Was That a Rat?

There have been countless box office hits within the past five years, but to me there has been only one true cinematic success, The Departed. Set in Boston the movie goes inside the Police Department and tries to show the risks of becoming an undercover agent. The movie is filled with blood, lies, and secrecy. Most viewers will choose the final sequence, in which practically the whole cast practically dies, as their favorite montage within the film. But I think the secret to the movie lies after that. The last shot still resonates with you. That camera shows the balcony of an apartment in which a capital building is seen in the far distance. As the camera is focused on the view from the balcony a rat walks across the ledge, stopping right in front of the capital building. With the sequence only last roughly 5 seconds most viewers seems to miss the deeper meaning. I take the departed as a film making a jab at the government. There are “rats” in the capital who are sharing our secrets and running us from the inside out. They have realized that the quickest way to bring our nation down is by attacking the heart of what we are based on. This is also seen in Scream and other scary movies. The maternal theme is so successful because the mother is the heart and keystone to most families.