CANNOT DEPART FROM OUR HEARTS

MOVIE: The Departed (2006)
CAST: Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese




Leonardo Di Caprio became the household heartthrob with his cute looks and romanticism in Titanic (1997). Since then he hasn't looked back and has delivered master stroke performances in brilliant movies like Gangs of New York, Catch Me If You Can, Blood Diamond, The Departed and the most recent The Revolutionary Road. This article is dedicated to his brilliant portrayal of Billy Costigan in The Departed which is surely one of the all time best movies, no wonder IMDB has kept it at #50 in its prestigious top 250 list.

The Departed is the story of two undercover agents, commonly called "rats". One poses to be a mafia serving a cop and the other is a cop and serves the same mafia. The mafia, Costello is amazingly played by Jack Nicholson. The Massachusetts State Police has launched a special investigation to gather evidence against Costello for which they have planted a rat, Billy in Costello's den. Mark Wahlberg plays an over abusive cop, Dignam who plays a pivotal role in the movie, beautifully blossoms the character he played. Martin Sheen plays another cop called Queenan. Queenan and Dignam had recruited Billy to keep an eye on Costello's whereabouts. Whereas Costello had a rat in Colin(Matt Damon) inside the cops. With twists and turns and thoughtful screenplay, the fate of Colin and Billy collide more than once.

The Departed beautifully captures the idea of good souls residing in bad lanes. And bad dogs ruling with a mask of good. The dynamics of relationships amongst people which has so much to do with the work they do is also an aspect in the story. Scorsese's power direction and the amazing performances as a whole takes The Departed to a very high level altogether. One memorable dialogue which I can recollect is, ": Marriage is an important part of getting ahead: lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work."