Lao Mei had no intention of making a trilogy, so he compressed the three Hong Kong versions into one film. In this way, as a film of more than 2 hours, "The Departed" has no reason to have any lack in the brilliance of the script. What Lao Ma has to do is to tell such a ready-made story well. It is said that the three parts are integrated together. In fact, "The Departed" is mainly about the first part of the Hong Kong version with the most dramatic conflict and plot tension. And some characteristic plots and characters of the second and third parts are also inserted in it to polish the plot. For example, almost all of Billy's family members are arranged as gangsters, but the background is not as good as the Ni family in the Hong Kong version; Martin Wahlberg's role is somewhat like the dawn in the third Hong Kong version. The meaning of the character; the female characters in the Hong Kong version can be seen as alluding to the role of the female psychiatrist in the American version. From the perspective of the whole film, such a story formed by sculpting and modifying the subtle plot on the basis of the originally very full script has become very smooth, greatly enhancing the wonderful index.
The roles of Leonardo and Matt Damon are the two soul characters who passed by and faced each other in the endless world. The survival status and fate of these two characters are also the deep meaning of the film. where. Compared with the dazzling protagonists of Liu Liang in the Hong Kong version, the rivalry between the Hong Kong version Han Chen-Frank played by the two in the US version with Nicholson has increased unabated, and Nicholson has a superlative role. With strong stealing skills, the film is not completely dominated by the two young men Billy and Colin to a certain extent. Frank's role has risen to the protagonist level, and the scene is brilliant, and Colin finally kills the scene, Before dying, he struggled to fight back with a shot. His death was the turning point between the two climaxes before and after the film. In the Hong Kong version, Huang Qiusheng's fall from the building is a classic, whether it is from the performance of the actors, the scheduling of the scene or the very appropriate soundtrack. In the US version, Martin Sean's role as the captain is not as distinctive and eye-catching as the Hong Kong version of Police Officer Huang. It should be the scene where the captain was killed and fell from the building. The rhythm of this scene is strong, multiple lines are running in parallel, the plot is tense, and the scene scheduling is extremely compact and concise, which is even better than the Hong Kong version. The slightly flustered look on the captain's scolded Billy's face after going downstairs also showed Martin Sean's just-right acting skills. The process of falling from the building after the captain was killed was also handled in slow motion. There was no soundtrack, only the small sounds next to it set off the quietness at that time. The captain fell to the ground with a bang. This process is not as sensational as the soundtrack and flashbacks of the Hong Kong version, but it has the taste of the United States, and it captures the essence of the Hong Kong version. After this scene, there is another change in characters and details that is worth noting, that is, Frank's subordinate who was shot. This role can be compared to the stupid strong, but the two are very different. The man who was shot was actually a police undercover agent. He deliberately told Billy the fake address in order to make Billy his scapegoat, but when he saw Billy arrived at the correct location, he should have known that Billy was also an undercover agent. Billy should also have known his identity from the TV the next day. After Colin committed a conspiracy to kill the captain at the police station, another character reacted strongly, that is, Martin Wahlberg, the irascible police officer Digonum. This character is just an insider of Billy's identity in this endless dark battle. His role is not much, but he is very eye-catching due to his flamboyant personality and aggressive words, and he played a key role in the end of the plot. In the U.S. version, Vera Laura, who contributed a passionate scene with Leonardo that was not intense in the film.
Aside from the characters, almost all the classic scenes in the Hong Kong version have been preserved in the US version, such as the explanation of the police academy training, the tense battle of wits between the undercover agents of the two sides, and the shooting scene of the Frank gang in one fell swoop. The yellow envelope with the altered words written on it, and Colin's phone call with Billy on the captain's cell phone. These scenes are important plots of the whole story. The US version keeps these scenes and also makes changes to the details. These changes make the film more American, and the flavor it reflects is quite different from the Hong Kong version. But this does not mean that the American version is just a mechanical copy and loses its original essence. The smooth transition of these scenes and the smooth use of various camera techniques are very compact and orderly, which fully reflects Lao Ma's super scheduling control ability. The series of headshots at the end of the film can be said to be the final climax of the film. The end of the US version also retains the classic elevator headshot of the Hong Kong version, and the soundtrack at the end of the film also begins to burst out unscrupulously, strongly setting off the instantaneous change of the fate of several people. If the film ends here, it cannot be said that it is not wonderful, but it will inevitably have a pale feeling of blindly copying. Fortunately, there was such a scene at the end. Colin pushed the door into the room and saw Digonum who had been waiting here. Colin seemed to have expected this ending, and said calmly: Okay. Digonum then shot Colin in the head. With such a plot arrangement as the ending, the film basically breaks out of the rut at the end of the Hong Kong version and has its own classics.
In addition to Nicholson's strong performance, the focus of the film's actor performance is mainly on Leonardo and Matt Damon, and it is easy to compare with Tony Leung and Andy Lau respectively. Since the backgrounds of the two versions are, after all, one from the East and one from the West, there is no need to say that the actors' performances are compared according to the standards of the Hong Kong version, and the good and the bad are distinguished. Due to the setting of the role, Leonardo's performance also has a certain fit with Tony Leung, such as the same forbearance, the same huge psychological pressure, and the same hope of completing the task and restoring his identity, but There can be a big difference in how the two perform. Leonardo's retraction and release in performances are still relatively well-controlled, and the explosive power of several scenes has also been relatively complete and powerfully released. Compared with Leonardo's role, Matt Damon has more room to deal with the role in the clear, because as an undercover gangster who wants to actively perform in the police station, his situation and response to events may be more difficult. The complexity is huge, and there is a change in the psychological identity of this character, which is also a test of an actor. Matt Damon's performance is also very exciting, which may be the advantage of the role's play space, so it gives the impression that his performance is more vivid than Leonardo's. Of course, Colin's psychological changes may not be reflected in detail in the time of one film, unlike the Hong Kong version, which can be carefully analyzed in the third film.
Date of writing: 2006-11-09
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