The Departed

The Depahted! Those f#$^in firemen were a bunch of f%$#in homos. This line is the reason that I love this film. Perfectly delivered by Matt Damon, what a versatile bad ass, he is such a crass Southey and I frigging love it. I love Scorsese, I love Leo, I love the whole damn cast, Alec Baldwin’s fast talking fiendery, Wahlberg’s dirt sensibility and unique style “that we all have to get used to.” Honestly Scorsese doesn’t film this movie he paints it, the shots, cuts, music and colors. This movie is a masterpiece and I think that it is bullshit that many of the critics and audience said that his win for Best Director was more of a lifetime achievement award then a legitimate win, this was the best movie of the year and he was the best director of the year. The intensity with which this movie is played out is more similar to a David Mamet film; normally Scorsese doesn’t punch from scene to scene, plot point to plot point. Similar structure as far as story and character, but the way that the movie was crafted is much more different than his other crime stories. I love that this movie is a “remake” from a great Hong Kong trilogy known as “infernal Affairs” but it is not a remake. It has a totally different stylization than the corresponding Asian films. The music so perfectly meshes with the film, when it hits hard and is intense the music goes right along with it and when there is intimacy the music only enhances the moment.

What the film is saying to me is that The Departed is not only representative of the deceased but those that have departed from their path, transformed into an outsider or an Other. It speaks of deception, vulnerability, and most importantly that everyone leads a double life in one way or another. We all tell lies to keep things on an even keel, to maintain balance.

The message that Mr. Scorsese is saying that life has surprise endings, you think things are going one way and bam! Life does some crazy shit.

The Departed like I said is very tightly crafted. The characters are more than can be defined by a simple type cast. Each of the main characters has more facets than one would expect in a crime thriller. The underlying theme of each character is that of deception, whether for a just cause or one of self preservation, etc. Jack Nicholson is the main antagonist or is he? He is just a representation of our shadow those things that creep up in our minds, those desire of the natural man that we all put off to maintain order and a moral code. Is it bad those thoughts make their way in to our mind, or is it more a question of the conscious effort we put forth to extinguish the devilish side of who we are? Scorsese personifies the evil that surrounds us all. Similarly DiCap is that struggle that we go through to put off that evil, he is the battle that we face in human form. The depth of emotion that each of the main cast goes through is a powerful means of communicating to the audience the dichotomy of good and evil, yet they fit together like yin and yang. One cannot exist without the other.

Vera Farmiga as the doctor states to Matt Damon, “Without the criminal you wouldn’t have a job.” Even during the most intimate of discussions between the characters in the movie is about being somebody else and the deceit used to create a façade.

The jump cuts in this movie are seamless and fit so well together. It jumps from one action to another, and it is done so beautifully. In the Departed he builds tension by cutting from one shot to another in the same scene, showing one guy with a gun and then a different guy with a gun.

Something that I had never before noticed is that his shots have such a geometric feel. Many of the shots are framed by columns, squares or symmetrically placed parallelograms. The ability that he has to frame a shot and create a visual depth in such a unique way, at the same time he maintains the intimacy on the character in the scene. Question why does Jack Nicholson’s hair look like cat sex?

The relationship with the psychiatrist that Leo has is his internal monologue, all of these times watching this film and I finally understand that there dialogue is explaining the purpose and direction of the movie. He has been narrating the Departed this whole time and I never effing noticed it.

My favorite scene in the movie is one of the sessions between Leo and Madolyn. Just before they start talking he and the gang blow up a car, and after the scene he meets up with his undercover handlers, and he tells them this double life is killing him. The scene after is key, he is breaking down and you can see the beginning of the end for Billy Costigan.

The scene in the psychiatrist’s office is essential to this story. As they are speaking you begin understand that the relationship they have is the most important in the film, and it seems that it is the only thing holding him together. It is an out loud confession of his doubt and anxiety, and it is the one chance that he has to be honest throughout the film; interestingly enough the conversation always centers on deceit and the building of a double life. Their conversation foreshadows his demise in the story, and you can see that he starts to slip, he is cracking.

So the frames are beautiful in this scene. First you never see Madolyn or Billy in the same frame, every time they speak it cuts to the one speaking. It is an angled shot from the side as if the camera is an astute observer. She is framed in the shot by her degrees, psychiatric books and her computer. What this states to me is she is driven, successful and a complete professional. The way she sits in her chair behind her desk gives her an air of authority and power, and the lamp behind her head signifies ideas or brilliance, validating to the audience her diagnostic ability.

Now Leo is slouched in his chair, desperation painted on his face and body language. He is framed by a bookcase with some interesting titles, “Violence in the streets” and “Wounded Innocents.”

It cuts to an empty hospital bed, with boxes of things spread around on the floor, signifying loss, and trauma and moving on. This was the room of his sick mother who is recently departed. Another cut to a room with what I estimate to be her belongings, picture on the floor, blankets folded, china stacked nearby, the metaphor is one of change and the moving forward of life or evolution of it. The close-up on the china is saying to me, Mother, as if representing her fading voice as she turns to dust. He is framed in the shot by her things, constantly reminded of his loss. He looks at photos of him and her, painfully reminded that his once vibrant mother died a very sick woman.

Cut to Billy and French busting through the door of a fat guy, Billy with a bat and French with a 2 liter bottle and gun. The room is one covered in opulence, representing the gaudy tastes of a wise guy. The guy is in wife beater and is eating a bagel with other food, a funeral bouquet to his side, signifying his quick demise. Cut to Leo looking at the pictures, wearing the guilt of his actions on his face, his mother reminds him of his once innocent nature? The guy who gets killed is a family man and right before he gets shot, French pores out the bottle, emptying its contents on the floor, a metaphor of the life he is about to take.

As it cuts back to Billy in the office, the thought of a church confessional rings loudly in my head, this is Billy’s chance to make peace with the things that he is doing to hold the hand of justice. Madolyn just stares, cut to Billy staring at the body in disbelief until brought back to reality by Frenchie. More conversation between he and the therapist, building the story of deception and coping with those actions that we do in order to maintain balance.

Then one of the greatest shots of the movie, the close up on the Oxycontin bottle, the sure fire way to numb the pain of a chaotic life; Interesting that the song Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd makes its way in to the movie as he and the therapist sex their way in to forgetfulness. He opens the bottle and pours the contents in to his hands quickly swallowing them. The next shot is that of the words probation on his file, in red of course. Warning! Warning! This represents the movie in one word. His life as a double agent is closely monitored as he walks that fine line between good and evil, struggling to cope with certain decisions and choices. The rhythm of the cuts is so brilliant, not just timed by their conversation but by pauses or lulls that give a deeper clarity to his struggles, filling the audience in with images.

The dialogue like I stated earlier is the definition of the film as we are able to get inside his head, and become a part of his character. This is so brilliant, now that I am able to see it, because it helps me to feel emotionally connected to Billy not through pity, but I feel his anxiety and his sense of loss. When their conversation starts there is no background music, the diagetic sound is turned up, as they move and shift the audience can hear the discomfort. The music then starts with the first flashback and remains prevalent throughout the entire scene. The music is a soft guitar which helps to create calm during intense dialogue and actions.

The diagetic sound is turned way up so that you can hear the guy who dies stumbling, Frenchie pouring out the water and even the pouring of the pills in to the hand of Billy. With that sound it really immerses me in to the film and gives it a really great dimension, surrounding me as the viewer. The pauses by the doctor help to give a sense of confusion, as you can almost hear her brain running around trying to take in everything she is hearing. As he looks through the pictures for the first time all you can hear is the soft guitar, enforcing the memories and bringing them to life emotionally for me.

As I watch this film over and over it really only gets better, especially as I understand things not understood previously. He really has painted this film, with his unique ability to frame his characters, the strong syntax of the dialogue and the strength of his well placed score. The message that sticks out in my mind is one of coping with the double lives we all lead and realizing that as we deceive others we deceive ourselves. We cannot be two people at once and not expect the consequences of those actions to not beset us. The path we walk leads somewhere, whether we see it or not, and where it takes us may not be to place that we originally intended. This is one of the most compelling films that I have ever seen, and picking it apart has only helped me to love it more.