The title is an interesting choice. A concurrent theme is how the dead influence the living. DiCaprio's Billy Costigan chooses to join the police force following the death of his mother, while the South Boston gangsters' memories of his father is the key to his being enlisted by Jack Nicholson's Frank Costello. Death in The Departed reveals a previously unknown truth about a character.

The almost constant rage of the characters makes The Departed the closest to Mean Streets. It's almost as if one was seeing several variations of Robert De Niro's volitile character Johnny Boy. While the violence is identifiably Scorcese's, there is also almost constant music, with the Rolling Stone's "Gimme Shelter" given prominent play. A brief clip from John Ford's The Informer is appropriate given both the plot and the emphasis on Irish ethnicity. What also needs to be mentioned is that The Departed is quite funny, primarily because of the continual insults hurled between characters. DiCaprio, Damon and Nicholson provide the star power, but the two to watch are Mark Wahlberg as a profanity spewing police sargeant, and Ray Winstone as Nicholson's top thug.

In reference to Mean Street, the influence of that film could be seen most clearly in Wong Kar-Wai's As Tears Go By. Scorsese has been an important filmmaker to several Hong Kong filmmakers. It may have been fortuituous that Scorcese directed The Departed. For those unfamiliar with Infernal Affairs, the film can stand on its own merits. For those who have seen Infernal Affairs, consider The Departed a dialogue between filmmakers.