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Film Analysis: The Departed

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Bong Joon-ho once said “I regard remaking a film as creating something again”. In cinema the production of a “remake” retells a previously successful story. This concept of altering or rather “remaking”is used in reference when a new cinematic motion picture is based on an earlier version and is then used as the source of inspiration. Often times a remake will posses a different title, contain an altered narrative structure, and may even be remade in a different language. One well-known motion picture, The Departed, is an example of this concept of a cinematic remake. The Departed (2006), by director Martin Scorsese, is a very literal adaptation and remake of the Hong Kong crime thriller, Infernal Affairs (2002), by director Andrew Lau. Scorsese's …show more content…

Each cop versus mobster film portrays deep and troubling issues within each society separately, such as the broad, but crucial subject matter of corruption among cops and higher levels of authority. Each of these motion pictures, Infernal Affairs and The Departed, deals with the concept of identity and loyalty. Each of the infiltrators struggle with being loyal and identifying as defenders of the law during part of their lives and then living on the other side of the law during the other part if their lives. As directors, Lau and Scorsese both masterfully create characters who adeptly portray the exhausting, internal struggle of living two very separate lives in two very different worlds. There is a noticeable deviation from the original mise-en-scene in Infernal Affairs and the remake The Departed. The majority of the lighting in Infernal Affairs, is low-key lighting. The Departed, despite being a movie filled with crime and high level action movie, is much brighter and utilizes high-key lighting. When major characters die in Internal Affairs, Lau incorporates a sorrowful, brief sequence of flashbacks commemorating and remembering their lives that is not present in Scorsese's …show more content…

Although The Departed, is largely based on Infernal Affairs, there are a handful of discrepancies between the two films. In terms of the female leads involved in each film, The Departed, has one one main female character whereas Infernal Affairs has two. Scorsese's decision to have both mols involved with the same woman, added an element of dramatic irony to The Departed. The two motion pictures each varied on their running time length. While Infernal Affairs, has a running time of 101 minutes, the American remake, The Departed, is approximately 150 minutes in length. The ending of, The Departed, may be the most notable scene where the narrative strays from its inspiration, Infernal Affairs. The Departed concluded with a separate, bloody denouement in which a majority of all the leading big-name cast members were killed off. The ending in, Infernal Affairs, concluded differently, in that the mole in the police force (Lau), remains alive at the film's end. A major character that Scorences added in the remake, The Departed, was Dignam who aided Oliver Queenan in the undercover operation. The addition of this character was pivotal in how the ending came to play out, as without the addition of another superior in the police force, aiding in the undercover mission, there would have been no other individual who would have known of the undercover operation and would have been able

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