A Modern Film Noir: Scorsese's Best Film with the Most Intricate Plot

Rating: 10/10 (18 June 2018)

Martin Scorsese has been on the cutting edge of filmmaking since the late 1960's. Prior to "The Departed", the legendary director's films had been recognized with 59 Oscar nominations and about 11 wins. He had been nominated five times for Best Director with an equal number nominated for Best Picture without winning prior to "The Departed", notable "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas". His actors have faired better with wins for Robert De Niro (Best Actor, Raging Bull), Joe Pesci (Best Supporting Actor, "Goodfellas"), and Paul Newman (Best Actor, "The Color of Money"). He needed a film to hit it out of the ballpark, and "The Departed" was it. It is unquestionably Scorsese's best film and will go down as a masterpiece of crime cinema.
The plot, probably the most intricate in a crime-drama film since "Pulp Fiction" is based on a Hong Kong film called "Infernal Affairs", which references Hell in Buddhist theology. William Monahan adapted the original Chinese screenplay by Alan Mak and Felix Chong. The story concerns two young Bostonians who have infiltrated the opposing sides of the wars between the Massachusetts state police and a crime syndicate run by a godfather type, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson in an academy award-caliber performance).
The two infiltrators are in fact double agents. Matt Damon plays the clean-cut Colin Sullivan who elevates from lower eastside broken home to being an high-ranking detective in the state police. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, his real loyalty is with Costello, his "dad", the name he often uses when he's in contact with Costello. On the other side, also from humble beginnings is Billy (Leonardo DiCaprio) , son of an airport luggage handler who also had ties to the mob. He has tried with mixed reviews also to become a Boston cop. His superiors, played by Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg, don't believe he's police material but instead decide he's perfect as a mole to infiltrate Costello's mob. Interestingly, Sullivan easily works up the ranks with his steady demeanor while Billy is distrusted on all sides and must prove himself.
The authorities want information about a computer chip heist, not the kind of computer chips you purchase at Fry's, but one's which are not exactly publically available. These chips are mounted into computers aboard ICBM's. Another mob, a Chinese terrorist syndicate, desire to purchase the chips so they can blow up cities in the far east. The question becomes will diCaprio as a double-agent be able to tip off the authorities before the transaction can be completed? Or will Matt Damon tip off the mob in time to get away with the heist and sale.
A brilliant and compelling film from start-to-finish. Superb performances by all involved. Only Wahlberg was nominated for best supporting actor, although all the leads could have been easily been nominated for their performances. (Alan Arkin won best supporting actor for a far less interesting film, "Little Miss Sunshine".) In my opinion, DiCaprio's performance is one of the best of his career. Scorsese finally won Best Director and the film won Best Picture. These were not "sympathy' awards for Scorsese, giving them to him for his career. He and his film won because it's one helluva a great film.