The Departed
Academy Award × 4·National Film Registry
Rent/Purchase
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received films of Scorsese's later career, The Departed earned near-universal admiration for its performances, its moral complexity, and its confidence as a piece of American genre filmmaking. The minority dissent centered not on quality but on register: whether Scorsese's supercharged, profanity-laden approach was a genuine reinvention of the source material or simply a louder, more excessive version of it.
“an American epic tragedy”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“Infernal Affairs was surprisingly cool and effectively restrained for HK action, but Scorsese raises the temperature with every ultraviolent interaction. The surplus of belligerence and slur reach near-Tarantinian levels—appropriate as he's staking a claim to QT's turf.”
J. Hoberman·Village Voice
“If they're lucky, directors make one classic film in their career. Martin Scorsese has one per decade (Taxi Driver in the '70s, Raging Bull in the '80s, Goodfellas in the '90s). His 2006 Irish Mafia masterpiece kept the streak alive.”
Entertainment Weekly
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorMartin Scorsese
StarringLeonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
ComposerHoward Shore
The Departed
Academy Award × 4·National Film Registry
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received films of Scorsese's later career, The Departed earned near-universal admiration for its performances, its moral complexity, and its confidence as a piece of American genre filmmaking. The minority dissent centered not on quality but on register: whether Scorsese's supercharged, profanity-laden approach was a genuine reinvention of the source material or simply a louder, more excessive version of it.
“an American epic tragedy”
James Berardinelli·ReelViews
“Infernal Affairs was surprisingly cool and effectively restrained for HK action, but Scorsese raises the temperature with every ultraviolent interaction. The surplus of belligerence and slur reach near-Tarantinian levels—appropriate as he's staking a claim to QT's turf.”
J. Hoberman·Village Voice
“If they're lucky, directors make one classic film in their career. Martin Scorsese has one per decade (Taxi Driver in the '70s, Raging Bull in the '80s, Goodfellas in the '90s). His 2006 Irish Mafia masterpiece kept the streak alive.”
Entertainment Weekly
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorMartin Scorsese
StarringLeonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen
ComposerHoward Shore
Rent/Purchase