The Departed: A Departure from Early Twenty-First Century American Remakes of Asian Cinema

Abstract

The Departed, a remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, was released during a surge of Hollywood remakes of Asian cinema during the first decade of the twenty-first century. American filmmakers remaking Asian cinema face the challenge of translating films reflecting specific aspects of cultural narrative and specific sociocultural issues informing the domestic film being remade, and the resulting remakes reflect assumptions and choices made by such American filmmakers regarding the treatment of cultural specificity when remaking a film for a new audience. Owing in part to the challenge of translating such cultural specificity in connection with remaking a foreign film, although The Departed adeptly navigates the difficulties of translating a foreign film and achieved both critical and commercial success, the remaining film remakes discussed herein were met with mixed critical and commercial success. A thorough analysis of American remakes of Asian films during the first decade of the twenty-first century, as well as an analysis of the development and production of The Departed, and a comparison of the film to Infernal Affairs, reveal that the critical and commercial success of The Departed reflects the talent of and independence granted to the screenwriter and director of the film by the film’s producers, the thorough localization of the characterizations and narrative of the film to unique, constructed aspects of the politics and culture of Boston, and the effective presentation of themes that are both unique from the themes presented in Infernal Affairs, and which are accessible to American and international audiences.