Alan Mak first heard of Hollywood’s interest in his film Infernal Affairs 10 days after its Hong Kong release in 2002. “At that time, I was just thinking it was a joke!” he says with a laugh. Four years and US$90 million later, it’s clear Hollywood was dead serious. This Friday, the world will get to see the result: The Departed, a big budget crime thriller directed by gangster film kingpin Martin Scorcese and starring megastars Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg.

A re-make might seem like the ultimate compliment to a filmmaker – and as far as Mak can remember, this is the first time a Hong Kong film has got the Hollywood treatment. Five studios were interested in doing the film, with the contract eventually going to Warner Bros Pictures. Still, Mak would have preferred for Infernal Affairs – which pulled in HK$55 million at the local box office – to get a wide international release. Now, however, he understands that will never happen and seems content with the attention. “I was happy that someone liked the movie,” he says, again with a laugh that seems to surface as frequently as an Infernal Affairs plot twist.

The film he co-wrote with Felix Chong and co-directed with Andrew Lau is complex, playing on infiltration, intrigue and torn allegiances. The story revolves around two men: an undercover cop who has infiltrated a triad gang; and a triad mole who has worked his way up the police ranks. Ultimately, threads unravel in spectacular gun-blazing fashion, and each man is left to find a way out alive. The Departed, adapted for Hollywood by screenwriter William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven), transplants that story to Boston, where police cadet Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) infiltrates the Irish mafia, headed by the ruthless Frank Costello (Nicholson), while Irish-American gangster Colin Sullivan (Damon) works his way inside the Boston police force. The result, says Empire magazine, is “an entirely different beast.”

Mak expected that – he says it had to happen. “To remake it will change it to another movie, totally different to Infernal Affairs.” At press time, he hadn’t seen The Departed, but he had read the script, which had been sent to him for comment before filming last year. He had reservations. “They made it so complicated.” Mak says the revised script incorporated elements from all three films in the Affairs trilogy (two sequels were released in 2003), making it convoluted and too crammed with detail.
He sent it back to the studio and said success would depend on the director, offering no other comment. He thought it wouldn’t matter. “They’re just being polite… I don’t think my opinion will change anything.”

He’s happy that Scorcese heads The Departed. “I think he is a good man to direct that movie,” he says, adding that he’s a fan of his work. But he’s never met the man who has enthralled audiences with such masterpieces as Gangs of New York (2002), Raging Bull (1980) and Taxi Driver (1976).

So, what would he say if he had the chance to talk to Scorcese now? “I would say congratulations, Martin, for finishing the movie,” he says before letting a moment pass. “And I would say thank you.” And, again, he laughs.

The Departed hits cinemas October 6.