The Departed
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Produced by Brad Pitt
Brad Grey
Graham King
Written by William Monahan
(Screenplay)
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio
Matt Damon
Jack Nicholson
with
Mark Wahlberg
Martin Sheen
Ray Winstone
Vera Farmiga
and
Alec Baldwin
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Michael Ballhaus
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) October 6, 2006 (USA)
Budget $90,000,000
IMDb profile
The Departed is an American film remake of the popular Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs by renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The film has finished filming and is currently in the post-production stage, scheduled for release on October 6, 2006. The film was written by William Monahan, loosely based on an earlier screenplay from Hong Kong, Infernal Affairs, by Felix Chong and Siu Fai Mak.
Scorsese said he was unaware of the original trilogy when he read the script in late 2003.
Contents
Principal Cast & Characters
Leonardo DiCaprio as Billy Costigan
Matt Damon as Colin Sullivan
Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello
Mark Wahlberg as Dignam
Martin Sheen as Queenan
Alec Baldwin as Ellerby
Vera Farmiga as Madelein
Anthony Anderson as Brown
Ray Winstone as Mr French
James Badge Dale as Barrigan
Robert Wahlberg as FBI Agent Joyce
David O'Hara as Fitzy
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Premise
The Departed is set in South Boston, where the Massachusetts State Police is waging war on the Irish Mob. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello (Nicholson). While Billy quickly gains Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informant for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy—and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself. But is either willing to turn on the friends and comrades they've made during their long stints undercover?
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Trivia
* Martin Scorsese and the producers wanted to shoot the film on location in Boston where the story is set. But due to economics and politics, the production chose New York City to double for Boston for their 15% tax incentives. Six weeks were reserved for Boston with the first half in June and the second half in August.
* Leonardo DiCaprio was cast in the title role in The Good Shepherd, but he dropped out to play Billy Costigan in this movie. Coincidently, his costar Matt Damon took his intended role in that film.
* Jack Nicholson signed on to play Frank Costello because he had done comedies in the past ten years, and he wanted to play a villain again, since his turn as The Joker in Batman. He has mentioned that he considers his character of Costello to be the ultimate incarnation of evil.
* Both Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg are returning to their hometown of Boston, Massachusetts in this film. Wahlberg's schedule was moved to the beginning of principal photography so he'd have time in his schedule for another film, as was Alec Baldwin's.
* Some of the stunts were performed and filmed in the old Fore River Shipyard just south of Boston. This location may have been chosen for the sightlines in the background so the Boston skyline would be true.
* Robert De Niro was offered, but declined, the role of Frank Costello.
* The Dropkick Murphys cover of Woody Guthrie's "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" from their latest album The Warrior's Code is in the soundtrack and trailer.
* Also in the trailer is the Pink Floyd song "Comfortably Numb", as performed by Van Morrison during the 1990 staging of The Wall in Berlin.
* Jack Nicholson refused to wear a Boston Red Sox hat during filming and instead wore his New York Yankees hat.
* The Infernal Affairs Trilogy (Infernal Affairs II and Infernal Affairs III) bear some similarity to Martin Scorsese's classic Taxi Driver, ie. obsession with a female character, descent into delusion and paranoia and the final climactic shootout.
