Thursday, November 09, 2006
THE DEPARTED
Featuring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg
Brief Synopsis: There's a cop in the Mafia and there's a Mafia member in the cop shop. Who will find who first?
Comments: It's based on Infernal Affairs and although I know you aren't supposed to compare them, I couldn't help it. Despite the fact that this is in my language (notwithstanding the few, ok very few, Chinese words I know), I prefer the Hong Kong version every time. Maybe I've been soft since I've been in Malaysia but this film seems incredibly graphic with its violence and language. The censors must have had fun with this film because the word "f*ck" and its derivatives are said 237 times throughout the film (thanks imdb.com) and this is detrimental to the film because when such a word (however distasteful it may be) is deleted so many times, the flow of the film is cut 237 times too. I also feel that the 'stolen microchips' plotline is a little bit, well, rubbish in all honesty. Could they not think of anything better? And I constantly found myself a bit bored at different times in the film too.
So you have a film that is choppy copied from a film which is already one of your favourites with severe violence on screen. Are there any saving graces? Well I suppose the characters were ok but the Matt Damon and DiCaprio (and I like them both as actors) almost seem too young for these roles - they look like boyish people when I feel they should be more hardened. The older ones seemed more realistic with Jack Nicholson pulling off an evil Mafia boss to great effect. So maybe, the way the film was directed wasn't to my liking - I never did see Scorsese's Gangs of New York - but I imagine with the stories about the level of violence, it might have similar levels to this. It just seems too gratuitous.
Maybe it's a bit unfair to grade a film that has been censored but you can only say what you see. My advice? Get yourself a copy of Infernal Affairs.
Things to learn from this film: The way to get the Mafia's respect is to beat the cr@p out of someone. Err but you better be careful who you choose!
Rating: 5/10
Featuring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg
Brief Synopsis: There's a cop in the Mafia and there's a Mafia member in the cop shop. Who will find who first?
Comments: It's based on Infernal Affairs and although I know you aren't supposed to compare them, I couldn't help it. Despite the fact that this is in my language (notwithstanding the few, ok very few, Chinese words I know), I prefer the Hong Kong version every time. Maybe I've been soft since I've been in Malaysia but this film seems incredibly graphic with its violence and language. The censors must have had fun with this film because the word "f*ck" and its derivatives are said 237 times throughout the film (thanks imdb.com) and this is detrimental to the film because when such a word (however distasteful it may be) is deleted so many times, the flow of the film is cut 237 times too. I also feel that the 'stolen microchips' plotline is a little bit, well, rubbish in all honesty. Could they not think of anything better? And I constantly found myself a bit bored at different times in the film too.
So you have a film that is choppy copied from a film which is already one of your favourites with severe violence on screen. Are there any saving graces? Well I suppose the characters were ok but the Matt Damon and DiCaprio (and I like them both as actors) almost seem too young for these roles - they look like boyish people when I feel they should be more hardened. The older ones seemed more realistic with Jack Nicholson pulling off an evil Mafia boss to great effect. So maybe, the way the film was directed wasn't to my liking - I never did see Scorsese's Gangs of New York - but I imagine with the stories about the level of violence, it might have similar levels to this. It just seems too gratuitous.
Maybe it's a bit unfair to grade a film that has been censored but you can only say what you see. My advice? Get yourself a copy of Infernal Affairs.
Things to learn from this film: The way to get the Mafia's respect is to beat the cr@p out of someone. Err but you better be careful who you choose!
Rating: 5/10
