The Departed

The Departed is a 2006 neo-noir crime thriller film, directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. A remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, it is also loosely based on real-life people, including the Winter Hill Gang, corrupt FBI agent John Connolly and Irish-American crime boss Whitey Bulger. The film is set primarily in South Boston; Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) plants Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as a spy within the Massachusetts State Police; simultaneously, the police assign undercover state trooper Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's mob crew. The ensemble cast also features Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale. The Departed premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre on September 26, 2006, and was released on October 6 by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States. A critical and commercial success, the film grossed $291.5 million on a $90 million budget, and received acclaim for its direction, performances (particularly of DiCaprio, Nicholson and Wahlberg), screenplay and editing. At the 79th Academy Awards, The Departed won Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese (his only ever personal Oscar win), Best Adapted Screenplay for Monahan, and Best Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker. It also received six nominations each at the 64th Golden Globe Awards (winning one) and the 60th British Academy Film Awards, and two nominations at the 13th Screen Actors Guild Awards.