The Departed gets some mafia details wrong, according to an expert who explains its inaccuracies. Directed by Martin Scorsese, The Departed is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs that follows an undercover cop and a spy in the Boston Police Department who attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang. The Departed cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson, and James Badge Dale.

Tsui, a former Sun Yee On triad member in Hong Kong and Tung On in New York City's Chinatown, broke down The Departed scene in which Costello's crew meets with Chinese criminals to sell them stolen microprocessors. Tsui sees a few inaccuracies in the scene and rated it a 5/10 in terms of total realism. Read his full comments below:

Just like the gentleman say, why you carry a machine gun only when you start a war, and you carry a machine gun. Hong Kong triad, you can think is a business. Anything which is profitable they will do it, so they don't care who they dealing with as long as it's of interest. I heard of working with the Mexican cartel, the Italian mafia, the Thai Mafia, Japan Yakuza, but I never heard of the Irish mafia before.

Okay honestly, I never have heard of having an interpreter do this. Just like I've seen before dealing with Thailand's people, so find someone who can speak Thai. With Japanese people, find someone who can speak Japanese. We are not going to hire someone to do the interpreter and doing this thing. With a Triad member dealing with some other group and someone get this kind of behavior attitude and I think I go to quit. I go turn around, cancel it. We are doing business. We are not fighting each other. There's one bigger and no one higher. Nothing.

And doing this kind of deal, only in the movie. They try to buy microprocessors from them. How are you going to prove that it's real or not? Mainland China, they have a lot of counterfeit, any part like watches, suit, sneaker, jewelry. With they want to buy a product, why didn't they just make a counterfeit? It's a lot cheaper and easier. For this movie, I'm going to rate it five. In reality, it's not going to happen.

How Realistic Is The Departed?

Its Microprocessors Scene Deserves Some Scrutiny

As a whole, The Departed does contain a strong sense of realism, which Scorsese and his screenwriter William Monahan went to great lengths to ensure. The film is loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang, with the character of Colin Sullivan based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly and Costello based on Whitney Bulger, an Irish-American crime boss. Tom Duffy, who served three decades in the Boston Police Department primarily working as an undercover detective investigating the Irish mob, acted as a technical consultant for the film.

Overall, this real-life inspiration added depths of realism to The Departed, which helped contribute to its success. Scorsese's film is widely acclaimed for its gritty realism, which is typical of his work, along with its highly captivating gangster drama, complex morality, and exceptional performances from its stellar cast. The Departed grossed over $291 million at the box office on a $90 million budget and went on to receive five Oscar nominations, including four wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.

However, Tsui reviews one scene in The Departed that does deserve some scrutiny. The specific plot device of stolen military-grade microprocessors is exaggerated for dramatic effect. In reality, such high-profile and sensitive items would likely be handled with an even greater degree of secrecy and caution. While The Departed is a grounded and gritty portrayal of Boston's criminal underworld, the scene involving the sale of stolen microprocessors to Chinese criminals contains a few inaccuracies in the interest of enhancing its dramatic effect.

The Departed is streaming on AMC+.

Source: Insider