Sounds like one to miss, then? I haven't seen a better film than Volver in the last twelve months.
Jason Chervokas
· 2 years ago
I haven't seen Infernal Affairs, the 2002 Hong Kong noir of which The Departed is a remake....aparently there were more female characters and love interests floating around in the original, although I hear they were equally perfunctory.
I love Scorcese and I really enjoyed The Departed. It's a thrilling nuevo noir. But two things I wonder about--the enormous inpact of Chinese cinema on Hollywood at the moment is fascinating, perhaps the cultural leading edge of the new century of Chinese ascendency? Or just the latest world arts fetish? Certainly the look of movies will never be the same after the impact of Chinese horror movies.
Second, although its a very entertaining movie w/ great acting, it's really slight. A damn shame that this is the movie Marty will win for instead of his truely great, original, and personal movies--the troika of Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, and Raging Bull.
And even his severely flawed movies, like Gangs of NY and Age of Innocence, were a lot meatier than The Departed. Will Scorcese ever make a great movie again?
At least as remakes go it trounced Scorcese's awful Cape Fear.
sean
· 2 years ago
A few thoughts on Scorsese:
1. Infernal Affairs may not have been great, but it sure was compact compared to Scorsese's padded work. One of the virtues of the original (outside of Tony Leung and Andy Lau)is the near absence of psychologizing. It's a clever, fast-moving genre piece, adroit with something useful to say about the choices we make. Onto this Scorsese has mapped all kinds of spurious philosophizing, replete with William Monahan's gratuitous high-art references (Freud, Joyce).
2. Remember when Scorsese had an ear for music? Remember "Be My Baby" floating over the opening of "Mean Streets?" There was a time when he could throw Bach, Bad Brains, and "Someone To Watch Over Me" into the mix, using each for effect or counterpoint or whatever. Now he's sounds like he's stuck on the same ipod playlist. How many times is going to use "Gimmie Shelter?"
3. While Chinese directors like Ringo Lam and Johnnie To and plenty others surely owe Scorsese a debt, the horror movies Hollywood has been leeching off have been Japanese: Ringu remade as The Ring, Kairo as Pulse, and Ju-on as The Grudge. Each of the remakes are personality free
San Antonio Remodeling
· 4 months ago
This film haven't triggered my curiosity, well I think I just don't like the flow of the story
Stroke Treatment
· 3 months ago
The Departed is actually a remake of a Chinese film but it is definitely way better directed in the English version.
All Comments
I love Scorcese and I really enjoyed The Departed. It's a thrilling nuevo noir. But two things I wonder about--the enormous inpact of Chinese cinema on Hollywood at the moment is fascinating, perhaps the cultural leading edge of the new century of Chinese ascendency? Or just the latest world arts fetish? Certainly the look of movies will never be the same after the impact of Chinese horror movies.
Second, although its a very entertaining movie w/ great acting, it's really slight. A damn shame that this is the movie Marty will win for instead of his truely great, original, and personal movies--the troika of Taxi Driver, King of Comedy, and Raging Bull.
And even his severely flawed movies, like Gangs of NY and Age of Innocence, were a lot meatier than The Departed. Will Scorcese ever make a great movie again?
At least as remakes go it trounced Scorcese's awful Cape Fear.
1. Infernal Affairs may not have been great, but it sure was compact compared to Scorsese's padded work. One of the virtues of the original (outside of Tony Leung and Andy Lau)is the near absence of psychologizing. It's a clever, fast-moving genre piece, adroit with something useful to say about the choices we make. Onto this Scorsese has mapped all kinds of spurious philosophizing, replete with William Monahan's gratuitous high-art references (Freud, Joyce).
2. Remember when Scorsese had an ear for music? Remember "Be My Baby" floating over the opening of "Mean Streets?" There was a time when he could throw Bach, Bad Brains, and "Someone To Watch Over Me" into the mix, using each for effect or counterpoint or whatever. Now he's sounds like he's stuck on the same ipod playlist. How many times is going to use "Gimmie Shelter?"
3. While Chinese directors like Ringo Lam and Johnnie To and plenty others surely owe Scorsese a debt, the horror movies Hollywood has been leeching off have been Japanese:
Ringu remade as The Ring, Kairo as Pulse, and Ju-on as The Grudge. Each of the remakes are personality free