The Departed (2006)

Martin Scorsese’s cops-and-robbers thriller ‘The Departed’ is quite simply the best film of the year. This is Scorsese’s 3rd collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio after ‘Gangs of New York’ and ‘the Aviator’ and is a remake of the highly successful Hong Kong flick, ‘Infernal Affairs’. To call ‘The Departed’ a rip-off from the original film would be a serious injustice, as Scorsese makes an entirely different film with his use of actors, locations and themes.

Right from the very first scene where the Irish mobster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) says,’ I don’t want to be a product of my environment; I want my environment to be a product of me’,
this film keeps us absolutelyhooked till the very end with its riveting cinematography and outstanding editing. DiCaprio stars as Billy Costigan, a Massachusetts Trooper, who’s assigned the job of infiltrating Costello’s gang by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Staff Sergeant Dignam (an electrifying Mark Wahlberg). At the same time, Costello sends his mole Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) to the Special Investigations Unit. And that’s where the fun begins! Both men succeed with their fraudulent identities; Colin rises in the force, while Billy rises in the mob. And as the paths of both men inevitably cross, they are assigned the job of finding each other by their respective employers. Talk about irony!

The movie is also quite funny in parts, especially that hilarious ‘cranberry juice’ scene involving DiCaprio and that excellent British actor, Ray Winstone. Winstone, playing Nicholson’s right-hand man, delivers each line in the film with the authority of God dictating to Moses. My personal favourite scene is the one where one of the characters is told, ‘I gave you the wrong address; but you went to the right one’. Also not to forget the brilliant and stunning climax.

The acting as I mentioned before is electrifying. DiCaprio, Wahlberg and Damon are all exceptional. DiCaprio brings a depth to his role unlike anything he’s portrayed before, whether he’s hopelessly consumed by guilt or overwhelmed by panic attacks. Both he and Damon convey the agonizing sense of conflict that they actually feel about firstly, committing crimes, and secondly, deceiving the very men who depend on them. This particular theme was also explored in the Al Pacino-Johnny Depp starrer, ‘Donnie Brasco’.

Scorsese, a master of this genre, has dealt with these themes of ‘guilt’ and ‘redemption’ before as well in masterpieces like ‘Raging Bull’, ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘The Last Temptation Of Christ’. It’s a film where the lines between Good and Evil get blurred, where Good and Evil wear each other’s masks. After several years both men come to identify with, and desire the approval of, the men they are deceiving. It effectively portrays how one’s identity affects one’s actions, emotions, self-assurance and even dreams. It’s more like an examination of conscience, when you stay up all night trying to figure out a way to confess to the priest.