According to one fan, The Departed has a problem that can't be ignored
It's arguably Martin Scorsese's greatest film. It certainly is if you look at how successful it was at awards season.
The Departed is the only Scorsese film to earn him the Oscar for Best Director, and remains the only one of his films to have won the Oscar for Best Picture.
But a campaign is underway to fix what some believe to be a major mistake from the director right at the end of his 2006 classic.
If you've seen the film, you may already know what we are referring to.
In the very final scene of the crime masterpiece, in which Matt Damon stars as crooked cop Colin Sullivan who *spoiler alert* manages to get pretty much everyone killed, Scorsese is accused of giving in to a "cheesy ending."
As Sullivan comes home to his apartment, he is greeted by Sergeant Dignam, played by Mark Wahlberg, who is in full scrubs and armed with a silent pistol, ready to enact revenge on Sullivan for his double-crossing.
Sullivan only has time to say "Okay" before he is shot in the head by Dignam, who leaves the apartment. The camera then pans up to a view of the Massachusetts State House from the apartment window.
And a little rat runs across the apartment's balcony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3f9UJTmgd0&t=82s
The whole movie is about searching for the rat in the police. That was Matt Damon. And then he's killed. So then we see an actual rat. Symbolic stuff.
Except for some, it's a bit too on-the-nose, and ruins the entire feel of the film.
So, one fan has decided to take matters into his own hands, starting a campaign to alter the ending.
On the
Kickstarter campaign page, he writes: "Unfortunately
The Departed has one huge problem. The movie ends with the painfully on the nose metaphor of an ACTUAL RAT crawling across screen.
"It's always bothered me that a movie as good as
The Departed has such a cheesy ending, and I recently realized it could be fixed by digitally erasing the rat from the last shot."
Sacks goes on to give a thorough breakdown of the process and cost of removing the rat from the film and then sending donors his "superior version."
He explains: "I cannot sell any of these Blu-ray copies, because even though it's obviously a far better version of
The Departed, I do not own the rights to the movie.
"If you'd like to receive one of the 50 limited edition copies, you'll have to contribute $70 or more.
"This will allow me to buy you a legal Blu-ray of
The Departed, throw that disc away, replace it with my superior version, and mail it to you."
So, if you have also always had a problem with that final shot, you know who to get in touch with.
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