Chris Beaumont

beaumont@ifa.hawaii.edu
2680 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822

Publication Date: October 13, 2006
Calvin Chimes
Headline: Scorcece’s latest effort an expert’s take on mob movies

The Departed

Chris Beaumont

Martin Scorsese may have the worst luck in Hollywood. Some of his previous directorial efforts have included “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull;’ the latter two are widely considered to be among the best American films ever produced.

He’s also a seven-time Academy Award Nominee. I say “nominee” because Martin Scorsese, one of the most influential and unlucky American filmmakers, has never won an Oscar. He’s losing to Eminem, who took home a statue in 2002. I would find this more tragic if I weren’t optimistic about Scorsese’s prospect for wining Best Director this year for his latest effort, “The Departed.”

With “Departed,” Scorsese shifts away from his recent period pieces and back to the grim, urban dystopia where he seems most at home. With distinct acumen for the seedy, the director constructs an excellent crime drama whose moral ambiguity and level of suspense are reminiscent of Michael Mann’s “Heat.”

The movie follows the Massachusetts State Police’s pursuit of mobster Frank Costello, played by Jack Nicholson. Among the Staties are Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a mobster posing as a cop to give Costello inside access to police intelligence, and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a cop posing as a mobster to give the police inside access to mob intelligence. Nicholson owns his portrayal, playing Costello with the kind of crazed aggression that he has perfected in films like “The Shining” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The scope of Costello’s hysteria is slowly developed throughout the film – though Nicholson’s early screen time is shot in the shadows, by the film’s conclusion actions like walking out of rooms covered in other people’s blood are routine. This revelation of character is creepy but incredibly satisfying.

Nicholson would dominate the film if it weren’t for the equally commanding performances of Damon and DiCaprio, and the supporting roles of Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen. DiCaprio’s performance is one of the best of his career, keenly portraying the psychological dangers of living two lives. Damon contrasts this by depicting Sullivan as largely unaffected by his sins. A key exception is a brief elevator scene near the film’s conclusion. Though it lasts less than a minute, the scene is one of the more powerful in the film, showcasing the rapid but impermanent breakdown of Damon’s character.

There is a profusion of Irish catholic imagery in the film, which is a recurring motif in Scorsese’s work. In addition to establishing cultural verisimilitude, the images comment on the intersection of religion with the modern world, contrasting the teachings of Christ with the violence that the film dwells upon.

The violence in “Departed” is at once graphic and appropriate, depicting what is necessary to make the film’s argument that corruption is pervasive and inescapable. At the same time the film shows little evidence for the presence of justice or meaning. While the idea of redemption is portrayed as a tragically misunderstood concept in “Taxi Driver,” it is altogether absent here. In these respects I feel that “The Departed” has taken an unrealistically cynical attitude towards the world, but one whose partial truth cannot be ignored.

Though dark, “The Departed” is an expertly crafted film that bears the mark of both its directors and its performers. People have theorized that Scorsese has gone so long without an Oscar win because his films are too controversial or dark to win wide Academy support. While this description can be applied to “The Departed,” the work is more academy-friendly due to its formidable cast and now-iconic Hollywood gangster-theme. For this reason I expect Scorsese’s luck may change this year, with an almost certain nomination and possible win.