Film - The Departed

So, thanks to Flickchart Dustin and I have been re-watching some of our highly ranked movies that we haven't seen in awhile. I plan on keeping this going all summer long. There will probably be some Eternal Sunshine and some Children of Men coming up soon.

But so far, we've watched 12 Monkeys and The Departed. I'll post about 12 Monkeys later, but posting about The Departed can't wait. There are spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution.



Such an effing fantastic movie. I'm so glad that I watched it after recently watching Revolutionary Road (which was blogged about here by co-blogger Jenna). Revolutionary Road was, in my opinion, overacted and it kind of dulled my opinion of Leonardo DiCaprio. But watching The Departed brought him back to the top again. He dominates the movie. There are a thousand little moments where the camera catches him with a small eye movement or a fleeting facial expression that just makes his character a real person. I really almost forget that he's acting when I watch this movie.

Another great thing about rewatching this movie is that I would remember things that I loved about the movie shortly before they happened, so I was like a little kid, on the edge of my seat waiting for all of my favorite moments - like almost every line out of Mark Wahlberg's mouth.

But, best of all for me was that I had the exact same reaction to the end of the film that I had the first time I saw it. The first time I watched the movie, I was completely shocked when Costigan gets shot coming out of the elevator. Immediately following the shock though, I felt almost physically ill. Now, you may think that sounds like a bad thing, but just about my favorite thing about movies is that they are able to make me experience emotions that I wouldn't normally (and really wouldn't want to) experience in real life. So, I relish the fact that the movie is able to make me feel, even for only a few minutes, that kind of physical pain over not over the death of a particular character, but over the injustice of a world where that character dies. And even better than that is the moment when Sullivan walks into his apartment, and sees Dignum there. The shot revealing Dignum pans up from his feet, which are covered in plastic, up his jumpsuit and gloved hands to his face. Because the shot is like that, you have some confusion for a moment. You know there's someone in the apartment who shouldn't be there, and you know that they are up to something sketchy, since people don't generally walk around with plastic covered feet. But you don't know that it's Dignum right away, and the movie has done a pretty good job of making you forget about Dignum for the last half hour or so, and you're pretty much convinced that there's no one who could avenge Costigan's death. So, when that camera gets up to Dignum's face, you want to jump out of your chair. Sullivan starts to talk, and for a split second, you think that maybe he's going to get out of this, too, but the movie gets rid of that possibility very quickly. The point here, is that I thought that since I already knew that these things were going to happen, that I wouldn't have such a strong reaction watching them this time. But, when Costigan got shot, I writhed around on the couch, mumbling, "No, no, no!" And when Dignum blew Sullivan's brains out, I clenched my fists, like it was somehow my victory. But seriously, after that whole movie about crime and violence and the injustice of Costigan's death, somehow Dignum murdering Sullivan (and it most certainly is murder, planned, pre-meditated murder) makes you feel like all is right with the world.