Scorcese's engaging 'Infernal Affairs'

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 10/15/2006 10:23 AM | Life

Lisabona Rahman, Contributor, Jakarta

The Departed (Crime/Drama, 152 minutes) Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin. Directed by Martin Scorsese. ****1/2 out of *****

Eleven years after Casino, Martin Scorsese again tells a story of modern gangsters. An adaptation of Hong Kong's big hit Infernal Affairs starring Andy Lau and Alan Mak, the film is set in the Irish south Boston mob scene.

The pic offers brilliant dialog, stellar acting and rapid editing that makes every second of its 152 minutes worth watching.

Colin (Damon) and Billy (DiCaprio) are two rookie cops with polar backgrounds as far as social class is concerned, but both are drawn to the crime underworld from their family's pasts.

Colin was raised by drug kingpin Frank Costello (Nicholson) and Billy was surrounded by small-time gangsters. In the struggle of nailing Frank, the two face off, professionally and personally.

The Departed is built around Colin and Billy who are caught in the tension of good guys vs. bad guys. Both having lost their fathers, in one way or another, the two have developed a unique affection towards their patrons, Frank and Capt. Queenan (Sheen). Adding to the tension, they also share the same love interest -- police psychologist Madolyn (Farmiga), who treats traumatized cops as well as convicts.

The script by screenwriter William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven) is based on an English translation of the original film.

The characters all deliver vulgarity, threats, gangster philosophy and even pick-up lines in a wickedly comical way that is almost a paradox to the crescendoing suspense and psychological conflicts.

The soul of The Departed is in the overflow of words -- even the soundtrack is heavily verbal -- and the dialog is delivered theatrically by the actors.

Damon plays a gangster gone undercover as hotshot Det. Colin, who maintains his boyish quality while living up to the institution's worst nightmare. Nicholson is the cruel old devil who has not only created Colin, but who also redefines Billy with his nastiness.

Unfortunately, the highly censored Indonesian release takes away an important side to Frank's character, namely his sexual obsessiveness.

But the star of the show is definitely Leonardo DiCaprio. As Billy, the audience's main emotional contact, he plays an undercover detective who's growing weary because of a loss of identity, which he performs with a pitch-perfect sense of fear and fragility.

Supporting actor Wahlberg also steals a lot of attention as Sgt. Dignam, with his bad insults and even worse attitude. Farmiga also makes her mark as the only significant woman character as police therapist and the lover of both Colin and Billy.

The Departed is also intriguing because of its fast-moving camerawork and editing. The cinematography is by Michael Ballhaus, who has also been behind much of Scorsese's films, including Gangs of New York. The cameras are always moving, appropriately creating a sense of space, whether grand and complex or claustrophobic and compelling.

Fast-paced editing by Thelma Schoonmaker, unlike the previous Scorsese films, neatly choreographs events into a complicated puzzle until the end, when it slowly reintegrates.

Lighting is used effectively to impose the entrance of Frank's character. Young Frank stays in the dark, and comes into the light (just not too light) when he's older and nastier.

The Departed feels lighter, faster and edgier than other works by Scorsese -- and some scenes even seem hurried, especially the final confrontation between Colin and Billy.

The conflict between the two characters that holds up the entire film is supposed to climax in this scene, but there's not much exchange and no internal conflicts, despite their split identities and ties to Frank.

This may be the one drawback: It ends much too soon and much too easily.

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