The beautiful art of deception
Cinematic Flapper
Anna Nguyen
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Lifestyles
I like an attractive DVD cover that features lavish colors and beautiful people. I am quite aware, however, that some of the DVDs in my film collection do not qualify as artfully striking. One particular title that comes to mind is a Hong Kong action thriller, the stellar "Infernal Affairs," which my dear sister lovingly purchased for me while on a trip in Arizona some few years ago.
Although my DVD cover features the extremely handsome Tony Leung, the DVD is quite hideous. It's unfortunate, as "Infernal Affairs" is a grand film in Hong Kong. Not only did it revive Hong Kong cinema, which at the time was regarded as lacking creativity, but it was made when Hong Kong was in a state of turbulence because of the SARs outbreak. When the film was released, it shattered the box office and revitalized the excitement for cinemagoers and spawned many successors.
The film's accomplishments were not well translated in North America, which is evident in the manner they distributed the film. The cover blends the faces of Leung and Andy Lau in a grainy red background and, perhaps even more appallingly, features a full body photo of a seductive femme in a short outfit, posing suggestively and holding a gun. I've watched "Infernal Affairs" many times and I think that unknown femme may be Elva Hsiao, who was in the film for a mere five minutes or so. But I cannot comprehend why that image is on the cover.
One of the official Hong Kong releases shows Leung and Lau standing out among a gritty background of a blurred crowd, indicating the wonderful magic of Christopher Doyle's cinematography. The North American release, however, seems to introduce it as a low-budget B-film. It's shameful.
When I first became enamored with the film's action and intelligence, I made an idiotic mistake, one that continually haunts me from time to time. At a video store, I came upon a double-disc DVD boasting of two titles, "Gods, Gangsters and Gamblers" and "Triad Affairs." The cover shows a picture of Leung and Lau, obviously pilfered from "Infernal Affairs," and one of the headlines read that "Infernal Affairs" inspired the films. My infatuation with "Infernal Affairs" clouded my judgment, and I purchased it on a whim. Later that day, I turned it on, anticipating a good time of violence and adrenaline. I was horrified to realize that those films were, in fact, two old Hong Kong films - a 1991 comedy named "Don't Fool Me" and a 1999 triad film titled "Century of the Dragon."
If my memory does not fail me, I recall "Don't Fool Me" was dubbed in English, a major turn-off. I like my foreign films in subtitles, as I cannot tolerate listening to poor English. After the first painful 10 minutes, I had to turn the film off as I simply did not want to torture myself. Perhaps Leung gave a formidable performance, but I'll never know.
I kept this deceptive DVD in my film library for some time. It remained untouched ever since that foolish day. I finally decided to rid it from my memory. I sold it to a video store and used that money to purchase the North American version of Wong Kar-wai's "2046," a beautiful film with beautiful colors and beautiful music.
Anna Nguyen is the Lifestyles editor of The Arkansas Traveler. Her column appears every other Monday.
Although my DVD cover features the extremely handsome Tony Leung, the DVD is quite hideous. It's unfortunate, as "Infernal Affairs" is a grand film in Hong Kong. Not only did it revive Hong Kong cinema, which at the time was regarded as lacking creativity, but it was made when Hong Kong was in a state of turbulence because of the SARs outbreak. When the film was released, it shattered the box office and revitalized the excitement for cinemagoers and spawned many successors.
The film's accomplishments were not well translated in North America, which is evident in the manner they distributed the film. The cover blends the faces of Leung and Andy Lau in a grainy red background and, perhaps even more appallingly, features a full body photo of a seductive femme in a short outfit, posing suggestively and holding a gun. I've watched "Infernal Affairs" many times and I think that unknown femme may be Elva Hsiao, who was in the film for a mere five minutes or so. But I cannot comprehend why that image is on the cover.
One of the official Hong Kong releases shows Leung and Lau standing out among a gritty background of a blurred crowd, indicating the wonderful magic of Christopher Doyle's cinematography. The North American release, however, seems to introduce it as a low-budget B-film. It's shameful.
When I first became enamored with the film's action and intelligence, I made an idiotic mistake, one that continually haunts me from time to time. At a video store, I came upon a double-disc DVD boasting of two titles, "Gods, Gangsters and Gamblers" and "Triad Affairs." The cover shows a picture of Leung and Lau, obviously pilfered from "Infernal Affairs," and one of the headlines read that "Infernal Affairs" inspired the films. My infatuation with "Infernal Affairs" clouded my judgment, and I purchased it on a whim. Later that day, I turned it on, anticipating a good time of violence and adrenaline. I was horrified to realize that those films were, in fact, two old Hong Kong films - a 1991 comedy named "Don't Fool Me" and a 1999 triad film titled "Century of the Dragon."
If my memory does not fail me, I recall "Don't Fool Me" was dubbed in English, a major turn-off. I like my foreign films in subtitles, as I cannot tolerate listening to poor English. After the first painful 10 minutes, I had to turn the film off as I simply did not want to torture myself. Perhaps Leung gave a formidable performance, but I'll never know.
I kept this deceptive DVD in my film library for some time. It remained untouched ever since that foolish day. I finally decided to rid it from my memory. I sold it to a video store and used that money to purchase the North American version of Wong Kar-wai's "2046," a beautiful film with beautiful colors and beautiful music.
Anna Nguyen is the Lifestyles editor of The Arkansas Traveler. Her column appears every other Monday.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
XiaoXi
posted 4/13/09 @ 1:48 AM CST
I visited my son in Hong Kong when Infernal Affair III was being heavily promoted everywhere, which lured us into tracking down a copy of IA-1...It instantly became one of my favorite movies of all time, right up there with Godfather. (Continued…)
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