The departed (2006)

The departed:

The difference between ’Infernal Affairs’ and ’The Departed’ is the difference between a rat and a mole, between gangsters and mobsters, between theatricality and subtlety but ultimately between making a studio film in Hollywood and making a film elsewhere in the world. The original was a thriller through and through - it cared little for characterization (but had plenty) or performances (but managed to squeeze enough) but instead had the right eye for unpredictability, important in any film claiming to thrill. ’The departed’ has none of these things and wants to please as both a popular crowd film while remaining a potential for awards consideration - a desire to contest for best screenplay, best this, best that, come awards season time.

I compared the original to a Michael Mann film back when I first saw it because like any good crime pic, it respected its protagonists and approached their lives, predicaments and secrets with care and empathy. It never differentiated between who was good or bad, their differing positions made us aware of these things. We felt for the undercover cop bearing under the strain of pretension and deceits but also secretly pinned for his counterpart mole in the police force to succeed, because he just seemed to be on the right track.

As a film, ’The departed’ feels like nothing more than a vehicle to showcase its stars. Also consider that in the original, there were no deaths in the film till two third of the way through, at which point when the bodies did start to pile, we were caught off guard. In the remake, we are witness to one butchery after another, so much as that its not surprising when people have their heads suddenly blown off by gun fire. The departed also clearly lacks a sense of pacing or narrative revelation (a key secret about how many other people might actually be undercover is let loose early on with the death of an Irish mobster in a shootout, which lets us in on what is in store to come). There are many, many, many other areas where this, the remake, clearly falls short and rather than talk about them, I’d re-recommend anyone reading this to instead pick up ’Infernal affairs’.

Despite being well acted, and especially well written, Scorceses’ long, needlessly confusing, savage look at the double life of people serving both sides of the law is neither elegant nor memorable. After three strike outs in a row, Scorceses, one of the most gifted, original filmakers of our time, should finally hang up his gloves and gracefully retire.

P.S. Why does every American film (especially those made post 9/11) need to have an us vs them stand attitude when it comes to foreighners? (as unspectacularly portrayed on screen when the ’Irish’ Americans deal with a bunch of Chinese and Jack Nicholson yelps something about ’how we do business in this country’!)

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