Good cops vs. bad cops in taut ‘Infernal Affairs’

Boasting sleek, metallic surfaces and saturated neon highlights that belie the shadowy souls of its symbiotic protagonists, “Infernal Affairs” glides along like a buffed-out muscle car, a glistening machine with a steady rumble under the hood. Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Andy Lau star as two men who internalize the good-cop, bad-cop ethos to unhealthy extents amid the Hong Kong underworld and fall deeper into identities that are no longer their own.

After a brief, clunky prologue establishing Yan (Leung) as a young cadet plucked from the academy to go undercover in the triads and Ming (Lau) as a gang plant on the police force, “Infernal Affairs” settles down as a solid, twist-filled, ‘70s-style crime thriller. The action leaps forward a decade as each man distinguishes himself behind enemy lines unaware of the other’s existence.

Yan and Ming become two sides of a coin as they each serve the same masters -- buttoned-down, win-at-all-costs Supt. Wong (Anthony Wong) and psychotic crime boss Sam (Eric Tsang). When Internal Affairs learns there is a mole within the department, Ming is assigned to ferret out the bad cop, triggering a series of intricately plotted reversals.

Directors Andrew Lau and Alan Mak rely more on psychology than action to create and sustain tension. Chan Kwok Wing’s propulsive score ratchets up the conflict in place of traditional Hong Kong bullets and mayhem, which the filmmakers use in artfully spare doses. Andrew Lau, co-cinematographer Lau Yu Fai and visual consultant Christopher Doyle have given the film a crisp, cinematic sheen without resorting to music video gimmickry.

As impressive as it is visually, the success of “Infernal Affairs” rides squarely on the performances of Tony Leung and Andy Lau. Leung, who has excelled equally at action (“Hard Boiled,” “Hero”) and romance (Wong Kar Wai’s “Happy Together” and “In the Mood for Love”), has an effortless style which allows him to wear his character as comfortably as an old sweater. If People magazine ever does a “Coolest Man Alive” issue, the line forms behind Lau. A Cantonese pop star whose acting career has taken off from his work with director Johnnie To, Lau is currently starring in Zhang Yimou’s “House of Flying Daggers.” In “Infernal Affairs,” the wiry Lau plays Ming as tense and under control, the antidote to Yan. When his own investigation leads him into a corner, his dueling ambitions -- loyal henchman and crime fighter -- flare into conflict with his conscience.

Released in Hong Kong in 2002 but limited to a September 2004 New York release and some notable film festivals in the U.S., “Infernal Affairs” was a huge hit elsewhere and spawned a prequel and a sequel. Martin Scorsese has plans to remake it, transferring the story to Boston with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon starring. The original film is in Cantonese with both English and Spanish subtitles available on the DVD. However, you may want to consider using the well-dubbed English-language track to fully enjoy the lustrous imagery.

Details: Rated R for violence. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes. Miramax Home Entertainment: $29.99.