Character and Film Essay

Submitted By vivianzheng
Words: 854
Pages: 4

The One You Choose to be “Usually, things can change a person, but the person can never ever change the things.” This sentence in the film Infernal Affairs impressed me a lot. Although this film tells a story about the relationship between gangsters and the police, it portrays, essentially, the destinies of the two main characters whose real identities are disguised. After watching this film, I feel that the theme of this movie is survival. Every character in this film is trying to survive in their own way especially the two main characters. As both of them are performing the identities that they do not belong to, they always feel that they are living in a place which seems to be infernal. Though out the whole movie, the director focuses much on the psychological changes of the two characters, Yongren Chan and Jianming Liu. In the meantime, the music, the rooftop scenes with skyscrapers and the fashionable subjects shown in this movie all contribute to the success of this high-concept film which become classic. While I’m watching this movie, I was really attracted to the main actors. Both of them are good at performing and earned a bunch of rewards, which caused a lot of attention from the public when they starred in Infernal Affairs. I think because of their perfect performing skills as well as their accepted image in the public, spectators including me are easily immersed in their circumstances. Meanwhile, the music also makes the scenes more impressive, putting characters in a vulnerable position and making the viewer connect more with them. A scene which shocked me first is that the Officer Wong fell down on a car with blood. Along with this scene, there are many records of old days with the orchestral score which immediately raise my awareness and I felt like I had the same emotion as the main character inside the film: disbelieve, sorrow and despair. Compared the fell down scene in The Departed, there are no music or flashback at all which seems to be more realistic. Despite this scene, the scene when the two main characters first meet in a video store, the classical music which is sung in Chinese also touched me a lot. The two men just sit there side by side and appreciate the song. This scene looks so peaceful that the viewer cannot imagine what will happen when they find out each other’s real identity. In addition, the costume and the scenes the director selected are also special and highlight the high-concept of this film. In this film, many of the most important scenes take place on the rooftop with highly urbanized skyscrapers in the background. The main characters always wear black suits or dark colors, which forms a sharp comparison with the bright sky scenes. Through the demonstration of the characters as well as the scene of Hong Kong, I feel that the life there must be full of unknown, surprise as well as excitement. In such a highly modernized city, everything happens in a fast pace. From the spacious apartment to the psychiatric therapy and the golf-playing, this film is also trying to show the