Thriller Notes - The Departed

Characters:

There are three ma in characters in “The Departed”; Frank Costello (Jack Nickleson), Sergeant Dignam (Mark Walhberg) and Billy Costigan (Leonardo Di Caprio). Straight away from the start of the film we are introduced to Jack Nickleson’s character Frank Costello through the racist narration and by seeing him take protection money from a café whilst just after we see him showing fatherly affection towards a young boy he meets. This connotes to the audience that he is a very strongly willed person whilst also having a compassionate side to him; this gets the audience thinking about the character and helps them become involved into the story. We later see that Nickleson’s everyman qualities are his only redeeming ones, these consist of bring up Mark Walhberg’s character Dignam and in a twisted way caring for his community but only as long as they obey him. Matt Damon’s character in “The Departed” is introduced to the story by a montage of him training at the police academy and being seen as the guy everybody wants to be; smart, funny and good looking. However, later in the film we see him take a darker turn as we see his links to Costello’s mob syndicate. The audience, I believe, are unable to relate to him as person as his sole purpose is not to serve and protect like it should be but simply be a mole within the police force to allow the criminals to flourish. Leonardo Di Caprio’s character Billy Costigan is introduced as a quiet but witty officer who, unlike Dignam is loyal to the police force. The audience is able to sympathise with Di Caprio as he is always getting punished for doing the right things such as breaking from a life of crime, becoming a police officer and when standing up to a guy who is attempting to get protection money he used excessive force to subdue him and the shopkeeper simply started shouting abuse at him.

Narrative:

“The Departed” has a multi strand narrative which mainly follows the 2 police officers in Walhberg and Di Caprio whilst following the mob boss Nickleson simultaneously. This technique is well used within the film as it allows people to see things unfolding clearer as opposed to being fed by the information by the other characters. There is a huge amount of enigmas within “Departed” such as why does Damon continue to help the mob boss even those he is in a job that contradicts his very lifestyle and what is the main crime that Nickleson’s character is committing. All these enigmas are eventually answered by the end of the film in a stunning climax that only a director like Scorsese can deliver. The story also follows a non-linear format as there are flashbacks which give the audience an insight into Di Caprio’s former life before he was a police officer.

Cinematic:

As with all other films within the thriller genre “The Departed” has vast amount of close-ups in order to build tension and suspense between the characters and with the storyline respectably whilst also allowing the audience to see who the main characters are and effectively enter their lives. The different types of shots used by Scorsese are done to connote a particular feeling from the action towards the audience. The non – diegetic sound is mostly of a quiet Sicilian/Italian nature that adds atmosphere. The director uses stop-start sound in order to give more emphasis to the situation and give it more power

Themes:

The main theme of “Departed” is that of a corrupt authority in the form of the police placing Di Caprio in danger at the hands of the mob and the hero (Di Caprio) finding out the truth about the crime whilst the mob find the truth about him which both place him in danger. There is more corrupt authority in the form of Mark Walhberg’s character Sgt. Dignam as he is actually undercover for the Costello’s crime syndicate to feed them information.