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Published 16:43 IST, August 9th 2020

Leonardo DiCaprio & Matt Damon's 'The Departed' paid homage to Scarface and more trivia

The Departed film cast included Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Dicaprio, & others etc. How Leonardo DiCaprio’s 'The Departed' paid homage to Scarface?

Reported by: Surabhi Sabat
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Leonardo DiCaprio featured in the 2006 Martin Scorsese movie titled The Departed. The film also had an ensemble cast of Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin. The crime film is based in Boston and is based on the Irish mob and their interaction and hideout story with the Massachusetts State Police. The movie was commercially as well as critically successful where it won several awards including 4 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing as well. Read to see more trivia of the Leonardo DiCaprio starrer. 

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Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Departed paid homage to Scarface

At around 1 hour 17 minutes into The Departed, one can see Frank Costello attending the Gaetano Donizetti opera Lucia di Lammermoor. The music that is played in the opera at that time is the same which Paul Muni's character from Scarface would whistle whenever he killed someone. Scarface was released in 1932 and is considered to be one of Martin Scorsese's best movies of all times. It is also said that Scorcese would put an X sign in the frame where anyone was killed on the screen as a tribute to Brian De Palma.

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Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Departed trivia

  • The film was a remake of the Hongkong film titled Infernal Affairs that was released in 2002. 
  • The character of Colin Sullivan which is played by Matt Damon in the movie is loosely based on the corrupt FBI agent named John Connolly.
  • While it is also believed that the character Frank Costello played by Jack Nicholson was based on the gangster named Whitey Bulger. According to mentalfloss website, the gangster named Whitey Bulger was second in the FBI’s Most Wanted List until 2011 when he was captured. He also had a bounty of $1 million on him. 
  • Even though the movie's story was based in Boston, apart from a few exterior shots, the film was actually shot in New York City sets. 
  • Brad Pitt was one of the producers of the film. Apparently, he was slated to be one of the main characters that were played by Matt Damon and Leonardo, but rather he felt that he was too old for the part, so he decided to produce the film instead. 

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Promo Image courtesy: A still from the movie

Updated 16:43 IST, August 9th 2020

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