Film — Infernal Affairs II

I liked the original when it came around a few months ago, and all very contemporary HK actioner. This is actually the prequel (#0 rather then #2). Consequently, there are a lot of characters with plot immunity, while at the same time there is a feeling that this isn't quite the same past as was in the "what went before" section of the earlier film. And inevitably, it can't resolve the issues of tangled loyaly that suffuse the first, sticking with a intro and outro about the ?Bhuddist? Continuous Hell, which is psychologically, roughly where the characters remain throughout.

Watching it this way around, one defiitely notices the comparative low-tech of the early-mid '90s (the film ends at the handover of Hong Kong); the iconic use of mobile phones in the first film makes one very conscious of the clunky period handsets in this one.

Maybe not quite worth staying up past 01:00 to see, but not bad for all that.

Also seen : Film review — The General

Prefaced with a short piece about the digital restoration, and sub-titled in French, this crisply restored version of the Keaton classic now only shows its age in the style of cinematography. Switch off from the cynicism of the modern world, and enjoy this work from a bygone age on its merits.