The Departed reviews
I agree about Cape Fear, which was inferior to the Robert Mitchum-Gregory Peck thriller from the early sixties. Everything was way over the top, though I think Juliette Lewis had some effective moments in it.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
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anonymous1980
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Infernal Affairs is a very good film, but I believe in giving a film a chance. With this cast and director, I think it deserves to get at least that much from audiences or critics. It probably won't wind up as the front-runner for Oscars, but it should be amusing to see.
"Because here’s the thing about life: There’s no accounting for what fate will deal you. Some days when you need a hand. There are other days when we’re called to lend a hand." -- President Joe Biden, 01/20/2021
Would be great if the story is, instead, set in the old West!kooyah wrote:Okri wrote:I plan on resenting this film. I'm already annoyed they cast Leonardo Dicaprio in Tony Leung's role . I think Infernal Affairs is a flat out masterpiece, and very pissed off at how Mirimax/Weinstein treated it.
To me, this is almost like remaking In the Mood for Love with Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman.
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LOok at it this way. Every review or article about The Departed I've seen has mentioned Infernal Affairs. If The Departed is a huge theatrical successs, which, with the cast it has, is likely. That means that many will do the research and as many other films have proven, the source material could receive a boost in popularity.
Wesley Lovell
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin
Okri wrote:I plan on resenting this film. I'm already annoyed they cast Leonardo Dicaprio in Tony Leung's role . I think Infernal Affairs is a flat out masterpiece, and very pissed off at how Mirimax/Weinstein treated it.
You know, as much as I know I shouldn't hate The Departed because of how much I love Infernal Affairs and how much I hate what Miramax did to it, I can't help myself. Really, I can't. It is a crying shame how Infernal Affairs has gotten the short shrift stateside because it's such a great movie and features Tony Leung, who is probably my favorite actor. The fact that Leonardo DiCaprio has been cast in his part is...NO. Just no. To me, this is almost like remaking In the Mood for Love with Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman.
Infernal Affairs (and Infernal Affairs II) deserves to have a much larger audience than the one it has gotten. Unfortunately, the release of The Departed will likely give people even fewer reason to check it out. After all, if people have seen the American version, will they really be interested in seeing the version with subtitles?
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Sonic Youth
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The Departed
Mike Goodridge in Los Angeles
Dir: Martin Scorsese. US. 2006. 119 mins.
Martin Scorsese returns to familiar territory – the world of inner-city gangsters – in his latest film, an expertly-crafted genre thriller which stands a chance at becoming one of his biggest box office hits yet. Remaking Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's 2002 Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs, Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan have taken that film's cracking story and reset it in the colourful setting of south Boston where hard-nosed cops wage war on ruthless Irish American crime factions. Fast-paced, unpretentious and bristling with rich language and tasty detail, The Departed is bound to find a large mainstream adult audience.
Although critics may be hard on Scorsese for remaking a foreign-language film, his Americanised film stands as both homage to and independent of the slick HK original. Infernal Affairs was a superb entertainment dominated by the laconic presence of Asian stars Andy Lau and Tony Leung. Scorsese's adaptation is successful because it truly starts afresh, finding its feet in the Boston setting, recreating the characters as authentic Southies, and investing screen time in the dialect, traditions and characters of the city. It's one of the best examples of a US remake in some years.
The Aviator is Scorsese's highest grosser to date with $213m in 2004/5, while Gangs Of New York is second on $190m in 2002/3 and Cape Fear third on $182.3m in 1991. The Departed is certainly likely to rival these performances, although this is a strictly adult film with an abundance of cursing and some extreme and unpleasant violence.
Warner Bros has worldwide rights excluding some key territories sold by producer Graham King such as the UK (Entertainment), France (TFM) and Italy (Medusa). The film opens day and date next Friday in the US and UK and has a continental European launch at the Rome Film Festival in Oct....
....Scorsese peoples the drama with a wonderful assortment of salty characters from Wahlberg (whose character was not in the original) as the pugilistic, foul-mouthed Dignan to Alec Baldwin as the fearsome head of the police unit to Winstone as French, Costello's number two. Vera Farmiga is effective as the only woman in the film, a police psychiatrist who is both Sullivan's live-in lover and Costigan's shrink.
DiCaprio and Damon acquit themselves well as the two men who have "departed" from normal existence into lives of deception and secret identity; Nicholson, as expected, steals the show with a portrait in genuine villainy that is as chilling as it is colourful.
It's not an awards picture like Gangs or The Aviator became, but there are some fine elements here – Nicholson, Monahan's script, Howard Shore's thunderously dramatic score, the gritty camerawork by Michael Ballhaus – which could get recognition.
Among elements which are changed from the Hong Kong film are the fact that Costigan's secret is known by two people not one, the fact that Costigan sleeps with the psychiatrist (it remains platonic in the first film) and the death of a leading character in this film, who survived for a sequel in the Asian version.
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Get That Mole Removed
Scorsese returns in grand style with 'The Departed,' the brutal—and hilarious—tale of two snitches.
By David Ansen
Newsweek
Oct. 9, 2006 issue - Martin Scorsese's profanely funny, savagely entertaining "The Departed" is both a return to the underworld turf he's explored in such classics as "Mean Streets" and "GoodFellas" and a departure. What's new is that he's hitched his swirling, white-hot style to the speeding wagon of narrative. For all his brilliance, storytelling has never been his forte or his first concern. Here he has the devilishly convoluted plot of the terrific 2002 Hong Kong cop thriller "Infernal Affairs" to work from, and it's a rich gift.
Screenwriter William Monahan has done a terrific job transposing the story to ethnically fraught Boston. He's added many savory (and unsavory) new elements while staying true to the cat-and-mouse twists and turns of Alan Mak and Felix Chong's original script. (Strangely, there's no acknowledgment that it's a remake until deep into the end credits.)....
....The symmetries and complications are pitched on the edge of absurdity, and Scorsese dives headfirst into the fray, simultaneously playing it for maximum suspense and a kind of mad, blood-spattered comedy. You often find yourself laughing and gasping at the same time. Nicholson's gaudy, racist, foulmouthed mobster, first shown only in satanic shadows, is a flamboyantly depraved villain, and Jack plays him with Jacobean gusto. But the entire cast is firing on all cylinders. The first half of the movie belongs to Damon, oozing the confidence, charm and false modesty of a master deceiver. DiCaprio, his eyes unable to mask the torment of a man whose identity is slipping away from him, dominates the second half. This is DiCaprio's coming-of-age role: he's finally put boyhood behind him. Then there's Mark Wahlberg's mad-dog Ser-geant Dignam, a cop whose default mode is raging irrational hostility; Alec Baldwin's hilariously blunt police supervisor Ellerby; Martin Sheen's Queenan, who calls the shots for Costigan and is as much his father figure as Costello is for Sullivan. It's a great ensemble, rounded out by Farmiga's smart, decidedly unconventional shrink.
"The Departed" is Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years. But it's not for the faint of heart. It's rude, bleak, violent and defiantly un-PC. But if you doubt that it's also OK to laugh throughout this rat's nest of paranoia, deceit and bloodshed, keep your eyes on the final frames. Scorsese's parting shot is an uncharacteristic, but well-earned, wink.
Mike Goodridge in Los Angeles
Dir: Martin Scorsese. US. 2006. 119 mins.
Martin Scorsese returns to familiar territory – the world of inner-city gangsters – in his latest film, an expertly-crafted genre thriller which stands a chance at becoming one of his biggest box office hits yet. Remaking Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's 2002 Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs, Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan have taken that film's cracking story and reset it in the colourful setting of south Boston where hard-nosed cops wage war on ruthless Irish American crime factions. Fast-paced, unpretentious and bristling with rich language and tasty detail, The Departed is bound to find a large mainstream adult audience.
Although critics may be hard on Scorsese for remaking a foreign-language film, his Americanised film stands as both homage to and independent of the slick HK original. Infernal Affairs was a superb entertainment dominated by the laconic presence of Asian stars Andy Lau and Tony Leung. Scorsese's adaptation is successful because it truly starts afresh, finding its feet in the Boston setting, recreating the characters as authentic Southies, and investing screen time in the dialect, traditions and characters of the city. It's one of the best examples of a US remake in some years.
The Aviator is Scorsese's highest grosser to date with $213m in 2004/5, while Gangs Of New York is second on $190m in 2002/3 and Cape Fear third on $182.3m in 1991. The Departed is certainly likely to rival these performances, although this is a strictly adult film with an abundance of cursing and some extreme and unpleasant violence.
Warner Bros has worldwide rights excluding some key territories sold by producer Graham King such as the UK (Entertainment), France (TFM) and Italy (Medusa). The film opens day and date next Friday in the US and UK and has a continental European launch at the Rome Film Festival in Oct....
....Scorsese peoples the drama with a wonderful assortment of salty characters from Wahlberg (whose character was not in the original) as the pugilistic, foul-mouthed Dignan to Alec Baldwin as the fearsome head of the police unit to Winstone as French, Costello's number two. Vera Farmiga is effective as the only woman in the film, a police psychiatrist who is both Sullivan's live-in lover and Costigan's shrink.
DiCaprio and Damon acquit themselves well as the two men who have "departed" from normal existence into lives of deception and secret identity; Nicholson, as expected, steals the show with a portrait in genuine villainy that is as chilling as it is colourful.
It's not an awards picture like Gangs or The Aviator became, but there are some fine elements here – Nicholson, Monahan's script, Howard Shore's thunderously dramatic score, the gritty camerawork by Michael Ballhaus – which could get recognition.
Among elements which are changed from the Hong Kong film are the fact that Costigan's secret is known by two people not one, the fact that Costigan sleeps with the psychiatrist (it remains platonic in the first film) and the death of a leading character in this film, who survived for a sequel in the Asian version.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Get That Mole Removed
Scorsese returns in grand style with 'The Departed,' the brutal—and hilarious—tale of two snitches.
By David Ansen
Newsweek
Oct. 9, 2006 issue - Martin Scorsese's profanely funny, savagely entertaining "The Departed" is both a return to the underworld turf he's explored in such classics as "Mean Streets" and "GoodFellas" and a departure. What's new is that he's hitched his swirling, white-hot style to the speeding wagon of narrative. For all his brilliance, storytelling has never been his forte or his first concern. Here he has the devilishly convoluted plot of the terrific 2002 Hong Kong cop thriller "Infernal Affairs" to work from, and it's a rich gift.
Screenwriter William Monahan has done a terrific job transposing the story to ethnically fraught Boston. He's added many savory (and unsavory) new elements while staying true to the cat-and-mouse twists and turns of Alan Mak and Felix Chong's original script. (Strangely, there's no acknowledgment that it's a remake until deep into the end credits.)....
....The symmetries and complications are pitched on the edge of absurdity, and Scorsese dives headfirst into the fray, simultaneously playing it for maximum suspense and a kind of mad, blood-spattered comedy. You often find yourself laughing and gasping at the same time. Nicholson's gaudy, racist, foulmouthed mobster, first shown only in satanic shadows, is a flamboyantly depraved villain, and Jack plays him with Jacobean gusto. But the entire cast is firing on all cylinders. The first half of the movie belongs to Damon, oozing the confidence, charm and false modesty of a master deceiver. DiCaprio, his eyes unable to mask the torment of a man whose identity is slipping away from him, dominates the second half. This is DiCaprio's coming-of-age role: he's finally put boyhood behind him. Then there's Mark Wahlberg's mad-dog Ser-geant Dignam, a cop whose default mode is raging irrational hostility; Alec Baldwin's hilariously blunt police supervisor Ellerby; Martin Sheen's Queenan, who calls the shots for Costigan and is as much his father figure as Costello is for Sullivan. It's a great ensemble, rounded out by Farmiga's smart, decidedly unconventional shrink.
"The Departed" is Scorsese's most purely enjoyable movie in years. But it's not for the faint of heart. It's rude, bleak, violent and defiantly un-PC. But if you doubt that it's also OK to laugh throughout this rat's nest of paranoia, deceit and bloodshed, keep your eyes on the final frames. Scorsese's parting shot is an uncharacteristic, but well-earned, wink.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
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I've read a couple of places now that Departed is Scorsese's best since Casino, and I have to say that bothers me, because I think Casino is inferior Scorsese -- technically proficient, but a rehash of earlier material, with too many scenes exemplifying his worst traits: violence that goes beyond horrifying to repellent, and drearily improvised screaming (how Sharon Stone got a nomination for her screeching is beyond me). For me, The Aviator is FAR superior in almost every way, and I don't quite trust the opinions of those who say otherwise.
It strikes me there's something a bit condescending in this "thank god Marty's back in contemporary urban crime" attitude -- the implication is he's unqualified to deal with anything else. I grant that Mean Streets and Taxi and Raging Bull and Goodfellas all fall roughly in that range and are what made his reputation...but I think The Age of Innocence is a pretty great film as well, and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The Last Waltz and The Last Temptation of Christ rank pretty high in far-afield genres. As far as this chasing-Oscars thing...the problem with Gangs of New York wasn't that it aspired to Academy glory; it was that the script's narrative line was weak. And, as I say, I think Aviator is a damn good film -- though not as good as Million Dollar Baby (or Sideways, Vera Drake or Eternal Sunshine).
I'll hold to the claims I made in that thread Sonic referenced, that Scorsese is unlikely to win best director for this type of film -- though his chances are better than they were in the past (he had no chance whatever for Raging Bull), partly because he's an institution now, and partly because intelligent commercial films are such a rarety nowadays that this film might become one of the studio's best shots at the top prizes.
It strikes me there's something a bit condescending in this "thank god Marty's back in contemporary urban crime" attitude -- the implication is he's unqualified to deal with anything else. I grant that Mean Streets and Taxi and Raging Bull and Goodfellas all fall roughly in that range and are what made his reputation...but I think The Age of Innocence is a pretty great film as well, and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, The Last Waltz and The Last Temptation of Christ rank pretty high in far-afield genres. As far as this chasing-Oscars thing...the problem with Gangs of New York wasn't that it aspired to Academy glory; it was that the script's narrative line was weak. And, as I say, I think Aviator is a damn good film -- though not as good as Million Dollar Baby (or Sideways, Vera Drake or Eternal Sunshine).
I'll hold to the claims I made in that thread Sonic referenced, that Scorsese is unlikely to win best director for this type of film -- though his chances are better than they were in the past (he had no chance whatever for Raging Bull), partly because he's an institution now, and partly because intelligent commercial films are such a rarety nowadays that this film might become one of the studio's best shots at the top prizes.
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Sonic Youth
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rain Bard wrote:That article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2127757/
It doesn't mention Infernal Affairs, but it does mention that the year it was released, 2004, was not a strong year for Miramax, which is probably why it got released at all (btw it did play for a week or two in San Francisco as well, Sonic.) Since the Weinstein bonus wasn't going to be in effect anyway, it was safe to release a likely money-loser. (Though it's funny how films deemed by a studio to be a "likely money-loser" never really get a chance to prove the studio wrong...)
It all makes sense now.
2004 was when Harvey released Zhang Yimou's Hero, after two years of gathering cobwebs on the shelf. That was a surprise hit, in no small part due to Quentin Tarantino's endorsement. But who paid the penalty? First: any DVD distributors who tried to sell legal, non-bootleg, import DVDs of Hero to American consumers and were threatened with lawsuits for doing so. Also: Zatoichi and Shaolin Soccer, two well-recieved Asian martial arts films with a release pattern that put the 'limit' in limited. I guess Harvey couldn't glut the market for fear that Hero would bomb out due to genre fatigue. And I guess Infernal Affairs falls victim to his business acumen as well. (By the way, I read somewhere that Infernal Affairs was only released in seven theaters nationwide. I don't know if that's accurate or not.)
This is bringing to mind another discussion going on about the illegality of region-free DVD players. Very similar industry pressure that benefits no one and nothing except for the corps. bottom line.
("But Sonic, that's just business!" Oh, shut up.)
I confess, I'm very confused as to the business dealings behind The Departed. Looking into it a little more, I understand that Miramax bought Infernal Affairs (and the sequels) and Warner Bros. bought the remake rights. Ok, got it. I'm not sure how a film and its remake would be bought by two separate companies, but okay. So, how did Marty enter into this? I always assumed this film was bought for Marty to remake. But I guess I spoke too soon, because Miramax clearly had no vested interest to remake the film. Did they plan on it, but couldn't afford it at the time? Did Warners buy the remake first? Was it originally slated for Marty, and then he went to Warner's after he an Harvey had their falling out? Or was this just an ironic turn of events and Marty's way of saying 'eff you, Harv'? In any event, Harvey can now profit off of Infernal Affairs with the DVD re-release that's sure to be forthcoming.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
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Two spoiler-clogged reviews from the trades.
Unlike the GONY or The Aviator, neither reviews mention the A-word (that is, Awards) at all, other than how it doesn't look like Scorsese is pimping for one this time out. Is this their way of avoiding the jinx? Don't mention awards, and then he'll get one?
The Departed
By Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Thank God we have Martin Scorsese back. After a couple of films where one of the best directors ever seemed more intent on pleasing Academy voters than millions of admirers, Scorsese returns to contemporary crime fiction with a hugely satisfying bang.
"The Departed" is a robust piece of storytelling and his best film since "Casino" in 1995. Everything is rock solid: Top actors with meaty roles that let them go to the edge without toppling over that edge, a story that keeps upping the tension and emotional ante every few minutes, Michael Ballhaus' gliding camera and shadowy lighting, Kristi Zea's atmospheric sets and Thelma Schoonmaker's tight, rhythmic editing all conspire to take us into a heart of urban darkness.
Best of all, Scorsese's relaxed energy infuses the film with excitement in every frame, thus elevating a gangster story to the level of tragedy. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg top-billed, "The Departed" should attract a sizable audience, though men certainly will outnumber women.
The film, written by William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven"), derives from "Infernal Affairs," a hugely popular 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller co-directed by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau Wai Keung and written by Mak and Felix Chong. That too was a doozy of tight construction and breathtaking suspense. The story remains remarkably intact despite its transfer from cops and criminals in Hong Kong to a war between state police and a tough Irish mob in south Boston.
The genius of both films is to focus on two moles on opposite sides of the law. Each has risen to a position of authority and responsibility, making him a lethally effective spy. Only by this time, each has wearied of the constant deceptions and lies, of the loneliness and terror of being stranded in a no-man's-land between good and evil. Indeed the Chinese title, "Mo-gaan-do," refers to the lowest level of hell in Buddhism.
Mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) hand-picks young Colin Sullivan (Damon) at an early age to mentor then slip into the ranks of the state police. Colin swiftly rises through the ranks to a spot in the Special Investigation Unit, whose main focus is to take down Frank Costello.
Meanwhile, another police rookie, Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), is asked by two powerful men in that unit -- the caustic Sgt. Dignam (Wahlberg) and his level-headed superior Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) -- to live down to his reputation of a street hothead. For credibility's sake, he is very publicly busted out of the state police, does a stint in prison and gets tossed onto the streets, where he can infiltrate the Costello gang. After a recruitment by Frank's right-hand man, Mr. French (Ray Winstone), and a brutal interrogation by Frank himself, he's in.
It's only a matter of time before these parallel careers crisscross at a dangerous intersection. In a sequence that fans of the original film will quickly recognize, during an illicit transaction between Frank's gang and Chinese government agents over the sale of military parts, both cops and criminals recognize that a mole exists within their respective camps. Pressure mounts excruciatingly as each mole must find ways to communicate via cell phone during the operation. Then, afterward, each races against time to discover the identity of the other man to save himself.
One other intersection in their lives that stretches coincidence pretty thinly is psychologist Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who specializes in both cops and criminals. Colin strikes up a flirtation with her, and before long she moves in with him. Billy, as part of his parole, is forced to see Madolyn professionally. At first he does so reluctantly, then discovers she is his sole lifeline to the normal life he desperately craves. That this highly charged relationship would also turn sexual is more than far-fetched. But Madolyn's dual relationship with these men lets each reveal vulnerabilities he is unable to show elsewhere.
Costello is a familiar piece of acting from Nicholson -- part demented caricature, part tongue-in-cheek flamboyance. But the actors surrounding Nicholson rise to the occasion so that he neither dominates the movie nor wastes away in buffoonery.
DiCaprio brings a level of emotional intensity and maturity missing so far in his adult roles. His Billy has a tough soul, but the inner core is about to crack and the fissures are becoming too evident. Damon is a walking contradiction: He looks and acts more like a cop than anyone else in the movie, yet he's a phony. Damon doesn't let us inside his character the way DiCaprio does; instead his Colin buries emotions in a place he discovered so many years ago in Frank's service.
Wahlberg is nasty and coarse as Dignam, knowing full well his partner, Sheen's Queenan, offsets his corrosiveness. Theirs is a good cop/bad cop routine -- only directed not at criminals but fellow cops.
Winstone as the emotionless killer and Alec Baldwin as the crime unit's captain are loyalists to the system who work opposite sides of the street. Farmiga -- a fine actress coming into her own in this role and in Anthony Minghella's "Breaking and Entering" -- not only provides a welcome breath of femininity but as the only character not a cop or a crook, she becomes the moral center of the film.
"The Departed" is a ferociously entertaining film.
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The Departed
By TODD MCCARTHY
Variety
Mixing it up with modern mobsters for the first time since "Casino" 11 years ago, Martin Scorsese cooks up a juicy and bloody steak of a movie in "The Departed." Different from the director's earlier crime dramas in its shared focus on cops rather than on just the goodfellas, this reworking of a popular Hong Kong picture pulses with energy, tangy dialogue and crackling performances from a fine cast, combining to give Warner Bros. a winning hand commercially in all markets.
After the elaborate exertions of the period pieces "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator," it's good to see Scorsese back on home turf, at least in a figurative sense, since the setting this time is Boston rather than New York. Not that he's especially scaled down this time out; the complexity of the crises, formidable dramatis personae, hefty running time and long-arc drama make this a big picture. But the film intensely concentrates on conflict and character, thereby sweeping the viewer up in a tale of epic deceit in which nearly everyone is compromised and comes to no good.
From a plot point of view, "The Departed" closely follows its 2002 progenitor, "Infernal Affairs," a big Asian hit and crime buff fave which, like its follow-up prequel and sequel, remained little seen in North America. Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven"), who has stated he made a point of not watching the original film and worked only from a translation of the Chinese script, make the material their own by anchoring the story deeply in the Irish South Boston mob, in the milieu's particular culture and societal attitudes.
For those who want reassurance Scorsese is re-embracing the "GoodFellas" aesthetic, it's there right at the outset.With the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" setting the mood, an imposing man addresses a nice Irish kid at a working class soda fountain and presses money into the kid's hand, enticing the boy into his circle.
Some years later, the older man comes into focus as crime kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), while the kid has grown into a rising star of the Massachusetts state police force, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) -- long since placed on this path as a mole by Costello.
The police, repped by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and his right arm, Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), long frustrated by their failure to nail Costello, carefully pick a candidate to infiltrate Costello's inner circle. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a ballsy cadet who has had no advantages in life. They stick him in jail for a time to give him credentials that may pass Costello's muster.
Thus are two shrewd, steely young men, unbeknownst to one another, placed within the same milieu with the same contacts but at dueling purposes. It's a wonderful set-up for a pressurized, high-wire drama with ample psychological overtones, one that's been impressively constructed like a trap and pays off with appropriate, bitter tragedy.
Along the way, there is plenty of room for tantalizing confrontations, consideration of human beings' capacity for courage and corruption, and stylistic doodling. Of all the ingredients in the pot, the one that jumps out and grabs you is the language. Man, can Monahan write dialogue, and not just goombah threats and vulgarities, although he's great with those. Wahlberg, playing his boss's bad cop other half, delivers outrageously insulting tirades faster than Rodney Dangerfield could spit out self-deprecation and has half of the script's best lines.
Most of the rest belong to Nicholson, whose old devil likes to crudely ruminate on sexual matters -- he upbraids two priests and a nun in a restaurant for their would-be perversions -- and is also capable of succinct philosophizing; when told by an associate that his mother is "on the way out," Costello replies, "We all are. Act accordingly."
But the heart of the film belongs in the conflicted, ambiguous middle between the outright criminal and the occasional righteous, uncorrupted cop. Sullivan, who is the picture of the savvy, red-blooded, sometimes less-than-principled Irish big-city cop, is able to shine at his job while still managing to tip his patron off to any threat. He puts engagingly brash moves on a shrink, Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who treats traumatized cops as well as criminals, and they soon become a couple.
But if, through lifelong preparation, Sullivan has largely learned to cope with his double life, for Costigan it's a daily struggle. He passes Costello's brutal are-you-a-cop tests with remarkable strength, and never cracks under the watchful eye of the boss's untiringly suspicious enforcer, Mr. French (Ray Winstone). Costigan also enters Madolyn's life, putting her at the intersection of an eventual showdown one imagines would send her to a shrink as well.
The propulsive movement and sweat-inducing situations inevitably recall "GoodFellas," but the sensation here is somewhat different. The earlier film felt like it was on speed itself. "The Departed" has a exaggerated Grand Guignol quality to it, in the way it combines rock 'n' roll and opera on the soundtrack and in its accommodation of the play-acting at its core.
The heightened style may also be a way of making room for Nicholson's performance, which is theatrical in a very entertaining way. At times he's right on the money, conveying as convincingly as anyone could the attitudes of a tough old bastard who's had things his own way all his life, while at other moments he flies off into an uncharted orbit for which the director tries to make room.
Operating a bit closer to terra firma, DiCaprio is outstanding as the audience's main point of emotional contact, a man gravely at risk every moment of his life (one minor issue is an uncertainty over how much time the main action encompasses). In his third collaboration with Scorsese, DiCaprio has rarely been this vital, energized or passionate.
Damon delivers impressively as well. Thesp's receding boyish qualities merge well with the role, just as a hint of his Jason Bourne hardness adds the necessary ruthless edge to the repellently interesting character.
Supporting cast is sparkling down the line, led by Wahlberg, who steals every base on the field and takes them home. Boston boys Damon and Wahlberg set the bar with their accents, while some of the interlopers, notably Nicholson, are in and out.
Craft contributions are superb. Michael Ballhaus' widescreen lensing has a wonderful clarity to it and an unforced sense of composition, while Thelma Schoonmaker's editing nimbly juggles the numerous characters and potentially confusing events without fuss. Kristi Zea's production design, particularly the open look for the police h.q. and the modernism she brings out of old Boston, plays a major role in shaping the film's character.
Unlike the GONY or The Aviator, neither reviews mention the A-word (that is, Awards) at all, other than how it doesn't look like Scorsese is pimping for one this time out. Is this their way of avoiding the jinx? Don't mention awards, and then he'll get one?
The Departed
By Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
Thank God we have Martin Scorsese back. After a couple of films where one of the best directors ever seemed more intent on pleasing Academy voters than millions of admirers, Scorsese returns to contemporary crime fiction with a hugely satisfying bang.
"The Departed" is a robust piece of storytelling and his best film since "Casino" in 1995. Everything is rock solid: Top actors with meaty roles that let them go to the edge without toppling over that edge, a story that keeps upping the tension and emotional ante every few minutes, Michael Ballhaus' gliding camera and shadowy lighting, Kristi Zea's atmospheric sets and Thelma Schoonmaker's tight, rhythmic editing all conspire to take us into a heart of urban darkness.
Best of all, Scorsese's relaxed energy infuses the film with excitement in every frame, thus elevating a gangster story to the level of tragedy. With Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg top-billed, "The Departed" should attract a sizable audience, though men certainly will outnumber women.
The film, written by William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven"), derives from "Infernal Affairs," a hugely popular 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller co-directed by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau Wai Keung and written by Mak and Felix Chong. That too was a doozy of tight construction and breathtaking suspense. The story remains remarkably intact despite its transfer from cops and criminals in Hong Kong to a war between state police and a tough Irish mob in south Boston.
The genius of both films is to focus on two moles on opposite sides of the law. Each has risen to a position of authority and responsibility, making him a lethally effective spy. Only by this time, each has wearied of the constant deceptions and lies, of the loneliness and terror of being stranded in a no-man's-land between good and evil. Indeed the Chinese title, "Mo-gaan-do," refers to the lowest level of hell in Buddhism.
Mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) hand-picks young Colin Sullivan (Damon) at an early age to mentor then slip into the ranks of the state police. Colin swiftly rises through the ranks to a spot in the Special Investigation Unit, whose main focus is to take down Frank Costello.
Meanwhile, another police rookie, Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), is asked by two powerful men in that unit -- the caustic Sgt. Dignam (Wahlberg) and his level-headed superior Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) -- to live down to his reputation of a street hothead. For credibility's sake, he is very publicly busted out of the state police, does a stint in prison and gets tossed onto the streets, where he can infiltrate the Costello gang. After a recruitment by Frank's right-hand man, Mr. French (Ray Winstone), and a brutal interrogation by Frank himself, he's in.
It's only a matter of time before these parallel careers crisscross at a dangerous intersection. In a sequence that fans of the original film will quickly recognize, during an illicit transaction between Frank's gang and Chinese government agents over the sale of military parts, both cops and criminals recognize that a mole exists within their respective camps. Pressure mounts excruciatingly as each mole must find ways to communicate via cell phone during the operation. Then, afterward, each races against time to discover the identity of the other man to save himself.
One other intersection in their lives that stretches coincidence pretty thinly is psychologist Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who specializes in both cops and criminals. Colin strikes up a flirtation with her, and before long she moves in with him. Billy, as part of his parole, is forced to see Madolyn professionally. At first he does so reluctantly, then discovers she is his sole lifeline to the normal life he desperately craves. That this highly charged relationship would also turn sexual is more than far-fetched. But Madolyn's dual relationship with these men lets each reveal vulnerabilities he is unable to show elsewhere.
Costello is a familiar piece of acting from Nicholson -- part demented caricature, part tongue-in-cheek flamboyance. But the actors surrounding Nicholson rise to the occasion so that he neither dominates the movie nor wastes away in buffoonery.
DiCaprio brings a level of emotional intensity and maturity missing so far in his adult roles. His Billy has a tough soul, but the inner core is about to crack and the fissures are becoming too evident. Damon is a walking contradiction: He looks and acts more like a cop than anyone else in the movie, yet he's a phony. Damon doesn't let us inside his character the way DiCaprio does; instead his Colin buries emotions in a place he discovered so many years ago in Frank's service.
Wahlberg is nasty and coarse as Dignam, knowing full well his partner, Sheen's Queenan, offsets his corrosiveness. Theirs is a good cop/bad cop routine -- only directed not at criminals but fellow cops.
Winstone as the emotionless killer and Alec Baldwin as the crime unit's captain are loyalists to the system who work opposite sides of the street. Farmiga -- a fine actress coming into her own in this role and in Anthony Minghella's "Breaking and Entering" -- not only provides a welcome breath of femininity but as the only character not a cop or a crook, she becomes the moral center of the film.
"The Departed" is a ferociously entertaining film.
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The Departed
By TODD MCCARTHY
Variety
Mixing it up with modern mobsters for the first time since "Casino" 11 years ago, Martin Scorsese cooks up a juicy and bloody steak of a movie in "The Departed." Different from the director's earlier crime dramas in its shared focus on cops rather than on just the goodfellas, this reworking of a popular Hong Kong picture pulses with energy, tangy dialogue and crackling performances from a fine cast, combining to give Warner Bros. a winning hand commercially in all markets.
After the elaborate exertions of the period pieces "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator," it's good to see Scorsese back on home turf, at least in a figurative sense, since the setting this time is Boston rather than New York. Not that he's especially scaled down this time out; the complexity of the crises, formidable dramatis personae, hefty running time and long-arc drama make this a big picture. But the film intensely concentrates on conflict and character, thereby sweeping the viewer up in a tale of epic deceit in which nearly everyone is compromised and comes to no good.
From a plot point of view, "The Departed" closely follows its 2002 progenitor, "Infernal Affairs," a big Asian hit and crime buff fave which, like its follow-up prequel and sequel, remained little seen in North America. Scorsese and screenwriter William Monahan ("Kingdom of Heaven"), who has stated he made a point of not watching the original film and worked only from a translation of the Chinese script, make the material their own by anchoring the story deeply in the Irish South Boston mob, in the milieu's particular culture and societal attitudes.
For those who want reassurance Scorsese is re-embracing the "GoodFellas" aesthetic, it's there right at the outset.With the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" setting the mood, an imposing man addresses a nice Irish kid at a working class soda fountain and presses money into the kid's hand, enticing the boy into his circle.
Some years later, the older man comes into focus as crime kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), while the kid has grown into a rising star of the Massachusetts state police force, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) -- long since placed on this path as a mole by Costello.
The police, repped by Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and his right arm, Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), long frustrated by their failure to nail Costello, carefully pick a candidate to infiltrate Costello's inner circle. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a ballsy cadet who has had no advantages in life. They stick him in jail for a time to give him credentials that may pass Costello's muster.
Thus are two shrewd, steely young men, unbeknownst to one another, placed within the same milieu with the same contacts but at dueling purposes. It's a wonderful set-up for a pressurized, high-wire drama with ample psychological overtones, one that's been impressively constructed like a trap and pays off with appropriate, bitter tragedy.
Along the way, there is plenty of room for tantalizing confrontations, consideration of human beings' capacity for courage and corruption, and stylistic doodling. Of all the ingredients in the pot, the one that jumps out and grabs you is the language. Man, can Monahan write dialogue, and not just goombah threats and vulgarities, although he's great with those. Wahlberg, playing his boss's bad cop other half, delivers outrageously insulting tirades faster than Rodney Dangerfield could spit out self-deprecation and has half of the script's best lines.
Most of the rest belong to Nicholson, whose old devil likes to crudely ruminate on sexual matters -- he upbraids two priests and a nun in a restaurant for their would-be perversions -- and is also capable of succinct philosophizing; when told by an associate that his mother is "on the way out," Costello replies, "We all are. Act accordingly."
But the heart of the film belongs in the conflicted, ambiguous middle between the outright criminal and the occasional righteous, uncorrupted cop. Sullivan, who is the picture of the savvy, red-blooded, sometimes less-than-principled Irish big-city cop, is able to shine at his job while still managing to tip his patron off to any threat. He puts engagingly brash moves on a shrink, Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who treats traumatized cops as well as criminals, and they soon become a couple.
But if, through lifelong preparation, Sullivan has largely learned to cope with his double life, for Costigan it's a daily struggle. He passes Costello's brutal are-you-a-cop tests with remarkable strength, and never cracks under the watchful eye of the boss's untiringly suspicious enforcer, Mr. French (Ray Winstone). Costigan also enters Madolyn's life, putting her at the intersection of an eventual showdown one imagines would send her to a shrink as well.
The propulsive movement and sweat-inducing situations inevitably recall "GoodFellas," but the sensation here is somewhat different. The earlier film felt like it was on speed itself. "The Departed" has a exaggerated Grand Guignol quality to it, in the way it combines rock 'n' roll and opera on the soundtrack and in its accommodation of the play-acting at its core.
The heightened style may also be a way of making room for Nicholson's performance, which is theatrical in a very entertaining way. At times he's right on the money, conveying as convincingly as anyone could the attitudes of a tough old bastard who's had things his own way all his life, while at other moments he flies off into an uncharted orbit for which the director tries to make room.
Operating a bit closer to terra firma, DiCaprio is outstanding as the audience's main point of emotional contact, a man gravely at risk every moment of his life (one minor issue is an uncertainty over how much time the main action encompasses). In his third collaboration with Scorsese, DiCaprio has rarely been this vital, energized or passionate.
Damon delivers impressively as well. Thesp's receding boyish qualities merge well with the role, just as a hint of his Jason Bourne hardness adds the necessary ruthless edge to the repellently interesting character.
Supporting cast is sparkling down the line, led by Wahlberg, who steals every base on the field and takes them home. Boston boys Damon and Wahlberg set the bar with their accents, while some of the interlopers, notably Nicholson, are in and out.
Craft contributions are superb. Michael Ballhaus' widescreen lensing has a wonderful clarity to it and an unforced sense of composition, while Thelma Schoonmaker's editing nimbly juggles the numerous characters and potentially confusing events without fuss. Kristi Zea's production design, particularly the open look for the police h.q. and the modernism she brings out of old Boston, plays a major role in shaping the film's character.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler
That article:
http://www.slate.com/id/2127757/
It doesn't mention Infernal Affairs, but it does mention that the year it was released, 2004, was not a strong year for Miramax, which is probably why it got released at all (btw it did play for a week or two in San Francisco as well, Sonic.) Since the Weinstein bonus wasn't going to be in effect anyway, it was safe to release a likely money-loser. (Though it's funny how films deemed by a studio to be a "likely money-loser" never really get a chance to prove the studio wrong...)
http://www.slate.com/id/2127757/
It doesn't mention Infernal Affairs, but it does mention that the year it was released, 2004, was not a strong year for Miramax, which is probably why it got released at all (btw it did play for a week or two in San Francisco as well, Sonic.) Since the Weinstein bonus wasn't going to be in effect anyway, it was safe to release a likely money-loser. (Though it's funny how films deemed by a studio to be a "likely money-loser" never really get a chance to prove the studio wrong...)
That said, I must confess I resent the existence of this movie. Never mind that it's a remake of one of Asia's most popular films. I resent how Harvey Weinstein bought the North American rights to it and then refused to release it (other than a perfunctory, face-saving week or so in New York), something he has done with too many Asian films. He bought it for the sole purpose of giving it to Marty to remake it, not allowing the original to make its mark in theaters as it has throughout the rest of the world. I won't hold this against the film (at least, I'll try not to), and I certainly don't hold it against Marty. It may even be a better film than the original, but that's hardly the point. It's difficult enough for worthy films to get due exposure in this country, and buying a film for the purpose of not releasing it is reprehensible.
I agree. Though there was an interesting article a year back that explained the reason behind Weinstein's methods. I'll try and find it.
Except I plan on resenting this film. I'm already annoyed they cast Leonardo Dicaprio in Tony Leung's role . I think Infernal Affairs is a flat out masterpiece, and very pissed off at how Mirimax/Weinstein treated it.
For what it's worth, though, the 79 D'Angelo gave is higher then the 68 he gave to Infernal Affairs.
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Before the avalanche of raves tumbles in, I'm reminded of an argument I had with Dennis Bee and Mister Tee nearly two years ago.
Me:
Mister Tee:
Dennis Bee:
This is from a thread in early 2005 entitled 'DGA'. It's five pages long, and it's one of the board's very best. You'll find it in the pre-delete forum. Read it quickly before it's gone.
It's early yet, and barely any of the critics have weighed in, let alone the precursors, and much less the Academy. But I can't help feeling a twinge of I Told You So. Scorsese is back in contemporary underworld mode, and the early reaction is rhapsodic. None of which necessarily disproves Mister Tee's point. By grasping onto a romantic notion of what's conventionally agreed upon as Scorsese's artistic peak - at the expense of the rest of his body of work - everyone could also be overrating The Departed. But I've always maintained that Gangs of New York and The Aviator felt like Scorsese at his most compromised, and it's a relief to see him back in his mettle.
That said, I must confess I resent the existence of this movie. Never mind that it's a remake of one of Asia's most popular films. I resent how Harvey Weinstein bought the North American rights to it and then refused to release it (other than a perfunctory, face-saving week or so in New York), something he has done with too many Asian films. He bought it for the sole purpose of giving it to Marty to remake it, not allowing the original to make its mark in theaters as it has throughout the rest of the world. I won't hold this against the film (at least, I'll try not to), and I certainly don't hold it against Marty. It may even be a better film than the original, but that's hardly the point. It's difficult enough for worthy films to get due exposure in this country, and buying a film for the purpose of not releasing it is reprehensible.
Me:
But I want him to win an Oscar for a genuine Martin Scorsese film. Martin didn't win any Oscars in his heyday because he was too ahead of the curve for the Academy. Now that the world has finally caught up with him, he's making films that are behind the curve, sticking too closely to that stodgy Oscar formula. As idiotic as Roger Freidman's comment was - that Million Dollar Baby could not have been made had Raging Bull not paved the way - there's no doubt that Eastwood's film treads on Scorsese's stark, intimate milieu. What an irony. Instead of striving for an Oscar, I wish Marty would scale down his films, and let the Oscar come to him. Less Hell's Angels, more Hell's Kitchen.
Mister Tee:
Scorsese is now partly competing with many people's overblown (and airbrushed) memories of his early films.
As for the idea that Scorsese should wait and win for something more "Scorsese-like" -- how many films like that has he made in the last 20 years? Since King of Comedy, he's pretty much set aside the tortured style that made his reputation; even Goodfellas, till the last 45 minutes, was far breezier than Taxi Driver or Raging Bull. To expect him to return to that mode is, I think, wishful thinking. And you know what? If by chance he did, I don't think Oscar voters would go for those films any more than they did in the 70s/80s (hell, in the 70s we had far more adventurous best picture choices than we've had in the decades since).
Dennis Bee:
MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL--These are a young man's movies. The fact that some people expect Scorsese in his sixties to make the passionate films of his thirties is probably understandable, but it refuses the possibility that artists grow and change, as we all do, hopefully. Scorsese has survived all this time by adjusting to the demands of the industry, but also by giving in more to the classical influences in his mind, heart, and soul. Anyone who has seen any of the many, many interview appearances and documentaries about film that Scorsese has given in the last fifteen years or so knows that there's a Vittorio DeSica Scorsese (KING OF COMEDY), a Luchino Visconti Scorsese (GANGS OF NEW YORK, with some Sergio Leone thrown in), a William Wyler Scorsese (AGE OF INNOCENCE, THE AVIATOR). Scorsese can also give himself over to the demands of the subject matter, as he did in KUNDUN, which is an attempt to make a non-dramatic film along Tibetan Buddhist lines. Scorsese certainly is drawn to working on a grand scale; a lot of THE AVIATOR reminded me of parts of CASINO. Even though THE AVIATOR doesn't go into Howard Hughes's later Las Vegas years, I'm sure CASINO was in the background as Scorsese worked on the Hughes film.
This is from a thread in early 2005 entitled 'DGA'. It's five pages long, and it's one of the board's very best. You'll find it in the pre-delete forum. Read it quickly before it's gone.
It's early yet, and barely any of the critics have weighed in, let alone the precursors, and much less the Academy. But I can't help feeling a twinge of I Told You So. Scorsese is back in contemporary underworld mode, and the early reaction is rhapsodic. None of which necessarily disproves Mister Tee's point. By grasping onto a romantic notion of what's conventionally agreed upon as Scorsese's artistic peak - at the expense of the rest of his body of work - everyone could also be overrating The Departed. But I've always maintained that Gangs of New York and The Aviator felt like Scorsese at his most compromised, and it's a relief to see him back in his mettle.
That said, I must confess I resent the existence of this movie. Never mind that it's a remake of one of Asia's most popular films. I resent how Harvey Weinstein bought the North American rights to it and then refused to release it (other than a perfunctory, face-saving week or so in New York), something he has done with too many Asian films. He bought it for the sole purpose of giving it to Marty to remake it, not allowing the original to make its mark in theaters as it has throughout the rest of the world. I won't hold this against the film (at least, I'll try not to), and I certainly don't hold it against Marty. It may even be a better film than the original, but that's hardly the point. It's difficult enough for worthy films to get due exposure in this country, and buying a film for the purpose of not releasing it is reprehensible.
"What the hell?"
Win Butler
Win Butler