The Departed

In South Boston, young Colin Sullivan is introduced to crime by Irish Mob boss Frank Costello.

By 2006, he has groomed Sullivan as a mole inside the Massachusetts State Police. Sullivan is accepted into its Special Investigations Unit, led by Captain Ellerby. Another recruit, Billy Costigan Jr., is approached by Captain Queenan and Staff Sergeant Dignam and given the choice of being kicked out based on family ties to crime or to go undercover and infiltrate Costello's crew. They set up a cover for him as an academy dropout, and he serves time in jail on a phony battery charge; he joins Costello's crew. Ellerby informs Special Investigations that only Queenan and Dignam will know their operatives names for safety's sake and that Costello's crew has stolen computer microprocessors to sell to a Chinese gang. As Costigan is accepted as a member of Costello's crew, his emotional state declines. Queenan and Dignam tell him there is a rat in the Special Investigations Unit and plead with him to stay until the deal takes place.

Sullivan begins a romance with police psychiatrist Madolyn Madden. Costigan sees her professionally as part of his probation. The MSP is ready to catch Costello selling the microprocessors, but the deal takes place off-camera, and everyone escapes, enraging Ellerby. Costello realizes there is a rat. Sullivan is promoted and tasked by Costello to find the rat. Sullivan tells him to deliver information about his crew members to cross-reference them in the MSP database. Costigan learns that Costello is an FBI informant. Costello accuses Costigan of being the rat, but Costigan denies it. He tells Queenan that Costello is an FBI informant and is aware of a mole in his crew.

Costigan follows Costello into a theater, witnessing Costello give Sullivan an envelope. Queenan gives Costigan instructions to get a visual ID of Sullivan before making the arrest. Costigan chases him but is unable to see his face. When Costigan's phone rings, Sullivan realizes he's being followed and prepares to stab Costigan, but kills a random person by accident and escapes. He realizes he and Costigan have been captured on a security camera and tries cross-referencing officers but cannot recognize Costigan on the footage.

Sullivan meets with Queenan and is advised to follow Costello to find his rat. Costello waits for Sullivan to find the rat and tells Costigan to take the day off. Costigan calls Queenan to meet. Sullivan , thinking that Queenan is the rat who led him on a wild goose chase, has Queenan tailed to the meeting. When Costello's men arrive, Queenan helps Costigan escape before confronting them. They throw Queenan to his death. Sullivan's officers mortally wound crew member Delahunt in a gunfight. Costello's gang throw away his dead body. After it is recovered, the news states that he had been an undercover cop. Angered by Queenan's murder, Dignam attacks Sullivan and resigns. Sullivan learns that Costello is an FBI informant. Sullivan helps the MSP catch Costello, and with Costigan's help, Costello is tailed to a cocaine drop-off, where a gunfight erupts. Most of the crew are killed. Sullivan confronts Costello, who admits he is an informant. When he draws a gun, Sullivan fatally shoots him.

Costigan goes to Sullivan to restore his true identity and notices Costello's envelope on Sullivan's desk and flees. Sullivan erases Costigan's records from police computers. Costigan hands Madden an envelope, instructing her to open it if something happens to him. Madden has moved in with Sullivan and informs him she is pregnant. Madden finds a letter addressed to Sullivan from Costigan. She opens the letter, which contains tapes Costello made of himself with Sullivan. Madden listens to them and leaves Sullivan.

Costigan arranges to meet Sullivan, then arrests him. Costigan called Trooper Brown, a friend of his from the academy, to substantiate his identity, but Brown pulls a gun on Costigan when he arrives, unsure who is telling the truth. Costigan says he has evidence tying Sullivan to Costello, and Brown lets him go down the elevator. Reaching the lobby, Costigan and Brown are killed by Trooper Barrigan, who then reveals himself to be another mole working for Costello. Sullivan shoots Barrigan. At Costigan's funeral, Sullivan notices Madden. He tries to speak with her about their child, but she ignores him. Sullivan arrives at his apartment, where Dignam is waiting. Sullivan quickly accepts his fate as Dignam shoots him in the head. As Dignam exits, a rat crawls across the balcony and disappears.

In January 2003, Warner Bros., producer Brad Grey, and actor/producer Brad Pitt bought the rights to remake the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (2002) from Media Asia for $1.75 million.[7][8] William Monahan was secured as a screenwriter, and later Martin Scorsese, who admired Monahan's script, came on board as director.[8][4][9]

In March 2004, United Press International announced that Scorsese would be remaking Infernal Affairs and setting it in Boston, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were slated to star.[10] Pitt, tentatively scheduled to play Sullivan, later declined to play the role, saying a younger actor should play the part; he decided to produce the film instead.[9] Scorsese's associate Kenneth Lonergan suggested Matt Damon, who grew up in Boston, for the part of Sullivan, and Scorsese asked Jack Nicholson to play Costello.[4]

Nicholson wanted the film to have "something a little more" than the usual gangster film, and screenwriter Monahan came up with the idea of basing the Costello character on Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger. This gave the screenplay an element of realism—and an element of dangerous uncertainty, because of the wide-ranging carte blanche the FBI gave Bulger in exchange for revealing information about fellow gangsters.[4] A technical consultant on the film was Tom Duffy, who had served three decades on the Boston Police Department, particularly as an undercover detective investigating the Irish mob.[11][12]

The Departed was officially greenlit by Warners in early 2005 and began shooting in the spring of 2005.[8] Some of the film was shot on location in Boston. For budgetary and logistical reasons many scenes, in particular interiors, were shot in locations and sets in New York City, which had tax incentives for filmmakers that Boston at the time did not.[4][13]

Film critic Stanley Kauffmann said that for The Departed, Scorsese "was apparently concerned with the idea of identity, one of the ancient themes of drama, and how it affects one’s actions, emotions, self-knowledge, even dreams." Kaufmann, however, did not find the theme conveyed with particular effectiveness in the film.[14] Film critic Roger Ebert compared Costigan and Sullivan's seeking of approval from those they are deceiving to Stockholm syndrome.[15] Ebert also noted the Catholic theme of guilt.[15]

In the final scene, a rat is seen on Sullivan's window ledge. Scorsese acknowledges that while it is not meant to be taken literally, it somewhat symbolizes the "quest for the rat" in the film and the strong sense of distrust among the characters, much like post-9/11 U.S. The window view behind the rat is a nod to gangster films like Little Caesar (1931), Scarface (1932), and White Heat (1949).[16]

Note the x-shaped structure, as depicted in the film.

Throughout the film, Scorsese uses an "X" motif to foreshadow death in a manner similar to Howard Hawks' film Scarface (1932). Examples include (but are not limited to) shots of cross-beam supports in an airport walkway when Costigan is phoning Sgt. Dignam, the taped windows of the building Queenan enters before being thrown to his death, behind Costigan's head in the elevator before he is shot, and the carpeted hallway floor when Sullivan returns to his apartment before being shot by Dignam at the film's end.[17]

The Departed was released by Warner Home Video on DVD in 2007. The film is available in a single-disc full screen (1.33:1), single-disc widescreen (2.40:1) edition, and 2-disc special edition. The second disc contains deleted scenes; a feature about the influence of New York’s Little Italy on Scorsese; a Turner Classic Movies profile; and a 21-minute documentary titled Stranger Than Fiction: The True Story of Whitey Bulger, Southie and The Departed[39] about the crimes that influenced Scorsese in creating the film, including the story of James "Whitey" Bulger, upon whom Jack Nicholson's character is based.[40]

The Region 1 version has three available audio tracks: English, Spanish, and French (all of which are in Dolby Digital 5.1), and three subtitle tracks (English, Spanish, French). The film was released on HD DVD and Blu-ray at the same time as the standard-definition DVD. The 2-Disc Special Edition was packaged in a Limited Edition Steelbook. It marked the first time that an Oscar-winning Best Picture was released to the home video market in DVD format only, as VHS was phased out by the start of 2006.

There were two albums released for The Departed, one presenting the original score composed for the film by Howard Shore, and the other featuring earlier recordings, mostly pop/rock songs, which were used on the soundtrack.

Although many of the key characters in the film are dead by the movie's end, there was a script written for a sequel. This was ultimately shelved due to the expense and Scorsese's lack of interest in creating a sequel.[42]

• List of American films of 2006
• "The Debarted", an episode of The Simpsons that parodies the film.

• Brad Balfour (2006). "Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga and William Monahan (Transcripts of two 40-minute press conference sessions)". PopEntertainment. Retrieved September 10, 2007.

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