The Departed

Star Review

The Departed, Scorsese’s first film with a contemporary setting for two decades, is a remake of the acclaimed Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs (2002) starring Tony Leung and Andy Lau as two long-term ‘moles’ planted within the mob and police who are assigned to find the mole within their respective organisations. Transposing the action to present-day Boston, Scorsese’s film boasts a heavyweight cast headed by Leonardo Di Caprio (in his third consecutive Scorsese picture) and Matt Damon as the ambitious operatives on opposite sides of the law, desperately seeking to maintain their cover whilst uncovering the identity of their opposite numbers.

Lauded upon its release (and graced with multiple Oscar nominations), the film is a breathtaking, muscular epic featuring excellent performances (Jack Nicholson as monstrous mob boss Frank Costello has all the flamboyance and wide-eyed menace of Al Pacino in Devil’s Advocate) as well as a wonderful, typically Scorseseian jukebox soundtrack. Along with music from The Rolling Stones, LaVern Baker and the Dropkick Murphys the director uses Van Morrison’s version of Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ to reflect the dilemma of Di Caprio’s tormented undercover cop Billy Costigan as he is drawn deeper into Costello’s infernal circle.

Pasquale Iannone on 1st February 2007

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Film Description

Scorsese's big-budget Hollywood remake of the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs. Two men operate on different sides of the law - one a mole with the Boston State Police department, the other within the Irish mafia. When bloodshed breaks out on the streets, each mole is despatched to discover the other's identity in a race against time.

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DVD Extras

• Additional scenes with introductions by Martin Scorsese
• Feature-length TCM profile "Scorsese on Scorsese"
• The Story of the Boston Mob: the real-life gangster behind Jack Nicholson's character
• Crossing Criminal Cultures: how Little Italy's crime and violence influence Scorsese's work.

Film Details

Cast

Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon

Technical Details