In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for The Departed, we will explain the film’s ending.
Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio – Trooper William “Billy” Costigan Jr.
- Matt Damon – Staff Sergeant Colin Sullivan
- Jack Nicholson – Frank Costello
- Mark Wahlberg – Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam
- Martin Sheen – Captain Oliver “Charlie” Queenan
- Ray Winstone – Arnold “Frenchie” French
- Vera Farmiga – Dr. Madolyn Madden
- Alec Baldwin – Captain George Ellerby
- Anthony Anderson – Trooper Brown
- Kevin Corrigan as Sean Costigan
- James Badge Dale as Trooper Barrigan
- David O’Hara as Patrick “Fitzy” Fitzgibbons
- Mark Rolston as Timothy Delahunt
- Robert Wahlberg as FBI Special Agent Frank Lazio
- Amenda Lynch as Carmen
- Kristen Dalton as Gwen
- Shay Duffin as Phil
- William Monohan – Writer
- Martin Scorsese – Director
The end of The Departed explained
Recap
Queenan helps Costigan escape an encounter with Costello’s men. As a result, Queenan is thrown to his death from the roof. Dignam, enraged by Queenan’s death, is suspended for attacking Sullivan. Delahunt, injured in the firefight, insinuates to Costigan he knows his secret but dies before revealing it. A news report labels Delahunt a deceased undercover cop, leading Costello to suspect it’s a ruse to protect the real mole. Sullivan discovers Costello’s status as an FBI informant from Queenan’s notes and orchestrates a police ambush on Costello’s crew. A wounded Costello admits his FBI ties before Sullivan kills him.
Believing his mission complete, Costigan confronts Sullivan about his undercover status, ignorant of Sullivan’s true allegiance. Spotting a familiar envelope, Costigan realizes Sullivan was Costello’s mole and escapes. Sullivan, returning to find Costigan gone, erases his police records. Costigan gives Madolyn an envelope for contingency and sends Sullivan a package with tapes of his conversations with Costello, leading Madolyn to leave Sullivan.
To reclaim his records, Costigan arranges to meet Sullivan at the rooftop where Queenan died. Despite arresting Sullivan, Costigan’s identity is questioned by Trooper Brown. After convincing Brown of his evidence against Sullivan, Costigan and Brown are killed by another of Costello’s spies, Trooper Barrigan. Sullivan kills Barrigan, framing him as the mole. After attending Costigan’s funeral, Sullivan returns home to find Dignam, who shoots him and leaves.
The camera then pans up from Sullivan’s dead body to the window, where a rat runs across the railing as the golden dome of the State House rests in the background.
Meaning
The rat and the State House
The final shot of The Departed, featuring a rat scurrying across a balcony rail with the Massachusetts State House in the background, serves as a potent visual encapsulation of the film’s central themes. This image deftly wraps up the narrative and leaves the audience with a lasting impression of the film’s exploration of deception, corruption, and duality.
The rat is a clear symbol of deceit and treachery, often associated with informants or “rats” in crime slang. Throughout the film, characters like Sullivan and Costigan act as rats within their respective organizations. The rat on the balcony is a direct reference to these characters, a visual representation of the duplicity and betrayal that pervades the narrative. Its presence, even after the death of both moles, suggests that treachery and deceit are inescapable, a persistent part of this world.
The backdrop of the State House further emphasizes the pervasiveness of corruption. As a symbol of government and law enforcement, the State House should stand for justice and integrity. Yet, the film shows that these institutions are as riddled with corruption as the criminal underworld. The rat, a symbol of corruption, running freely against the backdrop of the State House visually communicates this idea, suggesting that the corruption is not confined to the underworld but has infiltrated even the highest levels of power.
The rat running in plain sight reflects the theme of duality and hidden identities. Just as Sullivan and Costigan lead double lives, the rat, usually a creature of the shadows, is blatantly exposed in broad daylight. This serves as a final, stark reminder of the duality that defines the characters’ lives and the world they inhabit.
Dignam delivers justice
Sergeant Dignam’s return at the end of The Departed is a pivotal moment that not only brings closure to the film’s themes but also serves as a form of poetic justice for Queenan’s death.
Throughout the movie, Dignam is depicted as one of the few characters who remains unwaveringly loyal to the police force and uncorrupted by the pervasive deceit that engulfs the other characters. He is brash, confrontational, and refuses to compromise his principles. His return, then, can be seen as the reemergence of a moral force within a narrative filled with moral ambiguity.
Dignam’s execution of Sullivan is a direct response to the betrayal and corruption that Sullivan represents. By taking justice into his own hands, Dignam enacts retribution not only for Queenan’s murder but also for the corruption of the police department. This act of vengeance serves to provide a sense of closure for the audience, delivering the comeuppance that Sullivan evades within the official system of law enforcement.
Moreover, Dignam avenging Queenan’s death serves to honor his fallen colleague and reaffirm their shared commitment to justice. While the law enforcement system they served was shown to be flawed and compromised, Dignam’s act underscores the individual capacity for justice and the importance of personal integrity in a system marred by corruption.
Lastly, Dignam’s return and subsequent actions align with the movie’s exploration of duality. While he avenges Queenan’s death, his methods mirror those of the criminals he despises, blurring the line between law enforcement and criminality. This further emphasizes the film’s theme of moral ambiguity and the complex nature of justice in a world filled with deception and corruption.
A cascade of deaths
The series of deaths that conclude The Departed serve to amplify the film’s themes of deception, betrayal, and duality, while also underscoring the destructive consequences of these elements. Specifically, the surprise revelation of Trooper Barrigan as another of Costello’s spies adds a final, shocking twist to the narrative that further deepens these themes.
The unexpected death of Costigan at the hands of Barrigan is a striking example of the pervasive deception and betrayal that marks the film. Just as we, and Sullivan, believe that the dangerous game of double identities has come to a close with Costigan’s success in exposing Sullivan, the sudden appearance of another mole upends expectations. This revelation serves to underscore the extent of Costello’s infiltration into the police force and the depth of the deception involved.
The fact that Sullivan, himself a mole, was unaware of Barrigan’s true allegiance adds a layer of irony to the narrative. It demonstrates that deception cuts both ways and that even those engaged in duplicity can be deceived. It also highlights the theme of duality—both Sullivan and Barrigan led double lives, each unaware of the other’s true loyalties.
Barrigan’s subsequent death at the hands of Sullivan brings the theme of betrayal full circle. Sullivan, the original betrayer, turns on Barrigan, effectively betraying one of his own kind. This act not only exemplifies the cyclical nature of betrayal but also reinforces the idea that deception and duplicity inevitably lead to destructive consequences.
In addition, the sudden and rapid succession of deaths adds a sense of chaos and unpredictability that mirrors the unstable, treacherous world the characters inhabit. In a realm dominated by deception and betrayal, alliances are fluid, and security is fleeting—a reality that the characters, and the audience, are reminded of in these final, fatal moments.
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