The Departed
2006 · Directed by Martin Scorsese
Original language: English
- drama
- thriller
- crime
The story
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
What it’s like
Harsh fluorescent corridors and sodium-orange Boston streets, cut with rain-slick night exteriors and dim, smoky bars, give the film a grimy, sweat-and-cold-coffee texture. Scorsese's camera is restless: quick handheld pushes, jump cuts, sudden snap zooms, and a driving rock-and-roll soundtrack that fills the gaps where a score would sit. The mood is hard-edged tension with dark comedy breaking through, the sort of paranoia that makes you check who is in the room. Violence is frequent and sudden, with several bloody shootings and beatings, a few of them graphic, plus heavy profanity, drug use and a steady current of menace; the cruelty is blunt rather than lingering. Character arcs follow two men living double lives, each slowly eroding under the strain of the lie. Best for a late night alone with the lights off and the volume up, for fans of gritty crime sagas, Irish-American Boston stories, and tense cat-and-mouse thrillers that don't mind being loud, mean and uneasy.
More films like The Departed
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved The Departedand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
