The Departed is a Scorsese film that should win the director a well deserved Oscar.

Rating: 8/10 (28 July 2009)

The Departed is a Scorsese film that should win the director a well deserved Oscar. A major theme in the film could be said to be one of the oldest in film. It is the concept of identity and how it affects one's emotions, dreams and even actions.
This is a film that is set in South Boston where a well known Irish mob boss by the name of Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), uses Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as an informant inside the Massachusetts State Police. At the same time, the police assign undercover cop Billy Costigan Jr, (Leonardo DiCaprio) to try and join Costello's organization. Once both sides of the law figure out what is happening both Sullivan and Costigan try to find out each others true identity before being found out.
There is one scene in which Costello is at the Opera. The camera is looking up at Costello and his two female companions. The lighting in the scene is red and low key giving us the impression that Costello is the devil preparing for his emotional wrath. As I watch this scene I am reminded of a scene in Pretty Women in which Richard Gere hires a working girl from the street played by Julia Roberts buys here nice clothes and makeup before taking her to the opera. Once at the opera the camera is using the same angle looking up at Gere and Roberts but this time the lighting is high key which gives the audience the illusion of Roberts being a beautiful and emotional princess.
As I watch the film, I discover an interesting motif happening in the film. It is one of a father-and-son relationship. We find Costello trying to be a father figure to both Sullivan and Costigan; Sullivan evening referring to Costello as "dad" in a phone conversation and a little further in the film Sergeant Queenon (Martin Sheen) acting as a father-figure-to Costigan.
In the final shot Scorsese allows us to see the true identity of Sullivan. The shot is framed with curtains as the audience looks out through a window. On the other side of the window we see two things. The State Building which reminds us of what Sullivan wanted out of life and that is to be a lawyer. The second thing which shows us what Sullivan had really become a rat. On a broader note the State Building is a pillar of stability and the rat is a mobile gutter dwelling creature that will take what ever it can to survive.