In this high tension police drama set in Hong Kong, director Andrew Lau demonstrates the same kind of attention to urban living and the nuances of character development we've seen in crime movies by Michael Mann. The Chinese title means "no way out" and refers to a Buddhist sutra which says, "The worst of the Eight Hells is Continuous Hell — continuous suffering."
Hong Kong, like many cities around the world, is a playground for crime, and the police must use the latest technology to keep up with the diligence and deviousness of those who break the law and find pleasure and profit in doing so. This intricately structured film explores the other hellish dimension of police work: the planting of moles by crime lords who want to keep abreast of the maneuvers of their adversaries. Mob boss Hon Sam (Eric Tsang) has watched his informer Ming (Andy Lau) become an inspector within the police force without being discovered. Of course, the law and order forces also have an informer — Yan (Tony Leung), one of Hon Sam's right-hand men. He reports to Supt. Wong (Anthony Wong), a shrewd man who knows the pressure his man is living with. In the most dramatic scene, Wong decides to catch Hon Sam when he receives a shipment of cocaine from Thailand. But both the cops and the criminals listen to their stoolies and the whole deal collapses. It's truly ironic when Ming is transferred to Internal Affairs with the assignment to identify the mole in the police force.
This is a top-notch psychological thriller with great performances by Andy Lau and Tony Leung as the two undercover operatives.
