Hong Kong Identity within Infernal Affairs (2002)

In the film, Infernal Affairs (2002), the dichotomy between the two main characters, Chan and Lau are striking. One works as an undercover cop, infiltrating an organized criminal gang working to smuggle drugs. Conversely, the other infiltrates the Hong Kong Police Force obtaining a high rank unbeknown to his coworkers and superiors that he works for his triad boss, Hon Sam. In the end, I was very surprised by the amount of death in this movie and the lengths Ming must go in order to reinvent his identity. Infernal Affairs provides a great reflection for the struggle of self-reinvention and how the people of Hong Kong may feel about their own identity in relation to historical context.

Hong Kong was a British colony, until 1997, when the territory was returned to China, which while granting relative political autonomy, imposed Chinese censorship laws and considered films produced in Hong Kong under the category of foreign films, which has a limited quota of allowed foreign films to be viewed by Chinese audiences. In order to get around this, many Hong Kong films would be co-produced with Chinese producers, talent, or financing. However Infernal Affairs is unique that is not a co-produced film. The film represents Hong Kong’s hybridity as a former colony of a western nation and a current territory of China. Both main characters are tired and weary as they near the end of their mole careers. In their retirement, both men hope to live authentic lives, expressing their true identity, showing Hong Kong’s struggle of identity. Chan represents the establishment of justice and clear morals, understanding and unwavering from the law, while Ming represents Hong Kong’s efforts to erase their troubling past, and look to a future with more national autonomy and proud identity. In the end after multiple murders, it is seen the actions Ming must take to self-reinvent himself and his new identity, repressing his immoral actions and allegiances of the past, in order to strive for a new identity.