Film Analysis: The Deaprted featuring Martin Scorsese

The Departed (2006) is one of the most commercial and heralded films of Martin Scorsese’s career. Dealing with both the police and gangs, it is a type of film that Scorsese has had much practice in directing. The film departs from most typical crime dramas with its intense portrayal of gang violence and the life of two moles, or rats. The primary moles consist of Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) who manages to infiltrate the Boston Police Department and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) who, with the help of his family-ties, successfully infiltrated Costello’s inner circle. During the film, audiences come to realize the secret identities of other characters and discover that there are more moles than initially advertised. This directly corresponds with the central theme to the story, which is an examination of collective and dual identities. Whether it is gender, racial, or organizational identity, this character-driven film focuses on how people assign themselves to these identities and try to repress the ones that are detrimental to their safety and respect. Roger Ebert wrote in his film review of The Departed, “"The Departed" is about two men trying to live public lives that are the radical opposites of their inner realities” (Ebert, Roger). While this is true, the film transcends a story of two men and instead describes the state of the world and the identities thrust upon people, whether they embrace these or try to discard them is irrelevant to the fact that they exist due to societal sentiment.

The Departed briefly depicts the unfairly fashioned collective-identity of African-Americans in Boston and other parts of America. Frank Costello’s (Jack Nicholson) monologue to open the film aptly speaks of an encompassing, alb...

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...place. To which Sullivan responds that he has a cosigner, the realtor implies that he must have a “houseguest,” a euphemism for a homosexual partner. Other evidence supporting this aside, the importance of the masculine identity for men should not be understated. By being engaged to Madolyn, he is protecting his identity and reputation. As Captain Ellerby (Alec Baldwin) tells Sullivan about being a married man. It “lets people know you're not a homo; married guy seems more stable; people see the ring, they think at least somebody can stand the son of a bitch; ladies see the ring, they know immediately you must have some cash or your cock must work.” Sullivan goes as far as to get married to a woman to protect his identity as a heterosexual, functioning man, something essential in the testosterone-filled worlds of both the police department and gangs of Boston.