Infiltrados

Quería evitar comparaciones con el exitazo asiático Juego sucio que Infiltrados está rehaciendo. Pero cuando conoces el original, en el que la historia está filmada con más brío, más claridad, donde ni un solo personaje es primordialmente farsante (Jack Nicholson) y su óptica asiática es más exótica para un europeo que la cinematográficamente trillada "América sucia", Infiltrados no tiene realmente nada que impresionarte. Está claro: Martin Scorsese y su director de fotografía son maestros en su campo, uno no se aburre ni un segundo, está constantemente en compañía de la élite mundial de la interpretación, cuyos personajes el director disfruta psicológicamente hasta los huesos. Pero de la película en su conjunto, de su regusto final, se desprende que los cineastas no la abordaron con tanto cariño como lo hicieron con El aviador. El único que se entregó en cuerpo y alma al proyecto es el dinamitero actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Unos cuantos papeles más como ese y lo tendré en mi TOP 5 personal de actores. Por lo demás, sin embargo, Infiltrados no es más que un sólido drama policíaco-mafioso que impresionará al público estadounidense sólo con su final al que no están acostumbrados en Hollywood. La película merece 4 estrellas en el contexto de la producción estadounidense contemporánea, pero desde luego no en la filmografía del director. La volveré a ver con mucho gusto, pero no puedo ocultar una pequeña decepción. (27.10.2006)

Until the very end, Scorsese's speedy directing and the great actors manage to disguise the fact that this tale about cops, rats and hidden agents may have too trivial of a plot, in which, unlike Infernal Affairs, there is no room for deeper psychology and surprises. Nevertheless, it is a thriller that can be watched breathlessly and enjoyed at an incredible pace of storytelling. The question is whether it can be watched more than once. (10.08.2008)

At the blessed age of sixty-four, Martin Scorsese delivers a gangster flick so precise that his colleagues a generation younger can only be quietly envious. The 150-minute trip amongst the highest police and mafia brass is told with incredible ease, the utmost sense of the perversity of both worlds (conveyed through the fatal love of one woman), and an absolutely divine dose of chilling black humor. You won't find an unnecessary movie window in this work, let alone a scene. Scorsese once again stylizes violence as a normal routine aspect of life, which he breaks at the very end only to play lightly with the viewer and show that even he doesn't have to take himself deadly seriously. The cast of the greatest actors is interspersed here, from the riveting DiCaprio to the relaxed Damon (any talk of overacting is bullshit!), the diabolical Nicholson, and to the absolutely brilliant Mark Wahlberg. Everything is underlined by stylish musical accompaniment, starting with Pink Floyd and ending with the thrilling punk blast of Dropkick Murphys. After finishing the film, I had only one desire: to watch this concentration of perfection again! (12.11.2006)

Four stars for that beautifully dry ending, but as a whole it didn’t really thrill me. There are a lot of big names, but the best is DiCaprio, he’s really unlikeable, but his performance is great. His antagonist, Matt Damon, in contrast, is a jerk at times, not because he’s bad, but because I didn’t find him believable in the role. The story moves along quite slowly, there aren’t any proper turns until about the middle and before that, you have to put up with a lot of dialogues that are supposed to be vulgar, dirty and tough, but they are clearly fake and forced. For me, The Departed deserves 75%. (27.08.2008)

It’s against nature, but Marty is getting younger. This is the kind of fucking entertaining film that even a young kid in the director’s chair wouldn’t be ashamed of. Those almost two and a half hours passed by like water. In the case of the ensemble cast, it's pointless to comment on DiCaprio and Nicholson, they're chapters unto themselves, so I'll just single out the much-maligned Damon (that perfect smarmy crooked character, I can't imagine it could have been played any better) and especially Wahlberg (!!!), whose brilliantly written lines were a joy to listen to, and his banter with Baldwin made me laugh out loud. After the screening, I remembered Steven Spielberg's words that he "doesn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore and just wants to have fun with movies", I feel the same way about The Departed. I probably wouldn't give Scorcese an Oscar for it, in the context of his previous, albeit more notable work (if does get it, it will be mainly "for merit"), but it's gratifying that underneath the skin of the grey professor emeritus, there's still that old familiar rebel from the days of Mean Streets and Taxi Driver :) (19.11.2006)