Review written by Nathan Vass
Martin Scorsese’s The Departed isn’t a movie. It’s an animal. It’s a lean, mean,
well-oiled machine. From the moment those familiar Scorsesean block letters hit the screen, and The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter starts up, you know you’re going to get what you came for. He’s given us what he’s best at - another breathlessly-paced, hyper-realistic, testosterone-infused, ultra-hip work of art. This is the most exhilarating experience I’ve had at the movies all year.
Mr. Scorsese’s films are usually very character-based, and this one is no exception. However, this film is also very plot oriented, with a strong, engaging story. It follows the pursuits of Billy Costigan (Leo DiCaprio), an undercover cop posing as a mobster, and Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), an undercover mobster posing as a cop. Unbeknownst to each other, the two are undercover in each other’s respective crews. Gradually, they become aware of each other’s presence, and each is assigned to find the other out. Jack Nicholson plays a monster of a local mob boss, and Mark Wahlberg (who gets the film’s funniest lines, playing practically the only ‘good’ guy), Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, and Ray Winstone fill out the ensemble cast. As many know, The Departed is a remake of the popular Hong-Kong action caper Infernal Affairs, which shares the same basic plot. It’s rather surprising that no one had ever come up with this clever concept until so recently.
Of course, whereas the Hong Kong version was simply an entertaining thriller, Scorsese takes the concept and explores all of its possibilities, piling thematic layers on without ever losing sight of the story. Costigan has spent his life struggling for acceptance, and finds the undercover job a solution, if an unsatisfying one. Sullivan (Damon) is able to integrate himself so skillfully into the cop world that he’s able to sustain a relationship through his false identity. The two get so lost in their worlds that we often have to remind ourselves who these characters really are. Scorsese’s new film isn’t just about the struggle to maintain one’s identity - although it is very much about that - it also explores the theme of sexual repression. Constant verbal references to “homos,†“c*nts,†“pricks,†and the like, not to mention Nicholson’s bizarre antics in a porn theatre, reveal the level of concealed frustration inherent in the professions chosen by these men. It becomes clear just how lonely these people are, and how hard they try to conceal that fact. The dual relationships with Vera Farmiga are fascinating to watch - both men fall for her character, a psychiatrist. Such a development might sound preposterous on paper, but it’s presented in such a straightforward manner that it works. Despite his reputation as a man’s man, Scorsese has always spent lot of time on his women characters (he’s directed nine actresses to Oscar nominations).