Infernal Affairs
"Face/Off" is said to have inspired "Infernal Affairs". However, "Infernal Affairs" director Andrew Lau wanted to have a more realistic situation; instead of a physical face change, Lau wanted to have the characters swap identities. The concept of "bian lian" or "change face", a technique traditionally used in Chinese opera, may have been used here to depict the fluid and seamless morph of Chen and Lau's characters' identities between the "good" and "bad" sides. "Infernal Affairs" in turn has spawned several adaptations, notably "The Departed" directed by Martin Scorsese which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.