Leonardo and Tom Hanks were particularly engrossed in the movie.
They rarely watched Chinese movies, and this was the first time they were truly attracted to a Chinese movie.
Every time Liang Chaowei's acting skills exploded, Leonardo almost couldn't bear to blink. He observed Liang Chaowei's acting skills at every moment while putting himself in the shoes of the character. He felt that Liang Chaowei's character was very well-developed. Not only did this character run through the entire story line, but his personality and psychology were also very complex. It was also a test of the actor's acting skills.
Liang Chaowei's character was a good person, but because he was carrying out important missions, he mingled with criminals all year round. Many years of undercover life brought him great pain and psychological pressure. He wanted to quit countless times, but every time he needed to carry out a mission, he would grit his teeth and persevere. He guarded the secret of a good person for a long time, but the more he was like a bad person, the more he wanted to find an opportunity to blurt out the secret in his heart. It was like a pressure cooker full of secrets. Every time the pressure reached a critical point, he had to break the valve to release some of the pressure. Otherwise, it would lead to an accident.
Liang Chaowei could only joke about this secret in front of the psychiatrist. When he told the psychiatrist that he was actually a police officer with a rare smile on his face, his expression was unprecedentedly relaxed. It could be seen that deep in his heart, this character desperately wanted to have the opportunity to say these words. Once he said it, it was as if he had been redeemed.
And the psychiatrist knew that he was a gangster, so he instinctively thought that he was joking with him. This was also the result that Liang Chaowei's character wanted. To tell a secret that he couldn't tell anyone, to someone that he couldn't possibly trust, alleviating his own pressure. At the same time, there was no risk of the secret being leaked. From this, it could be seen that deep down, this character's heart had been tormented by being undercover.
For actors with ability and ambition, they loved such difficult and challenging roles the most. This was especially true for Leonardo.
Originally, he had countless easy ways to succeed. For example, after Titanic, he could have used his face to conquer the world, but he didn't. He didn't accept the role of the main character in Titanic. From then on, he didn't take on the role of the main character in Titanic. Instead, he started looking for all kinds of breakthroughs for himself.
New York Gangs, Blood Diamond, Flyer, The Departed, Shutter Island, Inception, The Great Gatsby, Operation Wild … This man was like a magnet that specialized in finding challenging roles, and he played all kinds of roles to the fullest.
Leonardo's boldness to not take on sequels was almost unprecedented in Hollywood. Tom Cruise was very popular, and he had made six sequels of Mission Impossible. Matt Damon was also very popular, and he had made five sequels of The Bourne Identity. Van Diesel was even more successful, and he had made eight sequels of Fast and Furious.
In Hollywood, actors taking on sequels was the most cost-effective job. This was because sequels represented the success of the previous film. Actors didn't need to challenge a new role, and they didn't need to take on the risk of the new role not being liked by the audience. They only needed to continue the acting style that they were familiar with in the previous film, and continue to interpret the character in the previous film, and they could easily achieve success.
Even if there were ten thousand sequels of Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise's acting style wouldn't change, and there was no need for it to change. The only thing that changed was that the plot of each installment was slightly different, and Tom Cruise would challenge some new extreme sports in each installment. In one installment, he would climb the Burj Khalifa, the next installment, he would climb on a transport plane, and maybe he would ride an intercontinental missile, or sit on a space meteorite. It was just like putting old wine in a new bottle.
However, as long as Tom Cruise continued to make dogshit sequels, he could rely on this movie to make a huge fortune, until one day, the audience really got tired of this series and this character.
As for Van Diesel, as long as he maintained his arrogant look and continued to step on the accelerator in his sports car, "The Fast and the Furious" would continue to be filmed, and he could easily earn tens of millions of US dollars a year.
Whether it was Johnny Depp or Robert Downey Jr., none of these highly paid Hollywood bigwigs dared to give up on sequels. The only one who kept challenging himself was Leonardo.
It was precisely because of Leonardo's motivation to constantly challenge himself that when he was attracted to Infernal Affairs, he instinctively hoped to have the opportunity to play the role of Chen Yongren in the movie.
When the movie ended, Leonardo and Tom Hanks both let out a long sigh of relief. They looked at each other and saw a trace of sadness in each other's eyes.
The ending of this movie was indeed a bit unexpected. They thought that after Liang Chaowei suppressed the entire movie, he would be able to complete his mission, find his identity as a police officer, and return to the light of day. Then, the bad guys would be punished, and there would be a happy ending. But unexpectedly, just when both of them thought that Liang Chaowei could see the light of victory, a bullet suddenly ended his life, causing this character to end in the most tragic way after being suppressed for a hundred minutes.
What was even worse was that at the end of the original Hong Kong version of "Infernal Affairs," Liu Dehua's character was not arrested by the police. Instead, he continued to be a police officer and completely escaped the punishment of the law.
In the mainland version of "Infernal Affairs," Liu Dehua was arrested by the police as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, and then the movie ended. But in the original Hong Kong version, Liu Dehua flashed his ID as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, said that he was a police officer, and then got away with it.
Then, they accidentally found Chen Yongren's file, and Chen Yongren's identity was revealed to the world. So, the police gave him a funeral. At the funeral, Chen Huilin, who played the role of a psychiatrist, and Xiao Yaxuan, who played the role of Chen Yongren's ex-girlfriend, were all present. Liu Dehua, who played the role of Liu Jianming, also came to salute Chen Yongren in his police uniform.
Finally, the scene flashed back to when Chen Yongren was expelled from the police academy. A police instructor said to the other students, "Those who don't follow the rules will be kicked out like him. Is there anyone who is willing to exchange with him?"
Liu Dehua, who played the role of Liu Jianming, suddenly replaced Chen Guanxi in the crowd. He lowered his head and said, "I want to exchange with him."
Then, the movie ended …
Leonardo buried his face in his hands. After a while, he took a deep breath and said, "I was still looking forward to the time when he put on his police uniform and went to find that psychiatrist …"
Tom Hanks smiled and said in agreement, "The script is too cruel to this character. He sacrificed so much, but he got nothing in return. First, he lost a few good years, and was tortured by the pressure of his double identity. Then, he lost the person he trusted the most, and finally, he lost his own life."
Spielberg, who was at the side, said, "This character Chen Yongren is actually a martyr. For a character like this, it doesn't matter what he gets in the end, but what he sacrificed himself to protect."
Leonardo said, "This is too cruel to the audience. His death was too sudden, and it didn't give him a respectful ending. The only thing that was humane was that the scriptwriter gave him a police-style funeral. It could be considered a small comfort to the audience."
Tom Hanks nodded. "Fortunately, the psychiatrist was also present at the funeral. This way, at least she would know that the poor man had told her his deepest secret. But unfortunately, in the end, that dirty undercover police officer didn't get hurt at all. He even came to the funeral to put on a show. In the end, he even tried to stir up emotions, as if he was trying to clear the dirty police officer's name. Personally, I think this is a failure."
Leonardo said in agreement, "That's right! That's f * cking right! Forgive me for my vulgarity, Tom, but you've hit the nail on the head! I really don't understand what the scriptwriter is thinking. This police officer has been helping drug dealers sell countless drugs to the market for many years. Behind the scenes, who knows how many people and families he has indirectly poisoned? Also, he killed Chen Yongren's superior, maliciously erased Chen Yongren's files, and indirectly killed Chen Yongren. In the end, the guy who shot Chen Yongren was his real comrade. It was him who shot Chen Yongren and saved this police officer from the abyss. But in the blink of an eye, this police officer shot his comrade, his savior! "
As he said that, Leonardo became a little engrossed and said, "So, what did you see? He helped drug dealers, killed two police officers, and killed his savior! No matter if it was the people he was fighting against or the people around him, he didn't hold back at all. He was a person who had committed the most heinous crimes. It was fine for a person who had committed the most heinous crimes to be able to get away scot-free in the end. I could understand the cruelty of reality, but what was the meaning of the last scene? This dirty police officer actually said from the bottom of his heart that he wanted to exchange with Chen Yongren? Could it be that the scriptwriter is trying to clear this sinful person's name? That's really unreasonable! "
Spielberg said, "So, this is the difference between our Eastern and Western film culture. Eastern film culture values humanity. They feel that no matter how evil a person is, there's still a good side in his heart."
"I can't accept such an idealistic rendering." Leonardo shook his head and said, "I respect reality more. In reality, an evil person like Liu would never have good thoughts in his heart. Because you can see from the things he did. If a person can do such things, it's impossible for him to have good thoughts in his heart. On the other hand, a person with good thoughts wouldn't do so many heinous things. So, I can't accept this ending. A sinful person wants to be a good person in his heart??? WTF！ This is as ridiculous as Bill Gates saying that he actually wants to be a pauper who can't even afford to eat! "
Tom Hanks didn't expect Leonardo to be so emotional. He quickly comforted him, "Leo, it's just a movie, don't be too angry."
"I'm sorry, Tom." Leonardo said apologetically, "I was too engrossed in the movie. This ending really made me feel depressed!"
Spielberg patted him on the shoulder and said, "The Hong Kong director and scriptwriter have their own way of thinking. This is still different from Hollywood. In most cases, we still prefer a happy ending. Even if we need to leave some regrets, we still hope that the ending will be better than regretful. If the Hollywood scriptwriter jumped out of the movie's plot and only used its setting, it might be like what you said. In the end, Chen Yongren didn't die, but got together with the psychiatrist."
“Shit！” Leonardo sighed. "Putting the ending aside, I really like this character. This Hong Kong actor acted very well and left a deep impression."
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