Leo and Jack in The Departed
“I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my
environment to be a product of me.”
-Frank Costello
Internal Affairs was a good film a fun, gritty B rate Hong
Kong action film but something about the film seemed like it was missing. The
American remake The Departed, directed by the great Martin Scorsese, took the
premise of Internal Affairs and made a masterpiece, an American film tragedy
that ranks with the very best. The Departed presents the pinnacle of what a
remake can be a film that takes the original idea and improves upon it in every
way possible.
The first thing that makes The Departed special are the
characters present within the film. The main thing that separates the Departed
from Internal Affairs is that The Departed has time for its characters and
makes them into complicated three dimensional characters. This depth of each
character makes the cat and mouse chase presented by the film even more
interesting and engaging. Every character in a main role in the film (and even
most of the sideliners) is incredibly deep and varied in every way. Take for
example the villain Frank Costello who could have been a wisecracking Jack
Nicholson archetype but instead is a role unlike anything Nicholson has played,
a villain who is still sly but incredibly dangerous, smart and unpredictable.
Scorsese carries his perfect directorial flair and style
throughout the film. The film is dripping with classic style that is resonant
not only through the direction but through the entire film. The film feels like
a crime classic the whole way through and is masterful because of it.
-Frederick Cholowski
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