I am not sure what it is, but something is forever enticing about the gangster genre of film. Whether it is a director's ability to evoke a certain level of fear and respect associated with the mob or to get viewers to justify the violence their favorite characters execute, the gangster genre is somehow always able to get the viewer to blur the line of what is right and wrong. Maybe it is this confusion that pulls viewers into these films, or just the thrill of a life that carries such high stakes all the time.
Martin Scorsese's four time Oscar winning film
The Departed (2006) portrays the gangster genre a little differently than other mob classics, giving the point of view of both law enforcement and those involved in organized crime. Showing both sides allows Scorsese to confuse viewers with which side they should be rooting for. The film takes the story of two men with similar upbringing but drastically different goals in their adult lives who cross paths through their involvement in organized crime. Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Billy Costigan, has tried to cut the ties between himself and his family, who has has a history of organized crime, by joining the Boston Police Academy. Meanwhile, Colin Sullivan, played by Matt Damon, has also entered the police academy the same year as Billy with a seemingly spotless reputation. However, Sullivan has also been involved in organized crime since his youth, after being taken under the wing of Jack Nicholson's character, mobster Frank Costello (loosely based off real life gangster
Whitey Bulger).
This begins to shade the gray area of good guys and bad guys as Costigan, whose intentions of joining law enforcement were to clear his name and conscience of his family's reputation, is told that he will never make a good police officer because of his history. However, Staff Sergeant Dignam, played by Mark Wahlberg, tells Costigan that his best bet of helping the department is by going undercover and taking down mobster Costello from the inside. On the other hand, Sullivan has been instructed by Costello, his mentor and boss, to enter law enforcement in order to keep tabs on the investigation surrounding the take down of Costello himself.
In other words, we have a bad guy pretending to be a good guy and a good guy pretending to be a bad guy.
It is no surprise that the double lives led by Costigan and Sullivan lead to the development of relationships that exploit the classifications of bad versus good. While the audience knows each characters' purpose, we begin to question these classifications as we see DiCaprio's character badly beat up Costello's rivals while Damon's character shows his soft side as he falls for his therapist. There is growing tension throughout the film as both the mob and the police department discover a mole among them. The tension is aided by the fact that both moles have become so intertwined with their double lives that it seems unlikely they will ever return to their original selves, made even easier by the fact that next to no one knows of the infiltrations to both Costello's mob and the police department.
The film successfully blurs the line of right and wrong, allowing viewers to see the corruption on both sides, and the accompanying internal strife. As any gangster film insists, The Departed is loaded with action and suspense as Costigan and Sullivan draw closer to discovering one another (which seems inevitable as Billy has access to police knowledge and Costello's crew, while Colin leads the investigation surrounding Costello). The undercover work on both parts demands the plot rely on lies and betrayals, emphasizing the corruption found in every corner of the city. Portraying the gangster genre through the eyes of nervous men who must constantly be watching their backs produces a film that puts the audience through the same level of intensity, making it enticing to watch over and over.
