Martin Scorsese’s latest sure-to-be-a-masterpiece is about to land: historical crime drama Killers of the Flower Moon opens October 6th in the US, October 18th in the UK. (I’ll see it at London Film Festival on October 10th and report asap afterward [ETA: Here’s my review.) While we wait, why not revisit one of his previous triumphs, 2006 Oscar Best Picture The Departed. An electrifying adaptation of Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, it cleverly picks up the threads of story from its source material and weaves them into another world in such a way that it’s hard to see how they didn’t spring from that world in the first place. This is a cunning sprint along the knife edge between cops and criminals that feels like it sweated itself up off the mean streets of Boston. The director’s frequent leading man of late, Leonardo DiCaprio (he stars in Flower Moon, too), is brilliant here as a rookie cop gone deep undercover in the Irish mob; the rest of the terrific cast includes Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin. (Read my 2006 review.)
US: stream on Netflix through September 30th; rent on Prime; rent/buy on Apple TV
UK: rent/buy on Prime and Apple TV
See The Departed at Letterboxd for more viewing options.
