[Tino]

Ron

You don't need spoilers in a discussion thread...as long as you are discussing The Departed and not Infernal Affairs

And as Nicholson explains, he gave them very little, probably just enough to keep them off his back.

[Doug Miller]

Ron --

If it's anything that the US government and agencies have made clear, it's that they don't talk to each other. I'm sure the FBI looks at this as a "small time" guy that helps them turn apprehensions, thus no bust before then. (Although, that doesn't explain the FBI guy as part of the police squad... unless he was a mole, but more than likely he was a green guy out of training that the FBI sent that way for presence.)

Doug

[Blake Siefken]

This is the best movie I've seen all year. They kept the fact that Jack Nicholson had a second informer secret so that Leo's death would be more surprising. I could hear the other people in the theater gasp when that happened.

What is Internal Affairs? Is it some other movie that I don't know about?

[Patrick Sun]

Infernal Affairs is the Hong Kong film that "The Departed" was based upon (though there are 3 films in Infernal Affairs trilogy).

Internal Affairs is a US films starring Andy Garcia and Richard Gere, and doesn't have that much to do with "The Departed".

[Holadem]

Gaaak. I've only now realized with the above post that the original is called InFernal Affairs, rather than... well you know. How do you read something so wrong, for so long...

--
H

[Joe D]

Holadem,

Don't feel bad. Until Patrick pointed it out, I was mis-reading the same thing.

[Ray H]

Finally got around to seeing this yesterday. Great movie.

Interestingly, I thought I saw Donnie Wahlberg there for a second during the scene where the cops are pissed because the camera setup was messed up. But I figured I was imagining things. Looking at IMDB, it turns out it was another Wahlberg brother, Robert!

[Seth Paxton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediFonger

IA is one of the pinnacles of Asian cinema... in the East. but in the West it's just a "thriller" heheheh. very interesting.

anyway, the only acceptance the West has of Eastern cinema is Kurosawa in a big way. the rest... is harder? curious.

But my point is actually that the concept of JUST a thriller/popcorn/action/adventure film, whatever, is what is wrong. Infernal Affairs goes in line with The Road Warrior and Raiders of the Lost Ark, with the point being that not following a high art or hard drama narrative in search of an Oscar doesn't restrict a film from being the pinnacle of the film arts.

This division has been made, especially surrounding not only the Oscars, but many other critic and festival awards. Chicago, LOTR, and a few others have shown that perhaps that view is shifting, but the skewed view still remains.

In my opinion a film like Infernal Affairs doesn't stop being a highlight of Asian cinema just because it's a high concept crime thriller. The script is perfection of the Robert McKee style of screenwriting.


I haven't reviewed it yet, but I did see it opening weekend and I think Departed stays closer to the original than reviews made it sound. To me all the KEY elements are identical and this is a good thing. The only thing I didn't like about IA was the style of direction, which was too Michael Bay for me. Scorsese of course is a lot more intense as a director and that ramps it up.

Few films get my wife really emotionally involved, especially "guy" cinema, but Departed had her literally shook up as we left the theater. I knew most of what was coming so Sheen's fall and the elevator shooting didn't get me as much as they could have, though the moments remained powerful despite that knowledge.

But she took the full brunt of a first time viewer and it had a huge impact on her.

It could be said that Wahlberg's final scene turns the film Hollywood, but frankly so much of the core story was left in and is such a bleak outcome at every turn that I still don't see this as anywhere close to a H'wood happy ending. Cripes, Taxi Driver has triple the happiness in its ending. Goodfellas had a happier ending.

Some in the audience cheered with this resolution, but I think by the time they were walking out they returned to a more somber "I can't believe Leo didn't make it" mood.

[Seth Paxton]

Quote:

Digman disappears after quitting and suddenly shows up at the end just didn't cut it for me. Sullivan's wife knows her husband is the rat and yet nothing comes out of it.

I thought these two concepts were directly linked. Like the baby-funeral situation already discussed, Mohohan/Marty put the idea out there that this MAY exist, either the idea that its not Sullivan's baby or the idea that a pathway to busting Sullivan will exist beyond Costigan's death.

The audience can then read the character behaviors and future actions and recognize a previous point that implied some logical conclusion to the situation without wasting time on it.

And not only wasting time, but wasting emotional impact. It's better for Dignam's final appearance to come as a surprise and after the fact to make sense. In fact the people complaining about the slo-mo of Sheen's fall are complaining about Marty failing to follow that same method for that scene, and I agree with them that it does hurt it.

Better to have Sheen just hit and then have the audience work backward to make sense of it. Unlike the tenion of a bomb that MIGHT go off that Hitch liked to reference (vs surprise), a moment that is certain (Sheen hitting once you see him falling, Dignam's killing Sullivan once the evidence gets back to him) loses all of it's power when the director jumps the gun to show the audience before the character finds out.

It's only beneficial if once the audience knows more than the characters they still feel strongly uncertain about that final outcome. Otherwise save their knowledge increase for when you have the characters find out too (don't know Sheen has been thrown till Leo finds out, don't know Mark is waiting till Damon finds out).

[Tim Glover]

First of all, I loved it. Unbelievably gritty and tense. Well crafted, extremely well acted....the positives go on and on.

But...did Costigan (DiCaprio) have to get killed. It really shook me up seeing him get killed. I kind of understand it but damn it really pissed me off.

Sorry for being a movie panzy but this could have still worked with him staying alive, getting the girl and being a father. I know that would have Hollywoodized the movie for all that to occur. At least keep him alive.

Still upset over it.