Mou gaan dou II (2003)

Directors:

Wai-keung Lau
Alan Mak

Writers:

Alan Mak (written by) and
Felix Chong (written by)

Release Date:

1 October 2003 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. We all climb towards heaven. We all fall towards hell.

Plot:

In this prequel to Mou gaan dou (2002), Chan Wing Yan has just become an undercover cop in the triads while Lau Kin Ming joins the police force. Both the triads and the police find an enemy in a rival crime boss.

Plot Keywords:

Prequel | Police Academy | Gangster | Shot In The Forehead | Mob Boss

Awards:

4 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Inspector Wong Chi Shing (as Anthony Wong)
Eric Tsang	...	Hon Sam
Carina Lau	...	Mary Hon
Francis Ng	...	Ngai Wing Hau
Edison Chen	...	Officer Lau Kin Ming
Shawn Yue	...	Chan Wing Yan
Jun Hu	...	SP Luk (as Hu Jun)
Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung	...	Kwun (as Joe Cheung)
Henry Fong	...	Gandhi (as Fong Ping)
Peter Ngor	...	Negro
Arthur Wong	...	Wah
Teddy Chan	...	Ching
Chung-yue Chiu	...	Mary (as Yu Chiu)
Phorjeat Keanpetch	...	Sunny
Shipin Ye	...	Socialites (as Ye Shi Pin)

Also Known As:

Infernal Affairs II (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title) (Singapore: English title)
Infernal Affairs 2 (Australia)
Wu jian dao 2 (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

119 min | Germany:110 min (TV version)

Country:

Hong Kong | China | Singapore

Language:

Cantonese | English | Mandarin | Thai

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-12 | Australia:MA | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:15A (original rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Italy:T | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:18 | UK:15

Company:

Media Asia Films

Trivia:

In the scene where Ngai Wing-Hau's lawyer leaves the family claiming, "I'm not one of you" a copy of "Noble House", James Clavell's blockbuster novel about Hong Kong, can be seen on the bookshelf behind him.

Quotes:

Ngai Wing-Hau: My father always says "what goes around comes around."

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Chuet chung tit gam gong (2003)

Soundtrack:

FORGIVE AND FORGET

A fine follow up

Thought the first one was one of the finest Cop thrillers in recent years and the follow up is equally brilliant - for obvious reasons its a prequel set in 3 time periods leading up to the events in the first movie. This time round Ming(Edison Chen - Andy Lau last time) and Yan(Shawne Yau - Tony Leung last time) are more peripheral characters - the main action concentrates on Inspector Wong(Anthony Wong) and his struggles against the Triads. The leader of the major gang has been murdered and his son Hau(Francis Ng) has taken over - he is a more ruthless boss and intends to take over all the territory that other leaders currently control. These include Sam(Eric Tsang) and its interesting how close Wong and Sam are before the events that end so tragically later - Wong would rather have Sam running things and it appears that Wong has conspired with Sam's woman Mary(Carina Lau) to have Hau's Father killed - only to see the son become worse than the Father. To complicate matters Yan is Hau's half brother who as a cop is willing to infiltrate Hau's gang but whose loyalty is put under pressure when he realises that Wong(who he is working for) had a hand in his Fathers murder.Meanwhile Sam is grooming Ming to become his mole in the HK Police(although Ming's attraction for Mary does complicate things).

How this all pans out and leads to the events in the first film I shall leave but its an excellent film - a little complicated at times as you have to work out all the dynamics buts worth the effort - as mentioned the most poignant part is the relationship between Wong and Sam - they may be on opposite sides but have a closeness that will prove to be the central point of the story later.

There is a fantastic scene where Hau contrives to have himself held in Police custody whilst the other gang bosses are murdered and the way the film cuts between his interview(where he reveals how he knows who killed his Father) and the other bosses being wiped out is worthy of comparison with Coppola's Godfather - the series has that whole epic feel and the way it culminates with the handover of power to the Chinese in 1997 with new bosses on both sides of the conflict coming to power is very well done.

For once a sequel that lives up to the original........I shall be interested to see if Scorcese's remake can come close.