The Departed, directed by Martin Scorsese, is one of the most critically acclaimed gangster, mobster films to date. Scorsese wields a brilliant plot as a stellar cast brings the story to life. The Departed went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
The film is about an Irish criminal syndicate in Boston lead by Frank Costello. The movie starts when Costello begins to groom young Colin Sullivan to be his mole inside of the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan graduates from the police academy and is immediately placed in the Special Investigations Unit. At the same time, Captain Oliver Queenan and Sergeant Sean Dignam recruit William Costigan to become an undercover officer. Costigan serves time in prison on fake assault charges to solidify his undercover identity. The police department places Costigan undercover in Costello’s mob. The plot plays off of the tension between the two men, Costigan and Sullivan, who have no idea that they are moles in their respective professions.
Costello eventually catches wind of a rat in his syndicate and tells Sullivan to find his identity. Sullivan is also assigned to find the mole inside of the Police force. He is faced with the conundrum of risking his identity as the mole to find the identity of the rat in Costello’s mob. This entire time Costigan and Sullivan are romantically involved with the same women, psychiatrist Madolyn Madden.
As the intertwined plot rolls on, it culminates when Sullivan is forced to kill Costello to maintain his position in the SIU. The two moles then learn of each other’s identities and set out to clear their own names. This eventually leads to both of their deaths. Costigan gets murdered while trying to turn in Sullivan and Dignam murders Sullivan in the aftermath of Costigan’s death.
Scorsese is one of the most respected directors in Hollywood. He possesses a very stylized method of filmmaking that defines his position at the top of the list of prominent directors. Michael Ballhaus has worked as the cinematographer in many of Scorsese’s films, including two of his most famous Gangs of New York and Goodfellas. Not only are these Scorsese’s most famous movies they are also two of his most stylized. Ballhaus brings this same style to The Departed.
Scorsese tends to brilliantly weave his cinematography and sound to progress his characters and themes, and he does so in this film. As the plot progresses the camera catches the mood. As the characters digress the music and sound keep the film rolling.
First and foremost this film is loaded with close-ups. Scorsese uses these to show emotion, to evoke mood and to build characters. They are so important to the film and they are used incessantly.
The film begins with a monologue and flashback of sorts. Scorsese employs a rough grain to this opening sequence as to give it a more aged look. As the film progresses he moves to a finer grain for his images. However, this does not mean that Ballhaus’ shots are not rough. The entirety of the cinematography in the movie has a rough, edgy, and gritty feel.
This film is a textbook in camera movement. No one employs camera movement more effectively than Scorsese and few execute it better than Ballhaus. The camera movement in the film is extensive. Camera movement often signifies the beginning or the conclusion of scene. This occurs often with quick camera movements directly before a cut to the next scene. Camera movement is also often used in place of wide-angle shots to show the setting. Dolly movement is also common in the film. When a scene calls for an overload on dialogue and stationary camera, Scorsese will interlace shots with dolly movement in them to keep the action moving. Often times the film moves inside of itself. Different parts of the plot are occurring at the same time and Scorsese chooses to interlace scenes to convey this. When he does this, dolly movement is extremely important to signify a switch back and forth between scenes. Tracking between frames often accomplishes this transition into and out of simultaneous story lines. Other time dolly movements are utilized to move in close on a subject to get a reaction or to move a conversation back in forth. Ballhaus does this many times in the first interview with Wahlberg and DiCaprio. In action sequences, Ballhaus will also use the Steadicam in order to embed the audience in the action. The chaotic movement of the camera increases the intensity of the scenes.
Another movement that he uses not so sparingly is the 180-degree movement. The camera will move really rapidly from one side of the frame to the other to catch everything in frame. This portrays a sense of hurry or sometimes even sets the scene. Sometimes the camera takes its time getting from one side of frame to the other, ensuing a contrasting mood of tedium, slowing the pace of the film.
Scorsese utilizes shadows, light and color in this film much like he does in his other pieces of cinema. Different lighting is employed to emphasize characters and their moods. Throughout, Jack Nicholson’s character is found in the shadows. This strategy is used most heavily at the beginning when Scorsese wants to keep distance between the audience and Nicholson. However, this is not the only way that he utilizes shadows. Scorsese has an unbelievable gift of using lighting to his advantage. There are few directors who understand the combination of mood and lighting better than him. In nearly every scene in the Boston bars, Scorsese allows shadows to determine the mood. The results are scenes that appear leery and shady, as if nothing good is happening or will happen at that particular setting. Lighting is very important in the way that Scorsese uses it to build the characters of Damon and DiCaprio. The two men find themselves in very similar situations but on opposite sides of the ball, and because of their positions it is difficult to determine whom the hero actually is. Damon works for the Irish mob but appears to have his life together, whereas, DiCaprio’s character, although working as an undercover cop, often appears lost and chaotic. It seems that good is evil and evil is good throughout much of the film. Scorsese utilizes lighting to drive this tension. Scenes with Damon in them are much brighter and the colors are extremely sterilized. Darker lighting and more coarse, earthy colors are used in DiCaprio’s scenes. However, as the two men begin to lose their identities these distinctions begin to mold. As the two become intertwined it is much more difficult to determine the clear line in characterization. For instance, as Damon’s involvement becomes more apparent to the audience and his actions begin to wear on him, the lighting and mood shifts. The film now shows scenes with more shadows and dark colors. For a majority of the remainder of the movie, the two moles spend their time in the shadows as Scorsese attempts to emphasize the moods of uncertainty, loss of identity and secrecy. The only other significant use of color is when Scorsese literally drapes Nicholson in red at the opera. This scene uses red lights to signify the evil inherent in Nicholson’s character.
The chase scene where DiCaprio pursues Damon through Chinatown employs all of Scorsese’s cinematic styles and tendencies. From shadows on the wall to low lighting and vibrant colors, this scene encapsulates Scorsese’s work. The quick cuts and extreme camera movements are indicative of his style. But what brings this scene, and the rest of the film, together are his knowledge of music and sound.
Cinematography is not the only tool that he uses to determine mood and character. The music in this film only enhances the things seen on camera. A few things stand out about the score of this film, repetition of songs and the way that the music drives the film. Two songs are repeated throughout the film. The very fitting “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones is played in the opening of the film and again halfway through the film. Also, “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphies is played over the opening credit twenty minutes in and again many times throughout the film. These two melodies often drive the film, especially the latter one. It is primarily featured in action sequences because of the intensity of the melody. The soundtrack is important to the film, and often times it is the driving force behind it. Scorsese is known for giving a “juke-box” feel to his soundtracks. This score does that at some points, but most notably in the majority of the bar scenes. The music in the film, much like the lighting, is at many times utilized to draw a contrast in the main characters. Opera can often be heard behind Damon’s scenes, whereas, harsher, more “cultured” music can be heard in the background of DiCapiro’s scenes. Scorsese often employs short and quick stringed arrangements to exude a mood of high tension. The music is quickly cut in multiple scenes. This effect surprises the audience and brings their attention to something important. Almost every quick cut of music comes with an action or an abrupt sound, like a phone closing, a punch, or a gunshot. These utilizations of music compel the film from frame to frame and allow the movie space to continue moving.
Sound is so important to this film, first, because of the heavy use of dialogue. Because dialogue dominates entire scenes it is important that background sound is spot on. Two scenes in particular come to mind: the dinner date between Damon and his girlfriend and Nicholson’s phone conversation with Damon on the pier. Both of these scenes use a substantial amount of crowd and background music that provide believability to the setting’s dimensions and surroundings. Dialogue in the film is always distinct. The conversations on camera are many times abrasive in volume as to match the intensity of the film. Often times, particularly when dialogue is dominating a scene, Scorsese allots for silence as to emphasize what is being said. Volume is raised in other places. In action sequences the volume is boosted. In the firefight at the end, the sound effects are loud enough to make the viewer feel present in the chaos. The most significant way that Scorsese uses sound in the movie is overlapping sound and music when transitioning between different scenes. This allows for smooth transitions and fluid continuation of the plot. For the most part, that is the main aspect of the sound and music in the film.
The Departed is a brilliantly crafted film. Scorsese is a wizard behind the camera and his style is so influential in Hollywood today. He has been quoted as saying, “[The Departed] is the only movie of mine with a plot” (Martin Scorsese). This piece of cinema definitely has a weaving and winding plot, but the story is only as good as its cinematic pieces. In this case, the excellent cinematography and tedious sound editing combined with Scorsese’s unique style make for one of the most compelling stories in quite some time.