Review: Iconic director Scorsese churns out best work

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin

Rated: R

It might sound like hype, but it’s not.

The new film by director Martin Scorsese – of “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “GoodFellas” and more than two dozen other great movies – is as good as anything he’s ever done.

While Scorsese has matured and his films tend to be less gritty than the early ones – “Mean Streets” and “Boxcar Bertha” – “The Departed” is intricate and intense and is as close to being a perfectly executed piece of filmmaking as you’re likely to see.

Many times when a film employs a large ensemble cast and a pretzel-like plot, it becomes necessary to suspend disbelief and accept coincidences that aid that plot. Often, befuddlement boils the viewer’s brain.

Neither is the case with “The Departed.” Not only is William Monahan’s script – based on the screenplay of the Japanese film “Infernal Affairs” – seamless, Scorsese’s talents as a storyteller are honed to the hilt. Though running nearly two-and-a-half hours, the film flies and Scorsese’s longtime team of cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and editor Thelma Schoonmaker ably aid the director and the film.

The cast is an A-list one that skims cream from three generations. Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen are the senior statesmen, Alec Baldwin and British actor Ray Winstone are in the middle, and Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio represent some of the finest of the younger generation of Hollywood. The older gentlemen rise to the occasion, and the youngsters give Scorsese the performances of their careers.

The setting

Scorsese shifts the action from Hong Kong (the setting of “Infernal Affairs”) to Boston.

Nicholson plays Irish mob boss Frank Costello. He befriends young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) and is somewhat of a surrogate father figure to him. Sullivan grows up and graduates from the Boston State Police Academy.

Another kid from Boston, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), graduates at the same time, but the two never really cross paths. Sullivan gets a job in the police department’s internal affairs, while Costigan ends up in jail after a rough meeting with the folks who run the undercover division.

Upon release, Costigan manages to hook up with Costello’s crime organization.

Costello doesn’t know Costigan is a mole for the cops. The cops don’t know Sullivan is a mole for Costello. The moles know each other exist but don’t know who the other mole is.

At one point Costigan has a sexual liaison with a police department psychiatrist, a young woman who is in the process of moving in with her new boyfriend. As fate would have it, that boyfriend is Sullivan. Scorsese manages to have the actors and story walk this tightrope – and a few others – with agility and aplomb.

Both sides are increasingly aware of their rat problem and each goes to great, though mostly futile, lengths to uncover him.

Violence and music

As the layers are peeled back, others continue to be revealed and each one brings new implications.

Scorsese is known for his sometimes excruciatingly too-real scenes of violence, and there are plenty of uncomfortable moments in “The Departed.” They’re not as intense or as drawn out as in “GoodFellas” or “Taxi Driver,” but it befits how one assumes mob guys handle certain situations. Scorsese also manages to insert a fair amount of effective (if uncomfortable) humor into the mix.

If the Coen brothers can make the sight of a leg sticking out of a wood chipper humorous, anything is cinematically possible – especially with a director as gifted as Scorsese. As always, the director’s use of music heightens the drama immensely. He uses (again) the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” which features one of the most foreboding intros in rock music. Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” is also quite apropos for its scene.

When the threads reach the point of finally entwining, the climactic moments are many. One by one, sudden surprises seem to bring the story to a close. Just keep watching.

I must admit to being a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Scorsese. That aside, “The Departed” is still an unqualified masterwork.

Note: After an afternoon of searching, I managed to track down the original “Infernal Affairs” at Family Video, Glenstone and Division, for those who want to go to the source.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]