Departed, The
See also:
Infernal Affairs (Uncle Cliff)
Infernal Affairs II (Uncle Cliff)
Infernal Affairs III (Uncle Cliff)
The Departed , Martin Scorsese's remake of the fucking awesome Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs , is not quite as fucking awesome, but its close. If you haven't seen the original you may very well be blown away by a revitalised filmmaking legend getting back to his bloody best, but those who have seen it do face the unenviable task of being forced to make comparisons.
Like the original, Departed takes its time to weave its web, flashing in and out of the past and present, scrambling messily to set up the characters before we see them thrown into their undercover roles, (story in short: cop sent undercover in gang, gangster undercover in police, they both have to smoke each other out) but once the momentum picks up and intensity soars it's impossible not to be sucked into the action. And by action I of course mean violence. The violence is as fucking brutal as you would expect from the director of Casino and Goodfellas , and has to set some kind of record for point-blank gun shots fired into heads.
While the story stays pretty close to the Hong Kong version, there are enough changes sprinkled throughout to keep things interesting for those who have seen and love the first one. However not all of the changes are for the best. Scorsese's characters lack the duality and subsequent internal moral conflict that made the original so great.
In the Hong Kong version the Matt Damon character that has infiltrated the police force is torn between his criminal links and his love for his job – and the other side of the coin, the character played in this remake by Leo, struggles with his identity and questions if he is in fact a good guy or a bad guy. Maybe it was lost in translation, but things are much blunter here, the characters more black & white, and if it wasn't for great performances nearly across the board I would have left somewhat disappointed.
I say nearly because Marky Mark's the exception here. While Jack Nicholson gets away with scenery-chewing (the dude was the Joker, it's to be expected), the former Funky Bunch leader doesn't quite have the chops yet to pull off such an over-the-top character, one not in the Hong Kong film and who the film seems to turn to for some out-of-place comic moments. There's also some poxy symbolism floating around (what the hell could a rat be alluding to? To my psych books I go!), and a couple of small scenes that seem to serve no purpose that you will have to ignore to really enjoy the film.
I hate to be predictable, but I prefer the original. There is however plenty to like about Scorsese's interpretation and it certainly makes a suitable substitute for those too dim-witted to read subtitles.