The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)

[Antoine Doinel]

Finally saw it this afternoon in an absolutely packed theater and loved it to pieces. What a raw, visceral piece of filmmaking. It literally sinks its hooks into you and just doesn't let go.

Most of the criticism of the film here seems to be blowing up some pretty minor details into big issues. Sure, maybe it doesn't have the emotional depth of GoodFellas but I haven't been this entertained and fulfilled by a film in a long time and it's easily the year's best movie so far.

The cast is uniformly great. Nicholson was great. Funny, outrageous and over-the-top - like his character was supposed to be. DiCaprio really blew me away, and Wahlberg was a fantastic asshole. But the real treat of the cast for me was Ray Winstone. He is always a such a pleasure to watch onscreen and is unfortunately really underrated. He was great in this. His first scene with DiCaprio was stellar.

This is a big, juicy potboiler - nothing more - and I think that's just fine (and I think that's why the dissenters don't like it). Filled with delightful MacGuffins (the microchips, the envelopes), great twists, and a fantastic script (the oneliners were great). Overall, it was thrilling watching Scorsese take a straightforward premise and really breathe some life into it.

I can't wait to watch this again.

[marty]

Thanks Antoine for being brave enough to admit you liked the film. You have joined a select few here, unfortunately. But we must never cave in to these Scorsese terrorists if we want to continue living in a free and democratic society. =D>

[jon]

I liked it, and I think almost everyone else did also, even those that are putting it down. Most of the arguments against the film are ridiculously overblown and almost splitting hairs of nonexistent issues. It was a very enjoyable film, and I don't think that many are debating that issue, but rather, some are overcompensating for the critical hype surrounding the film by stating the negative aspects of the film in an attempt to bring about a more realistic perception of the film for everyone. Of course some are completely dismissing it, but those people are silly.

[flyonthewall2983]

I loved it. Every perfomance was done with class and style (Jack hasn't played a villain this good since Batman), and the story is pulled off rather well. I say this with little hesitation, but it's the best crime film I've seen since Collateral and it's just as thrilling. It won't be remembered as Martin's best (although it might be the most money any of his films ever made, take it for what that's worth), but hopefully time will treat this film well.

[Matt]

There seems to be phenomenal word of mouth on this film. It's still hanging on to #2 at the box office despite being in its 4th weekend and its advertising campaign having apparently all but ceased. It should break $100 million by next weekend.

[exte]

Regarding the $91 million at the box office: What we're witnessing here is the little guy (Scorsese) finally getting his turn at the majors. At 4' 9" he can run and he can catch, but tonight (if you will) he has hit it over the monster with the bases loaded. (And I don't even like baseball, though as a child I loved playing it...)

[Barmy]

Nice DVD cover

[dadaistnun]

Maybe someone who has seen the film more recently than I have can help me help a friend:

I find no mention anywhere of the incredible and quite lengthy use of opera arias, particularly in the warehouse scene which starts when Damon comes around the corner with his beeping cell held out like a rescue beacon. It carries all throughout the dialogue between Jack and Damon reaching its peak in intensity and volume as the scene changes to police headquarters where Damon is being feted as the great hero.

"Thank, you." Damon says receiving a cup of coffee from a female employee. "No," she says, "Thank YOU." The only bad second in the movie. Unless you count the rat on the window sill. A Donizetti opera is credited in the scroll but so are some other operas so I don't know what the warehouse opera music is. Can you find out?

[Antoine Doinel]

From Soundtrackinfo.com:

Q: What is the name of the opera/aria heard in this movie? Who's the composer?

A: The opera is Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia de Lammermoor" The part of it that they watch at the opera, and is then heard again, and yet again as the tune on Costello's cell phone, is the great sextet of the first act, which is known by its first several words, "Chi mi frena ..."

[dadaistnun]

Thanks, Monsieur Doinel!

[Matt]

Lucia de Lammermoor is also the source of that little ditty whistled by Tony Camonte in Hawks' Scarface when he's about to whack someone.

[Antoine Doinel]

China blocks entry to Scorsese's ''Departed''

Reuters

Jan 18, 2007

China's movie censor will not approve Golden Globe-honored film "The Departed" for domestic cinematic release due to its mention of a Chinese plan to buy military equipment, government sources said on Wednesday.

Martin Scorsese was named best film director at the Golden Globes on Monday for "The Departed," a crime thriller many think might earn him first Oscar either for best directing or for best film.

"There is no chance 'The Departed' will be shown in mainland cinemas because the U.S. side declined to change a plot line describing how Beijing wanted to buy advanced military computer hardware," said onesource.

"That part of the plot is definitely unnecessary," added the source, who asked not to be identified as he does not have permission to speak to the foreign media.

"The regulators just cannot understand why the movie wanted to involve China. They can talk about Iran or Iraq or whatever, but there's no reason to get China in," added the source, who is close to the country's movie regulator.

Another government source, who also asked for anonymity, confirmed the decision.

An executive in Hong Kong at Media Asia, which has the distribution rights for "The Departed" in the mainland, said that the film did not pass the Chinese censor, but declined further comment.

The ruling is likely to have little impact on stopping Chinese people seeing the movie, as pirated versions can already be bought on DVD off the street in China.

"The Departed," a cops versus criminals saga starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, is a Hollywood remake of hit Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs."

[flyonthewall2983]

I might be a bit late in posting this, but I thought I saw a bit of a nod to Wes Anderson in a few scenes. The way the music would suddenly stop and cut to the next scene reminded me alot of when that would happen during The Royal Tenenbaums. I could be wrong about this, Wes and Marty were probably using it as a nod to a more European style.

[exte]

China blocks entry to Scorsese's ''Departed''

Sad, because they certainly have it available on the black market just about everywhere there...

[Jeff]

This is pretty cool. X

[tavernier]

Wow - he definitely deserves an Oscar for so many subtle, symbolic "X"s!

[Matt]

This is pretty cool. X

So I was on the right track with the Lucia di Lammermoor reference after all. The Xs (and the opera) are an homage to Hawks' Scarface. Too bad Vera Farmiga is no Ann Dvorak.

[dave41n]

From Hollywood Reporter

An afterlife for Scorsese's 'Departed'

By Boris Kit
Jan 31, 2007

With the massive bloodletting at the climax of "The Departed," you'd think it might be hard to make a sequel. Well, a domestic take of $125.2 million is making Warner Bros. Pictures and director Martin Scorsese think not.

Talks are under way to put together a sequel to the crime thriller, which has garnered five Oscar nominations and is the biggest boxoffice hit of Scorsese's long career. Sources say that "Departed" writer William Monahan is working on a take that would bring back the temperamental foul-mouthed cop played by Mark Wahlberg, who received an Oscar nomination for the role, and introduce a new character to be played by none other than Robert De Niro.

Sources caution that Scorsese would need to approve any take before development was to move forward. A prequel is not being ruled out, either. "Departed" is an adaptation of the Hong Kong pic "Infernal Affairs," to which Warners acquired the rights in 2003. The studio also had option rights to the movie's two sequels.

It is unclear if this new movie would fall under that agreement since Monahan's take could end up being an original story. The acclaimed Chinese movies are regarded as "The Godfather" of Asian cinema, with the 2003 sequel being a prequel, much like "The Godfather 2." The third movie combined elements of the first two movies. Warners declined comment.

[Cinesimilitude]

A Wahlberg centered, Original Scorsese film? Save the Best Pic award for that one!

[Antoine Doinel]

As much as I like Wahlberg's character and The Departed I hope that Scorsese and DeNiro get together on a completely different kind of project altogether. I recall reading an interview with DeNiro recently in which he said that he and Scorsese were contemplating a semi-autobiographical project about their early years together in the industry. That sounds far more interesting.

[Barmy]

Yeah we really need yet more movies about moviemaking.

[Antoine Doinel]

More on a possible sequel from JoBlo:

Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg (Did I just seriously say that? 1992 Me just went into anaphylactic shock.) has elaborated a little bit on the plans for a DEPARTED 2 to Empire Magazine. According to Wahlberg, the rumors that his character Dignam would return is true. "They told me they wanted to try to do it," says Wahlberg. But what of the plot of the film? "They're talking about bringing in [Robert] De Niro to play a senator or a congressman. You know, the corruption obviously going deeper and higher up the ranks — reaching up the political chain." An interesting premise but what does that have to do with an internal affairs cop? The film could, according to Wahlberg, start shooting "the beginning of next year or end of this year," but cautions that Scorsese has yet to sign off on the proposed idea. The director is likely waiting until another Oscar nominee, writer William Monahan, finishes writing the script. Of course all this could just be talk to pump up THE DEPARTED's Oscar chances and its upcoming debut on DVD next week.

[Antoine Doinel]

I know how revered Jonathan Rosenbaum is around these parts, but his refusal to see The Departed is a little childish at this point.

[David Ehrenstein]

Well he's a personal friend since 1963, but I don't exactly "revere" him in an awe-struck way. He's championed many important and underappreciated films but he's been wrong about a number of others and studiously avoided some of the best films ever made, IMO. But he has an aesthetic to which he's unfailingly faithful.

[Oedipax]

I know how revered Jonathan Rosenbaum is around these parts, but his refusal to see The Departed is a little childish at this point.

I agree, it's aggravating - specifically in the way he continues to call attention to it as if it were some kind of badge of honor. I say this as a big Rosenbaum fan, but aside from Armond White, he's probably the critic who makes me roll my eyes more than anyone else. In a way his comments are sometimes like late-Godardian aphorisms, but without the sense of humor or literary flair (I can't stay mad at Uncle Jean, even when he's being intentionally difficult).

Personally, I do think The Departed is new territory for Scorsese - above all, it is nihilistic and amoral, in a way that reflects Bush & Co's activities these past few years. Contrast DiCaprio's death scene with that of Joe Pesci's in GoodFellas - both occurring suddenly and ruthlessly, but in The Departed there is such a coldness towards it that is new for Scorsese. At the end of GoodFellas, he find a disillusioned Henry Hill languishing in banal suburbia, an implicit condemnation of the man and his actions, in other words, a moral stance; in The Departed, there is the rat crawling across the bottom of our screen, largely a joke, a nod to the ruthlessness not only of the characters but of the filmmaker himself. I'm not suggesting Scorsese has grown heartless inside, but rather his attitude towards his characters in The Departed is something quite unlike his past films, and as I said, I think it can be related to the zeitgeist of the country as a whole under W - whether or not we support any of it, it's our daily reality.