The Departed: A Review
At Pajamas Media: “His final Oscar ballot hot in his hand (due February 20th), Academy member Roger L. Simon reviews one of this year’s clear Oscar favorites – The Departed.”
Although Roger greatly respects Martin Scorsese he starts off by saying that, although he likes most of his movies he does not love most of them. He explains:
I think it’s because – in recent years at least – they don’t have all that much to say and, for that reason, their entertainment value diminishes as the movies progress.
Then… What about The Departed? The movie could not capture Roger… at all. His mind was wandering while he was watching the movie. He wondered “why don’t I care very much about these characters? Why is my mind wandering?”
He explains:
Despite the accuracy of the Boston accents of various classes and the authenticity of the locales, something was beginning to feel fake about the entire Departed enterprise. I was off down memory lane, thinking of the gangster flicks I loved – White Heat and High Sierra, both directed by Raoul Walsh – musing how distant their romanticism seemed from our times. It was a strain to reproduce that style, as the The Departed did, in a world of forensic shrinks and political correctness even if those aspects of modernity were being criticized or questioned implicitly in the film. The movie seemed to want to have its cake and eat it too – being taken seriously as reality and homage at the same time. The plot became hard to follow or reliant on transparent tricks. I found myself not caring about what happened, so by the time of the final shoot out, everything appeared anti-climactic. It just went on and on to make sure everyone, good or bad, got blasted in the head or somewhere. At the end, logic went out the window in an orgy of inconsequential bloodletting.
I do love some Marty Scorsese movies – Mean Streets and to a lesser extent Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. But those were a long time ago. Raging Bull, the last of the three, was 1980. But I don’t blame Scorsese in the slightest for this decline. It’s often true of artists that they do their best work early.
This is particularly common in film where, once you have obtained a measure of success, you dissolve into the movie industry itself. You become a creature of it and it consumes your daily life. After a while, you become increasingly distant from the subject matter that made you want to create in the first place. You are “taking meetings� when you should be engaging with the world at large.
In short, Roger won’t be voting for The Departed for this year’s Best Picture Oscar. Nor will he vote for Scorsese for Best Director. He adds though: “although I think, now that the DGA has anointed him with their award, he is a lock in the category. It will be an early lifetime achievement award and a deserved one.”
Then, for whom will Roger vote in both categories he mentioned? The Queen.
Because I haven’t watched either movie I cannot comment on Roger’s review. It was a good, interesting review though, which is why I link to it. Besides that, I also wonder what those of you who did watch The Departed have to say about it. Do you agree with Roger, or do you disagree? Was the movie able to capture you? Did you care about the characters? Andsoforth.
P.S.
Thanks to Pajamas Media for publishing this review.
17 Responses to “The Departed: A Review”
I’m waiting for a used DVD sale at Blockbuster for this one. Gangs and Aviator were typical Hollywood crap. His last good film- Kundun, was a decade ago, the last one witha Scorsese nedge (albeit muted) was 93′s Age Of Innocence, and the last great one was Goodfellas.
He needs to go back to his roots and do some smaller tales, with lower budgets. He’s not a natural Hollywood epic kind of guy. His best films have had odd heroes- Travis Bickle, Rupert Pupkin, Jale La Motta, the fellow fro, After Hours, etc. He captures that better than anyone.
And stop working with Leo- next to Tom Cruise, he’s the least emotive big name actor going. And he still looks like a 16 year old boy- not exactly De Niro-like versatility.
Dan: Roger disagrees with you on Leonardo. He writes that Leonardo gets better and better. I agree with that.
Anyway, a question to you: A good friend gave me a Turkish movie, Clouds of May, recently. It won many, many awards. Have you ever watched it?
I am planning to watch it one of these days and I will write a review on it since it is quite a special movie as I understand it.
In regards to understanding “The Departed” etc. I would highly recommend the documentary: “A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies”.
Scorsese is obsessed with “cultures”. It is one of the threads that run through all of his film. It is a reason why “Goodfellas” is successful. It is also a reason why “Gangs of New York” is not successful (Scorsese obsessed about the details of NYC working class life in the late 19th C. and ignored history – for example, Union warships never fired on rioters in NYC + numerous other examples – as well as storytelling).
I liked “The Departed” as Scorsese was remaking a brilliant Hong Kong film “Internal Affairs”. Thus, while he obsessed over recreating Boston Southie culture, the original narrative kept his film on track.
The logical inconsistencies, wacky plot shifts etc. that Roger Simon complains about are often commonplace in Hong Kong films. I once gave a lecture on a Jet Li film – “Bodyguard from Beijing” – where a gun just appears from nowhere in the film to allow for a brilliant flying gunfire scene.
I believe that Hong Kong films echo Shakespeare in that logic and exposition etc. that we obsess with today goes out the window. As Aristotle observed, if crytically: “Character is action.”
That describes Scorsese’s approach to characterization in films like “The Departed”.
I must admit, having recently reviewed most of Scorsese’s films in the span of a week or so, that Scorsese repeats himself endlessly. For example, the long tracking shot with rock music in the background that seemed surprising in “Goodfellas” can be seen in “Mean Streets” many years before.
Liberals and history buffs might also like the Scorsese film I noted at the top of my comment for its revealing how Hollywood explored the issue of the Blacklist in the 50s. Scorsese shows clips from some now obscure films revealing how Hollywood often brilliantly skewered the McCarthyite culture of the times.
Perhaps this is why I love Scorsese so much. He is…at his core…just a kid who loves movies. His knowledge of film is famously encyclopedic, and it is fascinating to see how his knowledge of films past manifests itself in his present day work.
Marlowecan: thank you for providing a different and valuable perspective to The Departed.
Also a question: it seems that you might be a movie / popular culture expert yourself?
If so and if you’d ever be interested in reviewing something, hit me with an e-mail.
No, who directed Clouds Of May? Once I get a refubnd, hopefully, this year, I plan on buying some foreign DVDs.
Frankly, I sake my head at every Leo film- from his ridiculous Rimbaud turn to his Jim Carroll take- hell, Matrk Wahlberg is a better actor! Leo is ok in Gangs but ridiculouslu miscast in Aviator.
He simply lacks gravitas. He coulsd play some gangster’s bitch in a prison break film, but he has absolutely no range. In Aviator, he looked, spoke, and acted nothing like the real HH, but unlike, say, Tony Hokins in Nixon, he did not make you forget that fact.
BTW- today I’m sending Joe a DVD review of the Hitler film Downfall. Once he posts it later this week, lemme know what you thought of it, and esp. Bruno Ganz.
As for Departed, I smell the cess of an ‘honorary’ Oscar for a career, w/o it being called honorary.
Dan, Clouds of May is directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
You can go here for more information and to read some reviews.
Here is an overview with the awards clouds of may won:
International
2000 – Berlin Film Festival.
· Official Selection in Competition
2000 – Istanbul Film Festival.
International competition.
· Golden Tulip (Best Film)
· Fibresci Prize
2000 – Alexandria Film Festival
· Special Jury Prize
· Best Actor (M.Emin Ceylan)
· Best Editing
2000 – Bruxelles Mediterranean Film Festival
· Best Film
2000 – Forum de Cinema (Strasbourg)
· Don Quijote Prize
2000 – European Academy Awards (FELIX)
· European Critic’s Award
2001 – Premier Plans Film Festival, France
· Best Film (Grand Prix)
· Special Prize for Subtitling
2001 – Fajr Film Festival,Tehran, Iran
· Special Jury Prize
2001 – Bergamo Film Festival, Italy
· Silver ‘Rosa Camuna’
2001 – Buanes Aires Film Festival, Argantina
· Best Director
2001 – Singapore Film Festival
· Special Jury Prize
2001 – Beirut Film Festival, Lebanon
· Best Director
2001 – Bangkok Film Festival, Thailand
· Best Script
2001 – MedFilm Festival, Roma, Italy
· Best Artistic Expression
2001 – Mallorca Film Festival, Spain
· Special Jury Prize
National
1999 – Antalya Film Festival
· Best Director
· Best Lab.
· Second Best Film
· Special Jury Prize for all actors
2000 – Istanbul Film Festival
National competition.
· Best Turkish Film
· Audiance Award
2000 – Ankara Film Festival
· Best Film
2000 – SIYAD Turkish Critics Awards
· Best Film
· Best Director
Some reviews can be read there, etc.
It’s far from a new movie, but I – like many, many people – haven’t watched it.
“But I don’t blame Scorsese in the slightest for this decline. It’s often true of artists that they do their best work early.”
Well, sometimes perhaps. Btw, when did Simon write his last novel? And even his early ‘Moses Wine’ stories were not really masterpeices. Not as funny as Gregory McDonald ‘Fletch’ series, not as tough and realism based as Joseph Wambaugh’s cop novels. Imho not even a match for Stuart Kaminsky’s ‘Toby Peters’ books. Hmm, and why does he think now he’s a movie critic?
Cosmoetica said: “As for Departed, I smell the cess of an ‘honorary’ Oscar for a career, w/o it being called honorary.”
I am not sure I agree. Scorsese is the most prominent recent example of the Academy repeatedly overlooking great talent.
“Goodfellas” is a prime example. The forgettable “Dances with Wolves” defeated it for Best Picture (it was a political correctness year in Hollywood)…and even “Ghost” won more Oscars overall that year! “Goodfellas” is, simply, one of the best gangster movies in American history…and the finest depiction of the Mafia in American film (yes, better than The Godfather).
Scorsese should have won an Oscar just for the brilliance of his tracking shot – the longest in American film, I believe – following Henry Hill into the Copacabana. I remember seeing the movie when it first came out, in company with several film devotees, and hearing their gasps of pleasure as the shot unfolded.
Anyhow, Cosmoetica may be right…the Academy is the only institution I know of that publicly displays its flaws and cockups in the form of Honorary Oscars. Its overlooked talent is legion: Hitchcock, Welles, Chaplin, Kazan.
“The Departed” ain’t “Goodfellas” by a long shot. But it is one of his best recent works. Still, Hollywood has screwed Scorsese before…and “The Queen” is far better than “Dances with Wolves”. So we might, on Oscar night, once again see the face shot of Scorsese applauding while someone else gets the nod — the thing being, everyone eyes will be on Scorsese and not the winner.
MVG: Yes, I think reviews might be interesting. There are some that might prompt interest among folks at TMV. I find exchanges about ideas often a welcome change from the political debates (as in your AmerInd series). I’ll pop you an e-mail with a couple of ideas.
Marlow: yes please do.
And I just wanted to say that I second your opinion on Goodfellas: it’s one of the my favorite all time movies.
“Yes, I think reviews might be interesting. There are some that might prompt interest among folks at TMV. I find exchanges about ideas often a welcome change from the political debates (as in your AmerInd series).”
Right. However, I think it would be better to take the fact based reasoning of folks, who already made their name as film critics, for a starting point, not the mostly irrelevant opinion of RLS.
“The Departed” doesn’t haunt one’s dreams like “Taxi Driver” or “Raging Bull,” and it isn’t a lasting example of superior pop culture like “Goodfellas” or “Casino” or “Mean Streets.” But Scorcese’s latest does provide two solid hours of entertainment.
“Goodfellas” losing to the P.C. crowd pleaser “Dancing With Wolves” in 1990 isn’t the only example of Scorcese being snubbed by the Academy. 1980 saw the today unwatchable “Ordinary People” win over “Raging Bull” both for Best Picture and Best Director. 1976 was the year that “Rocky” won Best Picture over “Taxi Driver” (and “Network”).
Additional examples of the Academy overlooking quality abound. It’s a T.V. show first, about movies second. Blatant clue from a recent Awards: in 2005, Johnny Carson got ten times more memorial tribute than did Marlon Brando.
Marlowe: I love Goodfellas, but, in many ways it’s as fictionalized as The Godfather’s Shakespearea. I honestly don’t think any film’s really captured organized crime as it really was in the 20th C., although I think it depends on your ‘finest’ terminology.
If by that you simply mean best, most stylish, I’d agree. If you mean most ‘realistic’, no. Believe it or not, I’d say the most realistic, having known those types, was Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog. It shows the bumbling idiocy that reaches from the elite corporatists down to the street level thugs and deluded nuts and has beens better’n any film I’ve seen.
Cosmoetica said: “Marlowe: I love Goodfellas, but, in many ways it’s as fictionalized as The Godfather’s….I honestly don’t think any film’s really captured organized crime as it really was in the 20th C., although I think it depends on your ‘finest’ terminology. If by that you simply mean best, most stylish, I’d agree. If you mean most ‘realistic’, no.”
Cosmoetica, thanks for the film tip: re. “Ghost Dog”
Upon thinking about it, I have to both disagree and agree with you. Scorsese did a lot of research, and it shows. In the Henry Hill voiceover at a BBQ as a kid early in the film, he talks about the early 60s as a paradisial time “before Appalachia…” noting a series of names and references that slip by you as you are watching…but are key events in American mob history if one reviews and looks them up (thank god for DVDs
The culture as well. The scenes with Henry Hill’s wife (later in the Sopranos, of course) dealing with the other mobsters wives…their clothes…their lifestyles…is brilliantly accurate of a certain sub-group. To be blunt: no taste, no education, lots of money. The Sopranos draws upon this vision heavily.
The tackiness (that is how Scorsese represents it) is pretty realistic, I thought. For a period in my life, as a result of a long string of events, I spent considerable time with a low-ranking Calabrese group who could easily have been Henry Hill’s neighbours. Good people in general…though, you are very right in your observation about bumbling idiocy in “the life”. The only reason they seemed to get by was that the police were often more bumbling.
You are also right about the stylish aspect. A “realistic” film about criminal life would be much more brutal and prosaic. But then, the gangster film has also been about style as much as realism…”Little Caesar”, “Petrified Forest”, “White Heat”…even the psycho gangsters had style.
Thanks again for the film tip. These exchanges are why I like these reviews.
Joec said: “1980 saw the today unwatchable “Ordinary Peopleâ€? win over “Raging Bullâ€? both for Best Picture and Best Director.”
Excellent example, Joec. Man, that is incredible! What were they thinking?
This is why I don’t think Scorsese is necessarily a shoe-in.
Re: Goodfellas: I did not mean it lacked a certain amount of realism, but that’s 1/2 the film. the rest is stylish and mythmaking- not to the heights Coppola did, but mythos nonetheless. Ghost Dog just shows them as idiots and lowlifes. No myth.
Last point: Goodfellas did a good job of showing Mob hamgers-on more so tha the inner workings. It’s the equiv of a White House film showing not the Prez and his cabinet, but mostlt the Asst Secy’s.