'The Departed' Turns 10 This Week. Have You Seen This Amazing Easter Egg?
The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s excellent crime drama, opened ten years ago today, on October 6, 2006. Four months later, Scorsese accepted his first Best Director Oscar for the film (which received four Academy Awards in total, including Best Picture). While Scorsese might have deserved to win for a previous film — say, Goodfellas, which lost to Kevin Freakin’ Costner’s Dances with Wolves — there’s no doubt that The Departed is one of his finest. The story of two men living double lives, a police officer (Matt Damon) working as a mole for a Boston crime boss (Jack Nicholson) and a protege of that crime boss (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is actually an undercover cop, the movie merits re-watching for its wrenching performances and beautifully-executed plot twists. And here’s one more reason to see it again: A clever bit of foreshadowing that you definitely wouldn’t have spotted on the first viewing.
Scorsese saw The Departed partially as an homage to his favorite gangster films of the ’30s and ’40s, including the original 1932 Scarface (not the 1983 Brian De Palma remake). In that film, director Howard Hawks foreshadowed characters’ murders with “X” imagery: as seen in screencaps taken by Miami Herald critic Rene Rodriguez, the shape appears in architecture, costumes, lighting, even the scar on actor Paul Muni’s face. Inspired by Scarface, Scorsese put his own “X” pattern in The Departed, illustrating characters’ impending doom by including the shape in his shots. If you’re watching the movie, look for Xs in the background (fences, railings, graffiti, scaffolding, etc.), particularly in scenes in which a character faces imminent death. Or if you’d like a cheat sheet, check out more of Rodriguez’s “X” screencaps here, or search this excellent, spoiler-filled collection of film stills. Happy hunting!
