2006年VOA标准英语-Director Scorcese Returns With All-Star Cast in

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
08 October 2006
 
  
  
Jack¹ Nicholson stars as Frank Costello, the ruthless boss of an underground criminal empire in Southy, the working class neighborhood on the south side of Boston. Law enforcement agencies have been trying to infiltrate² the operation and get evidence that will bring down the mobster.

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Southy-born Mark Wahlberg plays the detective running the Massachusetts State Police undercover operation. "What they did shoot in Boston was cool because we were right near my neighborhood. That was pretty weird³, shooting the movie right in the neighborhood where I grew up," he says.

Another Boston-area native, Matt Damon, plays Colin Sullivan: a protege to crime boss Costello who hides his past and enlists⁴ in the State Police so he can secretly keep his boss one step ahead of the law. "It's really rare in a film of this budget to have characters that are this interesting. Generally, the bigger the budget, the less interesting the characters become and all of us actually had real things to play," he says.

 
Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio star in Warner Bros. Pictures' crime drama 'The Departed' 
  
Leonard DiCaprio is Billy Costigan, the undercover State Police officer who gets close to Nicholson's crime boss and whose life is in jeopardy⁵ if the informer - Damon's character - discovers his identity. "These characters are two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways. They come from different backgrounds, but they could have easily made choices the other character made, depending on the circumstances," he says.

As far as Jack (Nicholson) is concerned, we kind of expected the unexpected," says DiCaprio. "For me, there were number of different scenes where I had no idea what was going to happen. I think we all knew that if he came on board he would have to grab the reins⁶ with this character and let him be free form ...and we all were completely ready for that every day that we walked on set."

"In a way it's a world where the morality no longer exists and I think Costello knows that," says Director and producer Martin Scorcese. He says "The Departed," though set in Boston and based on a story from Hong Kong, nevertheless mirrors some of his own experiences growing up on the mean streets of New York City. I was very affected⁷ by it ...more than the physical violence, the emotional violence around me and it is part of what I am and who I am. Somehow it channels itself into the films, but I see it sometimes as absurd. In this film, I think there is absurdity⁸ in some of the violence, but that's just the absurdity of being alive," he says.

"A lot of my work on the film is intuitive, but I did understand the corruption⁹ of power in Jack Nicholson's character. (He is) beyond God. He has all the money, he has all the drugs and everything and yet he is still not satisfied and he ultimately sets himself up to be taken in by his sons," says the director.

"The Departed" also features Vera Farmiga as a psychologist attracted to both undercover cop DiCaprio and informer Damon; and screen veterans Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin play rival police commanders. The screenplay, adapted from "Infernal Affairs," is by William Monahan.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 enlists   

v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的第三人称单数 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• This method enlists the orchestration by creating its activation subscription. 此方法通过创建业务流程的激活订阅来登记业务流程。 来自互联网
• Party spirit enlists a man's virtue in the cause of his vice. 党派心使人的美德也为罪恶效劳。 来自互联网

5 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

6 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。