-
9 - Departing from The Departed: The Infernal Affairs Trilogy
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Hong Kong’s fortunes have been linked to its status as an entrepôt — an import/ export merchandise mart for the world’s manufactured goods and a point of assembly, repackaging, re-labeling, recycling and transshipment. As the world economy swings from goods to intellectual property and image commodities, Hong Kong’s role as entrepôt also shifts so that ideas, styles, fictions, images and the wealth of Hong Kong’s creative industries play a more important role as do its financial institutions, tourism, retail sales and the rest of the service sector. While “Made in Hong Kong” may signify plastic flowers and transistors to an older generation, today it means advertising campaigns for the “global city”, design houses such as Shanghai Tang, stars such as Jackie Chan, Hong Kong action films, and Cantopop. However, the marketplace of brand labels, images and ideas has proven to be no less volatile than the world of manufactured goods. Hong Kong’s once lucrative movie business has seen particularly hard times over the past decade. Hollywood imports, regional competition from Korea and other emerging Asian film industries, the “brain drain” of talent after the signing of the Joint Declaration, the rise of home entertainment, and the digital revolution have all taken their toll on the Hong Kong film industry.1 Although the industry has been in the commercial doldrums, Hong Kong film style from the visual panache of Wong Kar-wai to the grittiness of Fruit Chan’s independent features has kept the Hong Kong film “brand” viable within the international art film market. Similarly, although arguably fading stars in Asia, the rise of Jet Li and Jackie Chan as marketable commodities in world cinema points to a disconnect between the reality of decreasing production and revenues and increasing world recognition of a few key Hong Kong film players. 9 Departing from The Departed: The Infernal Affairs Trilogy Gina Marchetti ch09(147-167).indd 147 25/05/2010 3:04 PM 148 Gina Marchetti With ties to both the New Wave art film and the popular Young and Dangerous triad series, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs /《無間 道》(2002) makes a statement about the state of Hong Kong cinema as well as an intervention in a depressed market. With star power, visual allure and an engaging script, the film did very well critically and financially, spawned two sequels and a television series, and attracted the attention of Hollywood. However, instead of the film being picked up for distribution, the script was optioned for a remake and eventually became The Departed (2006). Repackaged, re-labelled and reassembled in the United States, Infernal Affairs’s transformation into The Departed begs the question of Hong Kong’s role in the export of images and commodities to the rest of the world as the territory enters its second decade as an SAR (Special Administrative Region) of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong films may continue to find a welcome reception, or the “Made in Hong Kong” label may fade as Hong Kong inevitably clashes with the American film industry, brand-name directors and the vicissitudes of the world market for entertainment “Made in the USA” or outsourced to Bollywood or other industries in Asia. Infernal Affairs “Departed” at the Oscars Many of these issues came to a boil on 25 February 2007, when Martin Scorsese won the Oscar for best director for The Departed (which also took best motion picture of the year, among other awards). He had already won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) award for the film. The appearance of his good friends and fellow filmmakers — Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg2 — at the Academy Awards was a tip-off that Scorsese would get the honour. With the other “movie brats” there, the occasion celebrated more than just Scorsese as the best director of the year; it confirmed his place within the ranks of American auteur cinema, which had emerged out of university-based film schools, the French New Wave and the American underground during the Vietnam War years. However, Scorsese’s smiling face hides questions about the financially successful film’s relationship to Hong Kong cinema. Hollywood celebrates the director as moneymaker with the award, but critics and cinephiles tend to view it as an affirmation of auteur status. For Scorsese, the two merge. His place as an auteur long established, he now joins the ranks of Hollywood star directors as well. Ironically, Roland Barthes wrote “La mort...