The Departed (My Favorite Movies)

SPOILER ALERT

Every decision we make may lead to our ultimate undoing. The Departed follows the lives of two men who were condemned to death the day they were born. Billy Costigan, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is born in to a family with a history of involvement in the Irish mob of Boston. Only his father refused to cooperate, and got a job at Logan International Airport. Throughout Billy’s life he has had to wrestle with his family’s reputation, and he feels the only way out is to join the Massachusetts State Police.

Matt Damon’s character Colin Sullivan was drafted by Frank Costello, Boston’s mob boss, as a child to infiltrate the state police. Before Colin can even decide what to do with his life, his fate has been decided. Meanwhile, Billy is refused his chance to join the “Staties” and is given a choice. Either he can walk away, or he can go undercover in the Irish mob to try and get Costello. His obsession with doing what he believes is the right thing leads him to choose the undercover option.

The duality of man is a theme that has been explored throughout the history of art. You couldn’t go through high school English class without being lectured on a novel’s thoughts on duality. The Departed deals with the idea that no man is able to live a double life without one side eventually taking over. As time goes on, the audience does not see Billy as a cop and Colin as a criminal, but in fact the other way around. Colin is simply a man working his way up in the world. He becomes engaged to a psychologist played wonderfully by Vera Farmiga, who was just nominated for her role in Up in the Air. Meanwhile, Billy is living among the scum of the Earth, going around participating in brutal murders ordered by Frank Costello.

Naturally, after a while it becomes more and more difficult for each to hide their other obligations. Costello, a role Jack Nicholson could play in his sleep, suspects there is a “cheese-eating rat” within his inner circle, and the police even start an entire unit dedicated to finding the one leaking information to the mob. This unit is headed by… Colin “Golden Boy” Sullivan. He’s searching for himself, essentially.

All Colin wants is to get out of the mob. He’s enjoying his role as the hot new thing in the State Police, and he knows he can’t hide his ties forever. This is when the end begins for every major character.

The performance that was nominated for an Oscar here was Mark Wahlberg as Sgt. Dignam, a young, foul-mouthed cop who is the only person besides Martin Sheen’s Capt. Queenan who has the identity of the undercover cops (i.e. Billy Costigan). He is the one who smells a rat in Colin from the beginning, and at the end of the film provides the final act of justice.

The end of this film is one of the most brutally shocking ever made. Colin decides he is done helping Costello (it appears Costello might even be an FBI informant) so he organizes a raid on one of Costello’s drug deals. The entire Costello crew is disposed of, except for Billy Costigan, who is taken in, and just wants his hands cleaned of the entire ordeal. He is more worried about finding Costello’s rat in the state police, and thanks to some special recordings, he discovers that in fact Colin is the rat. This leads to the now infamous elevator scene. I’ve already spoiled a lot, but essentially within 90 seconds of film, nearly every major character is shot in the head… except Colin… but he doesn’t last long himself.

Going back to Wahlberg’s nomination, I was surprised that he received the nod. It is a terrific performance, but Matt Damon gives the best performance in the film. He spends a lot of time wondering why he is forced to work for the most evil man in Boston. He only wishes for normalcy. But as I said at the beginning, they were all condemned to death from the beginning. You live your life like this, there is only one way it is going to end.

The Departed was the first Martin Scorsese film I saw front to back, and it did not disappoint. As with all of his gangster movies, he mixes in humor and character with quick bursts of startling violence, and he draws you in to a world where no one’s real identity matched their face. The universe depicted in The Departed is one where everyone wears a mask.

Scorsese finally won his first Oscar for this film, an honor long overdue. Yes, it was essentially a career achievement award, but that doesn’t mean this film is not great. In fact, its right up there with some of the best stuff he’s ever done.