The Departed: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Believe Scorsese Will Finally Win An Oscar This Year

by Erik McClanahan

Having now seen The Departed twice, I can say without bias or doubt that it is one of Martin Scorsese’s best, most entertaining films in his storied career. This is far and away his best work since teaming with new muse lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s now safe to say that their partnership has ushered in a new prolific and creative era for Scorsese’s career, one that will hopefully lead young film lovers to seek out his older films and discover why he is so highly regarded in the first place.

It may also be safe to say that this could finally be Scorsese’s year to win the Oscar he has unabashedly coveted for so long. He may face another showdown with Clint Eastwood in the Best Picture/Best Director awards this year—beginning with Eastwood’s triumph over Scorsese’s The Aviator in 2004 for the somber, emotional experience that was Million Dollar Baby in both categories and this year’s inevitable clash between The Departed and Eastwood’s World War II epic Flags of Our Fathers or its companion piece Letters From Iwo Jima. But fret not Scorsese buffs. If the Academy was looking to award perhaps the finest American filmmaker of all time, then this should be the film that pushes them to do it.

It’s possible the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been waiting for the next great Scorsese film—his latest masterpiece—to finally feel hunky dory about giving the man his much-deserved Oscar.

Gangs of New York was the labor of love that took more than twenty years for him to realize. By no means a perfect film, but the pure blood and sweat that Scorsese put into it was worthy of award recognition. Go back and look at the list of competitors for Best Director and Best Picture of 2002. The director category was tough that year, with Roman Polanski ultimately winning the director honor for his labor of love, The Pianist, and deservedly so. Pedro Almodovar’s Talk to Her also provided tough competition in the director category. It’s arguable that Scorsese didn’t deserve it this year, and even though he wouldn’t have taken home a statue for Best Picture (since he wasn’t a producer), Gangs Of New York was far and away better than the just ok Chicago (one of the worst Best Picture winners of all time). At first viewing Gangs comes off as a mess of a film, but go back and watch it more than once and try to convince yourself that it isn’t a thrilling, epic-scale story about the creation of America’s greatest city disguised as a 19th century gangster tale. The film rewards on so many levels after multiple viewings, and I absolutely adore it now.

The Aviator was a different Oscar story, but it lost out for similar reasons. While my favorite films of the year—Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Kill Bill vol. 2—weren’t even nominated in the top categories, the third best of the year —Sideways—was. Everyone and their mother knew that Alexander Payne’s brilliant, hilarious tale about friendship, infidelity and of course wine wouldn’t win the top awards because it was to small and simple a film for the academy to justify awarding it. Million Dollar Baby was great and totally deserving of the awards it won. With The Aviator, Scorsese made an Academy-friendly biopic about a revered and reviled person in American history, the kind of film that Oscar voters typically swoon over. It was well-made, and the most accessible Scorsese film to date. In the end, Eastwood’s boxing/euthanasia film won out because it was a better film.

Now with The Departed, it seems Oscar will finally call the man’s name. It’s the new masterwork from a reinvented filmmaker, and even the high-and-mighty Oscar voters should feel good about awarding Scorsese for his work here. If this is actually going to be the year he wins, than it could be viewed as recognition for a fantastic career, something the Academy has been known to do in the past (Al Pacino for Scent Of A Woman anyone?). He deserves that much, after the curse of the actor-turned-first-time director happened twice. It is still hard to believe, but Robert Redford (Ordinary People) and Kevin Costner (Dances With Wolves) beat out Scorsese in 1980 and 1990 respectively. Nothing against those films, they were great. Robert Redford has established himself as a solid filmmaker throughout the years. No comment necessary about Costner’s other attempts at directing. Their debut films beat out Raging Bull and Goodfellas, two of the best films ever made! He was robbed, end of story. So a makeup award on the part of Academy is long overdue, and The Departed should be the film to do it.

Last year’s Oscar host Jon Stewart couldn’t have put it any better: “For those of you keeping score at home. Three Six Mafia one Oscar, Martin Scorsese zero.”

Now that I got that incredibly long-winded rant out of the way (sorry, I kind of have a thing for Scorsese), allow me to point out why The Departed is so freaking great. First off, it is a glorious return to the style of filmmaking that made us all love Scorsese in the first place. Breakneck editing (from usual Scorsese collaborator and Oscar winner Thelma Shoonmaker), virtuoso cinematography (courtesy of the terrific Michael Ballhaus), religious and moral themes, dark humor with even darker characters, brutal violence, memorable performances pulled from a heavyweight male cast, brilliant melding of music to image (even Scorsese’s use of Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” for a third time seems forgivable, if not a bit unimaginative, because he is tying this film in with the world and characters of Goodfellas and Casino) and the assured direction of a master filmmaking craftsman using all his talents again for one hell of a movie ride. You probably will not see a more entertaining film this year.

Oh yeah, and it’s a gangster movie, a genre the Italian-American, New York born artist tends to do very well. The most refreshing thing about The Departed is that it reminds us why we love Scorsese’s mob movies so much, but at the same time it tries to be different as well. His other efforts in the genre were period pieces; here we have a contemporary crime story full of issues concerning present-day cops and criminals. Here we also are presented with a story not just about mobsters and their ensuing rise and fall, but a cat and mouse chronicle that is as much about the crime fighters as it is the crime doers. Another departure Scorsese makes is that this film takes place in South Boston, and it follows Irish-Americans instead of Italian-Americans in New York.

The Departed is a remake of 2002’s fantastic Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. That film was brilliant in that writers Felix Chong and Siu Fai Mak came up with a fantastic premise: two men train to become officers of the law; one is the loyal mole of the most notorious crime lord in town and the other is a good cop who goes deep undercover in that crime lord’s operation. The two characters are complete opposites of each other, and their connection makes for some fantastic drama, action and existential issues.

Here writer William Monahan reworks that terrific foundation for American audiences. Those worried why Scorsese would choose to do a remake for his latest feature can be rest assured that this is more along the lines of what Magnificent Seven was to Seven Samurai than the typical remakes that come out nowadays. And those wondering how an Oscar could be given to a remake should know that West Side Story, itself a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, won Best Picture in 1961.

The Departed starts with Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) telling us in a low South Boston growl “I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” From then on, we are treated to a fabulous montage (courtesy of Shoonmaker’s indelible fast-paced editing) that sets up the three main players of the story. Costello is a Southie crime boss who lurks in the shadows for the first 15 minutes of the film—evil incarnate. He meets Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as a kid, offers him some food and a little change. Costello has already bought his soul.

The rest of the opening montage is similar to Infernal Affairs, showing Sullivan training to be a Boston cop. Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is training to be a cop as well. The two graduate and are given their assignments: Costigan—whose family history is laden with criminals—is told that the only way he will be a cop is to have his identity erased and infiltrate Costello’s organization. Subsequently, Sullivan rises fast into an elite unit whose duty is to take down Costello’s crew. Little do they know that Sullivan is a mole tipping off Costello every time the police are about to strike. The issue of dual identity is fleshed out extremely well throughout the entire film. The Departed may be entertaining, but there is a lot of substance to these characters. Once the characters are set up, the plot begins to move forward, and events have been set in motion that will lead to a lot of dead bodies, mistrust and broken loyalties.

Scorsese is telling a story about the duality of criminals and cops. Another opening line given by Costello sums up the entire film: “When I was your age, they would say you could become cops or criminals. What I'm saying is this: When you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?” If you remember this line throughout The Departed’s swift 150 minute running time, you will understand what the film is all about. The people here are all walking fine lines between crime and comeuppance. When it’s all said done murder is murder, revenge is revenge, and violence is violence. There is no grey area; it’s all black and white whether you’re a cop or a criminal. The story is its own even though this is a remake. Monahan recreates some things from Infernal Affairs, especially in the conclusion’s plot twist and rooftop finale. A happier ending is tagged on here different then the Hong Kong original, but it is still satisfying given the differences between the two films.

The most interesting thing about The Departed is that it really is commenting on a lot of things in our present world. How interesting is it that the bad guy, Sullivan, climbs the ladder fast in the working world and attains all the things of an upper-middle class citizen? And DiCaprio’s character—a good guy who can’t escape his family’s criminal past—is forced into a life of solitude, drug addiction and violence.

The performances are all terrific, save for the lone female character in the film. Relatively unknown actress Vera Farmiga (who has had small roles in Running Scared and The Manchurian Candidate) is given a great role, but her Boston accent is fleeting at best. You never quite buy that she would do the things she does in the film, too bad given that her role plays a huge dynamic between the Costigan and Sullivan characters. This misfire of a performance is forgivable, though, when you see how fantastic the rest of the cast is. Ray Winstone—having a great year after starring in the wonderful The Proposition—is all sneaky, quiet malevolence in the role of Costello’s right hand man. Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin have a lot of fun in their roles as two leaders of the Boston Police Department, and they give funny, memorable performances. Martin Sheen gives his character a tragic feel (especially when his fate is sealed in the film) as the father figure to Costigan. Damon deftly uses his nice guy image to veil his true wickedness. Nicholson has the most fun as the psychotic Costello, and relishes his first role in a Scorsese movie. But it’s DiCaprio who gives the most memorable, heart wrenching performance. He’s all grown up now, and has officially thrown away his heart throb image to become a true leading man here.

All in all, The Departed is the most exciting thing to come to the cinema in quite sometime. When the credits rolled I immediately felt the notion: Now that was a movie!. Great to have you back Marty.