The Departed
Overview
The Departed is a 2006 crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese, a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan, a young undercover cop who infiltrates the Irish-American mob in Boston; Matt Damon as Colin Sullivan, a young mobster who infiltrates the Massachusetts State Police; and Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, the charismatic, ruthless mob boss who is based on Whitey Bulger. The film is set in Boston in the early 2000s. Costello is a powerful crime lord who controls the city's underworld. He has a mole inside the police department: Colin Sullivan. Colin is a rising star in the police department, and he is feeding information to Costello. The police have their own mole: Billy Costigan. Billy is a disgraced former cop who has gone undercover, posing as a criminal. He is earning Costello's trust. The film is a cat-and-mouse thriller, as both men try to discover the other's identity without revealing their own. The film is famous for its violence, its profanity, and its shocking ending. Both Billy and Colin are killed. Billy is shot by a corrupt cop who is working for Costello. Colin is shot by a fellow cop who discovers the truth. The film ends with a rat crawling across a balcony, a symbol of the corruption that infects everyone. The Departed won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Martin Scorsese (his first Oscar), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. The film is a masterpiece of crime cinema, a tense, violent, and morally complex exploration of loyalty, betrayal, and identity.
