Newspapers / Brevard College Student Newspaper / March 16, 2007, edition 1 / Page 9
Part of Brevard College Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
March 16, 2007 \ The Clarion ARTS & LIFE Page 9 "Departing" from tired movie plots by Zack Harding Arts & Life Editor The Departed Dir. by IVIartin Scorsese Leonardo DiCaprio, IVIatt Damon, Jacl Nicholson Warner Brothers, 2006 ★ ★★★ The Departed has been a much- hyped fikn, winning director Mar tin Scorsese his first Academy Award, and it is now out on DVD. So the question is: Is it all de served? Yes. There have been a countless number of movies dealing with spies, moles, rats, and organized crime over the years, so when I started to watch The Departed I was expecting something a little tired, if still true. The movie takes these well-studied concepts and applies a fresh feeling to them, so even though we’ve all watched a bunch of movies with similar themes, this doesn’t feel too re petitive. The basic plot follows a mem ber of a Special Investigation Unit in Boston, who is an inside man for a local mob boss, played by Jack Nicholson, and an undercover agent who infiltrates and assimi lates into the mob. The majority of the movie focuses on the ten sion between these two characters, and their continued struggle to identify each other Speaking of tension, that is one thing that The Departed portrays very well. There is a growing level of anxiety throughout, as each of the two inside men become in creasingly paranoid and more deeply ingrained in their secret activities. Leonardo DiCaprio is especially good as the undercover agent, com ing closer and closer to a complete emotional breakdown throughout the film. The Departed, among so many other movies, serves to ce ment DiCaprio as a very talented actor The other actors are good as well, with Mark Wahlberg as Staff Sgt. Bryce Dignam, and Vera Farmiga as Madolyn Madden be ing some other highlights. Al though Matt Damon isn’t off-put- ting as the mole inside the SIU, he is outclassed by those around him, and especially by DiCaprio. A better actor should have played that role to balance DiCaprio. One thing that annoyed me about the movie was the dialects put on by all of the actors in an attempt to create a Boston sound. Apart from Wahlberg, the dialects were poorly imitated and were an occasional deterrence. There are a whole lot of twists within the last few minutes of the film, perhaps too many too quick, but they are interesting. There is one really surprising death scene in the film which is like nothing I have ever seen, creating a very shocking yet not revolting feeling in the viewer 300 ping and holding each other laid out for some rather heavy homo erotic undertones. Above all this, there were some serious issues missed by a lot of people consumed by the action. The whole film seems to be a rac ist reference to the war in Iraq. At a glance, the western, white male is fighting for unity, the freedom of his country, the freedom of choice and for his fellow brothers. All of these 300 men are aggres sive, light skinned, muscular he roes. When one of them dies, time seems to stop so that their closest relative can lose control, scream at the sky and then go on a killing spree. The opponents, the Persians, are the black or dark skinned masses that never seem to stop springing up no mater how many are killed. The bodies pile high, because their lives are unimpor tant. The Spartans comer them and outsmart them. Under their masks, they are literally deformed monsters. Their leader, Xerxes is portrayed as a very ambiguous, lanky, dark man with a deep voice. He is said to be a God King. When the Spartan leader throws a spear at him, it is not aimed to kill, but merely to cut his face to show that their god can bleed. Once the men know they are outnumbered, they accept their fate and the leader lays continued from page 9 down in a pose not unlike Jesus on the cross. Zach Snyder clearly knew what he was doing with this picture. He is known for remaking Dawn of the Dead a few years ago, which is an Americanized zombie film that represents the decline of our soci ety as opposed to the Haitian voo doo zombie that is about spells, slavery and rejuvenation. With this recent task under his belt, it’s not out of reach to conclude this new stab at social commentary. Overall, the movie leaves out large gaps of history and tries too hard to make a point. If you want to see limbs flying though, by all means... HOROSCOPE Aries: You got dropped but that's okay. You have the charisma of 500 mens. You is a queen! Lucky Color: Chilled Melon Taurus: Your work in the hell bins of school is almost done and you have much to look forward to. Isn't that sensible for once? Lucky Color: Circular Titanium Gemini: So you're a brave one. Asking all sorts of questions. Better ask the right one. Beware of the answer!! Lucky Color: Gun Metal Cancer: Oracle thinks you is crazy. With your motherly tendencies and such. You is not a queen! Lucky Color: Whiskey Leo: You are a wonderful help to many people. How about yourself? Enjoy Lucky Color: Parisian Pink Virgo: It's about time you got nitty gritty. People were wondering when you would strike. Lucky Color: GWE Gray Libra: A little makeup never hurt anyone. Try a little harder. Lucky Color: Mocha Chocolate Goddess Scorpio: You look sort of like a live spider. Who will take your venom? Lucky Color: Festive Toucan Sagittarius: The mean girls are watching you this now. Don't turn your back on them. Lucky Color: Bronze Booty Capricorn: Oracle doesn't know who you are. Go away! Lucky Color: Omelet Dropping Aquarius: Glamourpusses show your stuff Its okay to be a bitty and look good. You is also a queen! Lucky Color: Pearl Slathering Pisces: Better get on it. Stop forgetting your dates. Someone knows how you miss your cues. Lucky Color: Inner Kiwi
Brevard College Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 16, 2007, edition 1
9
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75