Two sides. Gangsters against cops. Two men caught between the fronts. These are the ingredients for a top-class gangster epic that you can currently watch for free.The life of an undercover investigator is a dangerous one. The constant fear of being exposed keeps both the characters and the audience on tenterhooks. But what if one side is not the only one infiltrating the enemy? What happens when two spies have to compete against each other?
The Infernal Affairs series poses this question in a way that is as exciting as it is humanly told. You can currently watch an absolutely epic gangster movie marathon for free in the Arte Mediathek. You will experience a story that should even inspire one of Hollywood’s greatest directors
Infernal Affairs on Arte Mediathek pits two undercover agents against each other in a nerve-wracking way
Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is tired. He has been working as an undercover agent for the police for years, posing as a gangster. He has gotten as close as he can to the boss of one of Hong Kong’s biggest triads. Together with his superior (Anthony Wong), he tries to finally bring him down. All he really wants is to return to his old life and finally be a normal person.
Lau (Andy Lau) is just as exhausted and driven. He longs for a position of power in the police force, for an independent life. Because he too is trapped in a role as a double agent – for the very drug lord that Yan is supposed to hunt down. When it becomes clear during an operation that both sides have spies on their respective opponents, a feverish search begins and an internal power struggle with deadly consequences
Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai in Infernal Affairs
Infernal Affairs on Arte Mediathek pits two undercover agents against each other in a nerve-wracking way
Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) is tired. He has been working as an undercover agent for the police for years, posing as a gangster. He has gotten as close as he can to the boss of one of Hong Kong’s biggest triads. Together with his superior (Anthony Wong), he tries to finally bring him down. All he really wants is to return to his old life and finally be a normal person.
Lau (Andy Lau) is just as exhausted and driven. He longs for a position of power in the police force, for an independent life. Because he too is trapped in a role as a double agent – for the very drug lord that Yan is supposed to hunt down. When it becomes clear during an operation that both sides have spies on their respective opponents, a feverish search begins and an internal power struggle with deadly consequences ensues.
Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai in Infernal Affairs
(Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai in Infernal Affairs)
In contrast to other trilogies, Infernal Affairs does not tell a simple, stringent story over an epic 300 minutes. The first part leaves us shocked, open-mouthed and with questions on our minds. Infernal Affairs II – Descent into the Eighth Hell is an intermediate episode dedicated to the youth of its two (anti-)heroes, before Infernal Affairs III finally interweaves all time strands
Stream all Infernal Affairs films now in the Arte Mediathek
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The Infernal Affairs series is so exciting that it even inspired Martin Scorsese
Authors Alan Mak and Felix Chong build up a gruesome tension in an absolutely straightforward and brutally honest way. Without exception, every character in the series has the same chance of failing fatally or emerging victorious. Everyone holds the fate of the other in their hands. These (in)human relationships are the heart of the movie, as Andy Lau also stated in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
People and their motivations are a devilish business. The line between good and evil, feelings and the law, indeed between corruption and conscience, is dangerously thin. Infernal Affairs depicts this more skillfully than almost any other film and therefore gives us no way of predicting the course of history until the very last second. Infernal Affairs is frightening, real – unpredictable
