Highly influential and extremely successful hellish deeds trilogy of Andrew Lau as well as Alan Mak returns to the big screen in 4K Ultra HD. According to Indiewire, the Hong Kong action movie franchise will be showcased in its newly restored form at a screening at Lincoln Center, giving new viewers the clearest possible view of the acclaimed film and its sequels that inspired one of the Martin Scorsesethe biggest films. Screenings of all three films begin on 16 September.
hellish deeds follows a deceptively simple premise: a Hong Kong police officer joins a gang that also has a mole that infiltrates the police. Living their double lives, they seek to eradicate the other, testing both men’s morals and forcing them to overcome a rocky relationship. Receiving overwhelming praise in its native China, the film will receive two sequels that explore the backstories of its key players Lau Kin-ming (Andy Lo) and Ch’an Wing-yang (Tony Leung), as well as the aftermath of the events of the first film. While none of them could surpass the impact of the original, it proved to be a prolific franchise for Lau and Mack and one of the most beloved movie trilogies.
IN THE USA, hellish deeds received a limited theatrical release, but its impact was not felt in the US until Scorsese decided to remake it into a beloved Boston crime thriller Renegades. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as well as Matt Damon as the main characters, the film followed much the same premise, although Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan made it their own with a new setting and a touch of reality based on the Boston Hill Gang. In terms of award hype, this is one of Scorsese’s most successful films, winning four Oscars, including the coveted awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
As for the cast hellish deeds, its center in Lau and Leung had two Hong Kong megastars. The couple will also reprise their roles in Infernal Affairs IIIalthough both sat hellish deeds II since it was a pure prequel, leaving Edison Chen as well as Sean Yue play themselves younger. Also recurring throughout the franchise Kelly Chen, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsangas well as Chapman To.
To give the film a new 4K look, an ARRISCAN film scanner along with the original camera negatives and the sound was a remix of the film’s original audio files. Janus Films, responsible for delivering a wide range of international films to the US, introduces restoration hellish deeds at Lincoln Center on September 16. Check out the restored trailer courtesy of Indiewire below.
Here is the official synopsis of the film:
Two of Hong Kong cinema’s most iconic actors, Tony Leung and Andy Lau, collide in a breathtaking thriller that revitalized the twenty-first century city-state’s film industry, launched a blockbuster franchise, and inspired Martin Scorsese’s The Departed..’ The plot is diabolical in its simplicity: two undercover moles are a police officer (Leung) tasked with infiltrating a ruthless triad posing as a gangster, and a gangster who becomes a police officer to serve as a spy for the underworld. — become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse, each competing against time to expose the other. As shifting affections, dark moral compromises, and deadly betrayals escalate, Infernal Affairs raises haunting questions about what it means to live a double life, lost in a maze of conflicting personalities and loyalties.
Source: Collider
