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The Departed
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Wikipedia article
'The Departed' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film 'Infernal Affairs' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles.
The film takes place in Boston. Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) plants Colin Sullivan (Damon) as a spy within the Massachusetts State Police; simultaneously, the police assign undercover state trooper Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's crew. When both sides realize the situation, Sullivan and Costigan each attempt to discover the other's identity before they are found out.
'The Departed' was a critical and commercial success, and won several accolades, including four Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. It became Scorsese's first and, to date, only win for Best Director; Wahlberg was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The film also received six nominations at the 64th Golden Globe Awards, six nominations at the 60th British Academy Film Awards, and two nominations at the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards. DiCaprio was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Drama (also nominated that year in the same category for 'Blood Diamond'), BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance.
Plot
In South Boston, Colin Sullivan is introduced to organized crime by Irish-American gangster Frank Costello. Twenty one years later, Sullivan has been groomed by Costello to be a spy inside the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) and joins the Special Investigations Unit, led by Captain Ellerby. Another recruit, State Trooper Billy Costigan Jr., is approached by Captain Queenan and Staff Sergeant Dignam to go undercover and infiltrate Costello's crew. They believe Costigan's deceased uncle's reputation as a prominent mobster will give him credibility with Costello.
Costigan is set up a cover; he serves time in jail on phony charges and eventually joins Costello's crew. Ellerby informs Special Investigations that only Queenan and Dignam will know their undercovers' names and that Costello's crew has stolen computer microprocessors to sell to a Hong Kong Triad. Due to being undercover, Costigan's emotional and psychological state decline, but Queenan and Dignam plead with him to keep his cover.
Sullivan begins a romance with police psychiatrist Dr. Madolyn Madden. The MSP prepares to catch Costello selling the microprocessors; however, Sullivan tips off Costello about the police presence causing the deal to occur outside of the surveillance of the police, allowing everyone to escape. Costello realizes there is a spy in his crew and tasks Sullivan to uncover his identity. Sullivan asks Costello for information to cross-reference his crew members in the MSP database.
Meanwhile, Costigan learns that Costello is a protected FBI informant, and Costello accuses Costigan of being the spy within his crew, which he denies. Costigan shares his discovery with Queenan and warns that Costello is aware of a spy within his crew, and tells Dignam that there's spy in the MSP. Other than Queenan and Dignam, Costigans only contact in the MSP is Madolyn Madden, Sullivans girlfriend, with whom he later has an affair.
Costigan follows Costello into a theater and witnesses him giving Sullivan an envelope. Queenan instructs Costigan to get a visual ID of Sullivan before making the arrest but Costigan is unable to get a good look at Sullivan's face; when Sullivan realizes that he is being followed he attempts to hide and stab Costigan as he walks by but mistakenly kills a restaurant worker and flees the scene. Sullivan then tries to cross-reference Costigans picture, captured by nearby security footage, against police officer databases but cannot recognize him.
Queenan advises Sullivan to follow Costello to find his spy. Costigan calls Queenan and sets up a meeting but Sullivan has Queenan tailed by another officer by lying to the officer and saying that Queenan may be the spy. Sullivan uses the tail's information on their location to call in Costello's gang. When Costello's men arrive, Queenan helps Costigan escape before confronting them and being thrown from the building's roof to his death on the street below.
Angered by Queenan's murder, Dignam attacks Sullivan and resigns. Sullivan also learns that Costello is an FBI informant and decides to help the MSP catch him. Costello is tailed by the MSP to a cocaine drop-off, where a gunfight erupts, killing most of Costello's crew including French. Sullivan confronts Costello, who admits to being an FBI informant, and fatally shoots him.
When Costigan goes to Sullivan to reveal his undercover status, he notices the envelope Costello used to collect the gang's personal information in order to discover the undercover on Sullivan's desk and realizes that Sullivan is Costello's spy. Sullivan then erases Costigan's records from police computers, erasing any evidence that Costigan ever worked for the MSP. Costigan hands Madolyn, who has moved in with Sullivan, an envelope and instructs her to open it if something happens to him. Later, she reveals that she is pregnant to Sullivan (it's hinted that the baby is actually Costigan's, due to Sullivan having performance issues), then opens a different letter containing tapes Costello made of himself with Sullivan, listens to them, and leaves Sullivan.
Costigan arranges to meet Sullivan on a rooftop, where Queenan died, then attempts to arrest him. Costigan calls Trooper Brown, a friend from the police academy, to substantiate his identity, but Brown pulls a gun on Costigan when he arrives, unsure who is telling the truth. Costigan says that he has evidence tying Sullivan to Costello, and Brown lets him go down the elevator. Upon reaching the lobby, Costigan and Brown are both shot and killed by Trooper Barrigan, a friend of Sullivan's, who reveals himself to be another spy working for Costello. Sullivan then shoots Barrigan dead, allowing him to out Barrigan as the mole while removing suspicion from himself. When Sullivan arrives home after attending Costigans funeral, Dignam, who Madolyn had presumably shown the incriminating tapes, is waiting and shoots Sullivan in the head, killing him and avenging both Queenan and Costigan's deaths.
Cast
Production
In January 2003, Warner Bros., producer Brad Grey, and actor/producer Brad Pitt bought the rights to remake the Hong Kong film 'Infernal Affairs' (2002) from Media Asia for $1.75 million. William Monahan was secured as a screenwriter, and later Martin Scorsese, who admired Monahan's script, came on board as director.
In March 2004, United Press International announced that Scorsese would be remaking 'Infernal Affairs' and setting it in Boston, and that Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were slated to star. Pitt, tentatively scheduled to play Sullivan, later declined to play the role, saying a younger actor should play the part; he decided to produce the film instead. Scorsese's associate Kenneth Lonergan suggested Matt Damon, who grew up in Boston, for the part of Sullivan, and Scorsese asked Jack Nicholson to play Costello.
Nicholson wanted the film to have "something a little more" than the usual gangster film, and screenwriter Monahan came up with the idea of basing the Costello character on Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger. This gave the screenplay an element of realismand an element of dangerous uncertainty, because of the wide-ranging 'carte blanche' the FBI gave Bulger in exchange for revealing information about fellow gangsters. A technical consultant on the film was Tom Duffy, who had served three decades on the Boston Police Department, particularly as an undercover detective investigating the Irish mob.
'The Departed' was officially greenlit by Warner Bros. in early 2005 and began shooting in the spring of 2005. Some of the film was shot on location in Boston. For budgetary and logistical reasons many scenes, in particular interiors, were shot in locations and sets in New York City, which had tax incentives for filmmakers that Boston at the time did not.
Analysis
Film critic Stanley Kauffmann said that for 'The Departed,' Scorsese "was apparently concerned with the idea of identity, one of the ancient themes of drama, and how it affects one's actions, emotions, self-knowledge, even dreams." Kauffmann, however, did not find the theme conveyed with particular effectiveness in the film. Film critic Roger Ebert compared Costigan and Sullivan's seeking of approval from those they are deceiving to Stockholm syndrome. Ebert also noted the themes of Catholic guilt.
In the final scene, a rat is seen on Sullivan's window ledge. Scorsese acknowledges that while it is not meant to be taken literally, it somewhat symbolizes the "quest for the rat" in the film and the strong sense of distrust among the characters, much like post-9/11 U.S. The window view behind the rat is a nod to gangster films like 'Little Caesar' (1931), 'Scarface' (1932), and 'White Heat' (1949).
Throughout the film, Scorsese uses an "X" motif to foreshadow death in a manner similar to Howard Hawks' film 'Scarface' (1932). Examples include shots of cross-beam supports in an airport walkway when Costigan is phoning Sgt. Dignam, the taped windows of the building Queenan enters before being thrown to his death, behind Costigan's head in the elevator before he is shot, and the carpeted hallway floor when Sullivan returns to his apartment before being shot by Dignam at the film's end.
Jim Emerson, writing for 'RogerEbert.com', noted that Nicholson's character, and possibly Damon's, may be read as latently homosexual. He also notes that the inspiration for Nicholson's character, Bulger, was reportedly bisexual.
Release
'The Departed' grossed $132.4 million in the United States and Canada and $159 million in other territories for a total gross of $291.5 million, against a production budget of $90 million.
The film grossed $26.9 million in its opening weekend, becoming the fourth Scorsese film to debut at number one. In the following three weeks the film grossed $19 million, $13.5 million and $9.8 million, finishing second at the box office each time, before grossing $7.7 million and dropping to 5th in its fifth week.
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 90% approval rating based on 284 reviews, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast, 'The Departed' is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality we have come to expect from Martin Scorsese." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
'Entertainment Weekly' ranked it on its end-of-the-decade "Best of" list, saying: "If they're lucky, directors make one classic film in their career. Martin Scorsese has one per decade ('Taxi Driver' in the '70s, 'Raging Bull' in the '80s, 'Goodfellas' in the '90s). His 2006 Irish Mafia masterpiece kept the streak alive."
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, praising Scorsese for thematically differentiating his film from the original. Online critic James Berardinelli awarded the film four stars out of four, praising it as "an American epic tragedy." He went on to claim that the film deserves to be ranked alongside Scorsese's past successes, including 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull' and 'Goodfellas'.
Andrew Lau, the co-director of 'Infernal Affairs', who was interviewed by Hong Kong newspaper 'Apple Daily', said: "Of course I think the version I made is better, but the Hollywood version is pretty good too. [Scorsese] made the Hollywood version more attuned to American culture." Andy Lau, one of the main actors in 'Infernal Affairs', when asked how the movie compares to the original, said: "'The Departed' was too long and it felt as if Hollywood had combined all three 'Infernal Affairs' movies together."
Although Lau said the script of the remake had some "golden quotes", he also felt it had a bit too much profanity. He ultimately rated 'The Departed' eight out of ten and said that the Hollywood remake is worth a view, though according to Lau's spokeswoman Alice Tam, he felt that the combination of the two female characters into one in 'The Departed' was not as good as the original storyline.
A few critics were disappointed in the film, including J. Hoberman of the 'Village Voice', who wrote: "'Infernal Affairs' was surprisingly cool and effectively restrained for HK action, but Scorsese raises the temperature with every ultraviolent interaction. The surplus of belligerence and slur reach near-Tarantinian levelsappropriate as he's staking a claim to QT's turf."
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006. Carrie Rickey of 'The Philadelphia Inquirer', Joe Morgenstern of 'The Wall Street Journal', Ruthe Stein of the 'San Francisco Chronicle', and Steven Rea of 'The Philadelphia Inquirer' named it one of the top ten films of 2006. Richard Roeper of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' named it the best film of the 2000s.* 1st Richard Roeper, 'Ebert and Roeper'
* 1st Peter Travers, 'Rolling Stone'
* 1st Rene Rodriguez, 'The Miami Herald'
* 1st Scott Tobias, 'The A.V. Club'
* 1st Joshua Rothkopf, 'Time Out New York'
* 1st Philip Martin, 'Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'
* 1st James Berardinelli, ReelViews
* 2nd Chris Kaltenbach, 'The Baltimore Sun'
* 2nd Adam Kempenaar, 'Filmspotting'
* 2nd Keith Phipps, 'The A.V. Club'
* 2nd Kyle Smith, 'New York Post'
* 2nd Mike Russell, 'The Oregonian'
* 2nd Richard James Havis, 'The Hollywood Reporter'
* 2nd Richard Schickel, 'TIME'
* 3rd Frank Scheck, 'The Hollywood Reporter'
* 4th Glenn Kenny, 'Premiere'
* 4th Marc Savlov, 'The Austin Chronicle'
* 4th Michael Wilmington, 'Chicago Tribune'
* 4th Roger Ebert, 'Chicago Sun-Times'
* 5th 'Empire'
* 5th David Ansen, 'Newsweek'
* 5th Kevin Crust, 'Los Angeles Times'
* 5th Lisa Schwarzbaum, 'Entertainment Weekly'
* 5th Stephen Hunter, 'The Washington Post'
* 6th Ann Hornaday, 'The Washington Post'
* 6th Jack Mathews, 'Daily News'
* 6th Nathan Rabin, 'The A.V. Club'
* 6th Ty Burr, 'The Boston Globe'
* 7th Nathan Lee, 'The Village Voice'
* 7th Noel Murray, 'The A.V. Club'
* 7th Peter Hartlaub, 'San Francisco Chronicle'
* 8th Michael Sragow, 'The Baltimore Sun'
* 9th Claudia Puig, 'USA Today'
* 9th Desson Thomson, 'The Washington Post'
* 9th Lou Lumenick, 'New York Post'
* 9th Michael Rechtshaffen, 'The Hollywood Reporter'
Accolades
At the 64th Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2007, 'The Departed' won one award for Best Director (Martin Scorsese), while being nominated for five other awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg), and Best Screenplay (William Monahan).
At the 79th Academy Awards on February 25, 2007, 'The Departed' won four Academy Awards: Best Picture (Graham King), Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Film Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker), and Best Adapted Screenplay Writing (William Monahan). Mark Wahlberg was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance, but he lost to Alan Arkin for his role in 'Little Miss Sunshine'.
The film marked the first time Scorsese won an Oscar after five previous losses. Many felt that he deserved it years earlier for prior efforts. Some felt he deserved it for his prior nominations and the win was described as a "Lifetime Achievement Award for a lesser film". Scorsese himself joked that he won because: "This is the first movie I've done with a plot."
At the 11th Satellite Awards on December 18, 2006, 'The Departed' won awards for Best Ensemble, Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture, Drama, Best Screenplay Adapted (William Monahan), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Leonardo DiCaprio). In 2008, it was nominated for the American Film Institute Top 10 Gangster Films list
Home media
'The Departed' was released by Warner Home Video on DVD in 2007. The film is available in a single-disc full screen (1.33:1), single-disc widescreen (2.40:1) edition, and 2-disc special edition. The second disc contains deleted scenes; a feature about the influence of New York's Little Italy on Scorsese; a Turner Classic Movies profile; and a 21-minute documentary titled 'Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie and The Departed' about the crimes that influenced Scorsese in creating the film, including the story of James "Whitey" Bulger, upon whom Jack Nicholson's character is based.
Music
Soundtrack
Score
The film score for 'The Departed' was written by Howard Shore and performed by guitarists Sharon Isbin, G. E. Smith, Larry Saltzman and Marc Ribot. The score was recorded in Shore's own studio in New York State. The album, 'The Departed: Original Score', was released December 5, 2006 by New Line, and produced by Jason Cienkus.Scorsese described the music as "a very dangerous and lethal tango" and cited the guitar-based score of 'Murder by Contract' and the zither in 'The Third Man' as inspiration.
Cancelled sequel
Although many of the key characters in the film are dead by the end, there was a script written for a sequel. This was ultimately shelved due to the expense and Scorsese's lack of interest in creating a sequel.
See also
* List of American films of 2006
* "The Debarted", an episode of 'The Simpsons' that parodies the film.
Notes
Further reading
*
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