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February 4, 2007
Taking a Break/The Departed
Chris's post congratulating Scorsese for (finally) winning the Directors Guild of America award for The Departed (IMDB) reminded me that I wanted to at least mention that I finally caught that film last night. I wont pretend to say anything new about The Departed, at this point (and I'm way too tired from a long day of writing, anyway), but I did enjoy the film as much as anything Scorsese has done since Goodfellas. As lots of folks who saw the film three or four months ago pointed out, The Departed has been seen as a kind of return to form for Scorsese, revisiting the urban street life, the conflict between cops and criminals, where he built his reputation in the 1970s and '80s (not to mention a liberal dash of Catholic guilt).
But I was most fascinated by the status of the film as a remake of the Hong Kong action film, Infernal Affairs, which is now rapidly skyrocketing up my Netflix queue and is itself heavily influenced by the work of Scorsese and other New Hollywood directors of the 1970s. Oddly, there were several key moments during a chase scene set in the streets of Boston, shots filled with glittering neon signs and derelict buildings, that I felt could have been lifted from Blade Runner. And in other key moments, I couldn't help but appreciate Thelma Schoonmaker's fast, sharp editing.
The Departed wasn't a perfect film. In several places, I felt as if there were two or three films competing with each other, a feeling that was particularly acute whenever Jack Nicholson, with his oversized persona, appeared on screen. While Jack's character, Frank Costello, is a larger-than-life villain, Nicholson's leering and preening were a bit distracting. And I never could get a sense of the role of Madolyn (played by Vera Farmiga), other than as a mediating figure between the Matt Damon and Leo DiCaprio characters. That being said, The Departed might be my favorite film among the Best Picture nominees.
Big Writing Project is almost done (maybe one more day), and hopefully then I'll be able to make a more permanent return to blogland. I haven't felt this far removed from blogging in a couple of years.
Posted by chuck at February 4, 2007 11:51 PM
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