Adapted story takes on a new and different life under the masterful hands of Scorsese

Rating: Null/10 (9 October 2006)

While "The departed" is adapted from "Infernal affair" (2002), the highly acclaimed Hong Kong crime thriller, not much can be gained from comparing them. Suffices to say that the "infrastructure" of the script has been essentially retained, but there are also variations, some quite major. More importantly, the two movies have different "souls". "Infernal Affair" focuses on a cross-sectional depiction of various scenes and incidents, with superb suspense and tension, with a metaphysical wink. "The Departed" focuses more on a story-telling "epic" approach, with a more coherent story and more character development.
Before looking at direction, acting and technical aspects, it is even more important to see that the movie stands on a devilishly clever double-mole structure, on which an excellent script has been developed, and on which, in turn, all the rest of it – direction, acting, editing etc – are built. Double-mole refers to a police undercover deployed at the heart of a criminal orgainzation, and vice versa. On the surface, they each have a boss that they are seen with daily but underneath, the roles of the real boss are reversed, with cell phone and secret meetings as the main mode of contact. Because of this convoluted setup, watching this movie requires a lot of concentration, as you have to remember all the time who knows who's who, and who doesn't. This gets even more interesting when they have to find and expose each other, in a deadly race against death, unavoidable if they are exposed first.
Martin Scorsese, slightly surprisingly, did not transport the story to his beloved New York where the Mafia provides such a convenient platform, but instead takes the story to Boston, pitching the State Police against the Irish underworld. More specifically, it's the quest of law enforcers Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) to nail kingpin Costello (Jack Nicholson) by catching him in one of his assortment of big, shady deals. Coin Sullivan (Matt Damon), taken under the wings of Costello since he was a boy, is now a rising star in the police departing with unblemished records that made him a favourite of Queenan and Dignam. Meanwhile Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a dedicated police officer despite shady family connections, is half lured and half coerced by the Queenan-Dignam good-cop-bad-cop (in that order) duo into the loathsome job of infiltrating Costello's organization and becoming his right-hand man.
This gritty story of maddening conflict and suffocating tension is told in flawless pace with superlative editing. Scorsese is in top form, and, with absolute precision, realizes the superb script into a magnificent visual spectacle.
Turning to the cast, it seems, on the surface at least, that DiCaprio and Damon have their roles reversed, with Damon swimming in flair and charisma while DiCaprio looking earthy and uncouth. You can't image, for example, Damon and Pitt reversing roles in "Ocean's Eleven". But then DiCarprio is no Pitt, in terms of cocky confidence. On the other hand, he does remarkably well (better than in "Gangs of New York" or "The aviator") as the vulnerable and at the same time explosive cop finding himself in an uncontrollable, frustrating predicament. As to the legendary Jack Nicholson, I don't think there is much more that he can bring to the screen that we haven't yet seen (and hope I'm wrong). But we do get to see in "The departed" just about everything we expect from him. Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg, top actors in their own rights, take on supporting roles which they fill admirably. And as long as we are on that, there is a third policeman, Captain Ellerby, played equally admirably by Alec Baldwin.
This is a movie about men and, in a way, almost in complete symmetry with another movie I saw in the same week, "Volver", which is a movie entirely about women. The only noticeable woman in "The Departed" is police psychiatrist Madolyn (Vera Farmiga, relatively unknown) who happens to fall in love with both guys (for those who love to find fault with plots). But Madolyn is at least portrayed in a favourable light, which is much more than one can say for the only male character of any significance in Volver.