relationship from Yan’s perspective from 6 months in the past, as well as how Yan met his Dr. Lee psychiatrist played by Kelly Chan Wai Lam.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Ming gets returned to duty, and starts acting strangely because he is doing all her can to tail Yueng who has confronted multiple other moles of Sam and they have ended up dead. And he is determined to get any information that proves he was a mole. He also goes to see Dr. Lee and breaks in to get her data on Ming, as we also see her relationship with Yan as her patient, with him being ridiculous at first, and eventually telling her he was an undercover, and sleeping at her sessions because he felt safe. There is also sexual tension and it is left up to use to determine if their relationship got physical or was in fact a dream.
We see how Sam meets Shen, and how Chapman To’s character tries to look out for Yan, though Sam seems determined to betray him to Shen, and with the police and Yeung who seems to be gunning for them.
Through many twists and turns, not as well done as the other films, we see Inspector Wong back, and the eventual lead up to realizing that Yeung is a good guy working with Shen who is also a mole trying to get Sam and others, and that they knew Yan. And Ming tries to get Yeung, and ends up shooting him in the head and shooting himself in the head and causing brain damage. He could not erase his past because he was not a good man. And we see his ex fiance come to see him in the wheelchair telling him his son is doing well, while he sits in his wheelchair pondering his fait.
••••
This film really does bring it all to a close. We see Yan’s story from the end of the second film right up to the start of the first film, and we see what Ming’s fate is after that. They had to add another layer of complexity with the Shen and Yeung story-lines, which worked so well in the second film, but here seems a bit much, and not fully realized at points (it doesn’t help that now writing is translated). At times it does seem like they were trying to get more people into one scene, too really fill the screen with star power, but I still enjoyed it.
Not amazing, but an enjoyable film, better than many recent Hong Kong films.
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