Noir Project #2 - The Departed

[parma_violets]

Obviously, a new Martin Scorsese film is worth a review. But a new Martin Scorsese film that taps into what the man himself has referred to as "the history of film noir in America? Well, that's doubly worthwhile. But first, let's dig into his canon...

The Departed has been hailed as Scorsese's 'return' to gangster films, as if the gap in

Comments

[thermaland]

Trust me to bring the level of discussion down, but did you see the recent Onion story on Scorcese?

[parma_violets]

Nope. Any cop?

[thermaland]

You be judge.

[parma_violets]

Ha ha ha! That is pretty good.

[parma_violets]

Eh, I think he's been penalized by critics for not turning into a caricature of himself - by striking out with movies like Kundun and The Aviator which have nothing to do with the public stereotype of Martin 'Mr Gangster Movie' Scorsese. The actual quality of his directing and storytelling, the things that most critics refuse to assess in his case, hasn't gone down in my eyes.

He is, at any rate, one of the cleverest and most careful directors in American movies these days, and I'd rather see someone aim for the stars and come short than someone take the easy way out and make a piece of 'ironic' shit because they know they can't manage anything greater. The latter seems to be the prevalent mode these days.

Besides, even I didn't like DiCaprio when Scorsese first started casting him, but he's fucking good in The Departed. Hold-your-own-with-Nicholson good.