Just saw The Departed, and I was pleasantly surprised. A remake of the Hong Kong film, Internal Affairs, The Departed looks at the boundaries between law and lawlessness, family and familiarity, and even within ourselves. It's the story of a cop undercover as a crimial, and a criminal infiltrating the police. Aware of each others' presence, but not their names, it's a cat and mouse game of rooting one another out before they get eaten alive.

Underscoring this cops-n-robbers caper is a strange look at identity. DiCaprio's character goes through plenty of inner turmoil (is he a cop or criminal?), but the real issue is not how well you know yourself. It's how well you know the people you trust. Admittedly, the issue of identity is also one of The Departed's only failings. With the opening scenes featuring a Boston race riot and plenty of ethnic slurs being thrown around by Nicholson, Scorsese obviously wants to tie in the issue of race, but the topic quickly takes a back seat and seems trivial at best.

What I love about Martin Scorsese is that the man has yet to settle into a particular style. Even after all these years, he is still experimenting and trying to push film in new directions. In a time where "experimentation" usually translates into multi-million dollar CG effects, it is both nostalgic and refreshing to see him rely upon mechanical means. It's the way he zooms, pans, and toys with the audio at crucial moments that is so impressive. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it's awkward, but it's always interesting.

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	silverishness - November 01, 2006 (06:34 AM) Huh, I was wondering about that movie. Unfortunately, whenever I see previews, I keep on expecting Kate Winslet to show up in her Titanic garb, shouting, "I'LL NEVER LET GO!!" and then DiCaprio shoots her. o.0 Primal Rage... I know I've played that before. Is that the fighting game with funny-looking dinosaurs or people that turn into animals, i.e. a wolf, a bunny a bat, a mole, ect? Either way, I love that game. I was all right at it; in the dino game, I always played as Talon, the yellow, white-haired velocoraptor, and in the other, I always played as the wolf guy.
	pup - November 01, 2006 (08:24 AM) Creepy. Those were my two favorites.