It has been said that today's masters of cinematic reinvention are found in the bustling world of Hong Kong's film industry, but such a description may be selling its superb artisans short. As an example, take Andrew Lau, the sublime director whose award-winning thriller, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, achieves the not-insignificant task of reinventing and revivifying the entire genre. Having learned from watching the best -- 1970's-era masters like Sidney Lumet and Brian de Palma -- Lau's exceptional crime caper recalls classics like Serpico, Blow Out and The French Connection. But although Lau clearly loves the images and techniques of Hollywood, he doesn't merely emulate them; instead, he imbues INFERNAL AFFAIRS with a contemporary sophistication and of-the-moment vivacity that sets it apart from any of its predecessors. The film moves with the speedy, dazzling rhythms of today, set against cool-as-ice visuals and pulse-raising quick turns. Finding a new sense of grounding and an attractively tight storytelling ability, Lau far surpasses his bloated previous efforts like A Man Called Hero and The Storm Riders. Blessed with an exceptional cast and inventive creative team, INFERNAL AFFAIRS catapults its director into international status, having made one of the first classic entertainments of the new global millennium.

Beginning with a marvelously expressive opening sequence in flashback, INFERNAL AFFAIRS gives notice of its quality immediately. The striking cinematography, shared by director Lau and Yiu-Fai Lai (in consultation with one of the great living practitioners, Christopher Doyle), is majestic without being pompous, energetic without being loud. The relentless urban landscape of Hong Kong, with its shimmering modern buildings and echoing street caverns, is captured in electric, colorful tones. The story reveals itself beautifully -- a tale of two young officers in the HK Police Force who took wildly divergent paths after the academy: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) dropped out and fell into a ruthless crime syndicate, while Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau) rose up the ladder of the investigative bureau. The twist in INFERNAL AFFAIRS, of course, is that no one is what they seem: Chan is actually an undercover agent in the criminal gang, while Lau is a mole on the police force for the mob boss. The beauty of Alan Mak and Felix Chong's screenplay is that the two men share the same sense of nobility, purpose, and drive...and find their destinies are intricately intertwined.

Unlike most contemporary American thrillers that bog down in swamps of exposition and explanation, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is made of taut, economic scenes that focus like a magnifying glass on the ethics of double-double-crossers. The dialogue is written with spare but sharp wit; even its postmodern jokiness is enjoyable. Most of the gaps are filled in by the wonderfully simple performances by Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who let silence and brooding do a great deal of the mood-enhancing work. Leung's expressive eyes -- known so well to international audiences through his Cannes-winning performance in In The Mood for Love, Hero and Happy Together -- speak volumes of remorse, regret, and anger. Lau, who also stars in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers, balances the unlikable aspects of his character with an anguished, conflicted subtext that propels the film to its final conclusion. In supporting roles, veteran performers Eric Tsang as the jolly mob boss Sam and Anthony Wong Chau-Sang and the emotionally stalwart police captain add texture and depth to the complex situation.

INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which swept the Hong Kong Film Awards, has already spawned two sequels and an in-process English remake starring Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, directed by one of the crime thriller masters himself, Martin Scorsese. Watching the film, one can easily see why: it is that rare combination of quality filmmaking and crowd-pleasing entertainment, a popcorn movie with a brain, an intellectual drama that remembers how to have fun. Like The Bourne Identity, it brings a refreshing modern-day understand to the nature of thrills, one that enjoys its popcorn drama without succumbing to pure emotionality. It is an affair, infernal or otherwise, to remember...for a very long time.

-- Gabriel Shanks

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