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Gimme
Shelter THE
DEPARTED: Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by William
Monahan. Cinematography, Michael Ballhaus. Music, Howard Shore. Starring
Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin
Sheen, Alec Baldwin and Vera Farmiga. Warner Bros., 2006. R. 149 minutes.
To the faithful, a new Martin Scorsese picture is like the release of a papal encyclical. Raised a Catholic, Scorsese actually contemplated the priesthood, which helps explain his vision of sin and redemption as natural states of a heroic cycle. When Scorsese is in heroic-villain mode — in other words, not After Hours (1985) or Kundun (1997) — his protagonists tend to be isolated and disturbed but with highly personal and unconventional touches that arouse our interest and sympathy. The recent knock against Scorsese isn't that his sociopaths are hard to like. It's that he's embraced conventional filmmaking to depict sociopaths, most notably in Gangs of New York (2002).
The Departed is a triumphant return for Scorsese to the gangster epics that made him so influential, like Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas (1990). Although the setting is new — south Boston, not New York — this is familiar territory for the director. The Departed is a smart, violent yet often hilarious look at the sins we commit and the sins we inherit from our ancestors. Identity for Scorsese is about the universal impulse toward violence, which when confronted can only be cleansed by bloodshed. The Departed is about two young cops who, after leaving the academy, embark upon very different paths of public service. Billy (Leonardo DiCaprio) can't escape the legacy of a family of well-known criminals. He's forced to go undercover with the Irish mob, but doing so requires him to be publicly disgraced (including jail time) to convince the mob he's no longer a cop. On the other hand, Colin (Matt Damon) grew up a thug, but his past is a well-guarded secret. He's marked for stardom as a young detective, but he may be a mole for the gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). How long Colin's past can remain hidden is a main concern of The Departed. How long Billy can survive undercover is another. Not since The Usual Suspects (1995) has a film of such complexity been so immensely enjoyable to watch. Alec Baldwin is at his caffeinated best as Ellerby, Colin's highly reactive boss. Queenin (Martin Sheen) and Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) are Billy's only contacts to the police, precisely limited to protect Billy from department rats like Colin. But without Queenin and Dignam, Billy doesn't exist. It doesn't take long for Colin to figure that out. DiCaprio and Damon have been good elsewhere, but since they have become stars, I've sensed them trying to outrun something. Perhaps it's the burden of their pretty-boy looks or the tabloid fame that pinup status has brought them. Here, both actors give fully mature performances. Damon thinks he's invincible, and you almost believe him; DiCaprio knows he's anything but. Damon is the true sociopath, but where does that leave Jack? Jack Nicholson underplays the boss Costello beautifully. For that, he deserves enormous praise. Nicholson's Costello is a killer without conscience or regret — "pure evil" as Nicholson has called him. Nicholson makes him soft, almost paternal, but still deadly. Almost a year into the undercover operation, Billy starts to panic. Can he escape before Colin sniffs him out for Costello? Is Billy even a cop anymore after a year of working with the mob? The final third of The Departed is wonderfully tense as Billy and Colin try to out-maneuver each other while the people they trust begin to disappear. By the end, in which everyone takes more chances than seems credible, there's literally one man standing. It isn't who you think. But even a finale so bleak it's almost comical can't mar the experience of this brilliant film.
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