It feels kinda weird to think about now, but there was a time when the world genuinely believed Martin Scorsese might never win a competitive Academy Award. By the time the 79th Academy Awards rolled around in February 2007, the narrative wasn't just about the movies. It was about a debt. People were obsessed with the idea that the Academy "owed" him one. When The Departed was named the oscar best film 2007 winner, it felt like a collective exhale from Hollywood.
He'd been nominated for Raging Bull. He lost. He'd been nominated for Goodfellas. He lost that, too, famously to Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves. Even Gangs of New York and The Aviator couldn't seal the deal. So, when a gritty, foul-mouthed remake of a Hong Kong thriller called Infernal Affairs finally took home the top prize, it wasn't just a win for a movie. It was the end of a decades-long drought.
The Brutal Competition of the 79th Academy Awards
2006 was a strange, transitional year for cinema. You had these massive, sweeping epics competing against intimate, low-budget indies. Looking back, the lineup for the oscar best film 2007 category was actually incredibly stacked.
There was Babel, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s globalist tapestry that felt exactly like the kind of "serious" movie the Academy usually loves. Then you had Little Miss Sunshine, the ultimate indie darling that proved a yellow van and a dysfunctional family could outshine a hundred-million-dollar budget. Don't forget The Queen, which was basically a masterclass in restrained British drama, and Letters from Iwo Jima, Clint Eastwood’s hauntingly beautiful Japanese-language war film.
Honestly, The Departed felt like the outlier. It was a genre flick. A crime drama. A movie where people get their heads blown off in elevators. It wasn't "prestige" in the traditional sense, but it had an undeniable energy that the other nominees lacked. Jack Nicholson was chewing the scenery as Frank Costello, and Leonardo DiCaprio was giving perhaps the most stressed-out performance of his entire career.
Why The Departed Actually Won
Some critics argue it was a "career achievement" award disguised as a Best Picture win. I don't buy that. While the sentimentality for Scorsese helped, The Departed is a technical marvel. The editing by Thelma Schoonmaker is frantic, violent, and perfect. It keeps a complex double-spy plot from collapsing under its own weight.
William Monahan’s screenplay took the core concept of Infernal Affairs and drenched it in South Boston Catholicism and vulgarity. It worked. It felt fresh. You've got Matt Damon playing a sociopath in a suit and Mark Wahlberg playing a staff sergeant who basically exists to insult everyone in the room. It was a movie that people actually watched and enjoyed, which isn't always true for Best Picture winners.
Little Miss Sunshine almost pulled an upset, though. It won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast, which is usually a massive indicator for the big prize. But The Departed had the momentum of a runaway train. When Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas—the three titans of New Hollywood—walked out to present the Best Director award, everyone knew what was happening. It was a coronation.
The Snubs and the Surprises
Every year has its "how did they miss that?" moments. 2007 was no different. While we talk about the oscar best film 2007 race, we have to talk about Children of Men and Pan’s Labyrinth.
Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men is now widely considered one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, yet it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture. Neither was Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which had to settle for a Best Foreign Language Film nomination (and a shocking loss to The Lives of Others).
There’s also the Jennifer Hudson factor. Her win for Dreamgirls was one of the most telegraphed victories in history, but the movie itself—once considered a frontrunner for the top prize—didn't even get a Best Picture nomination. That was a huge deal at the time. It was the first movie to receive the most nominations in a single year (eight) without being nominated for the big one.
The Cultural Weight of the 2007 Win
Winning the oscar best film 2007 changed the way we look at "late-period" Scorsese. It proved he wasn't just a legacy act; he could still outpace the young guys. The film grossed nearly $300 million worldwide. That’s a lot of tickets for an R-rated drama about rats and police corruption.
It also solidified Leonardo DiCaprio’s status. Before this, some people still saw him as the heartthrob from Titanic. After The Departed and Blood Diamond (which he was actually nominated for that same year), that image was dead. He was a powerhouse.
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A Quick Look at the Winners Circle
- Best Picture: The Departed
- Best Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
- Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
- Best Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen)
- Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
- Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
The victory for Forest Whitaker was particularly significant. His portrayal of Idi Amin was terrifying and vulnerable. It was one of those "locked in" wins from the moment the trailer hit. Helen Mirren was similarly untouchable for The Queen. It was a year where the acting categories felt settled months in advance, leaving all the drama for the final envelope.
The "Infernal Affairs" Comparison
You can't talk about the oscar best film 2007 without mentioning the original source. Infernal Affairs is a masterpiece of Hong Kong cinema. Some purists still think the original is better because it’s leaner and more philosophical. Scorsese’s version is louder, more aggressive, and deeply rooted in the American identity—specifically the Irish-American experience in Boston.
Scorsese didn't even know it was a remake when he first read the script. He just liked the characters. The irony is that he finally won his Oscar for a story that wasn't "his" in the traditional sense, yet he made it feel entirely his own through the use of Rolling Stones tracks and rapid-fire dialogue.
Historical Context: The 2007 Landscape
The mid-2000s were a weird time for the industry. DVD sales were starting to peak, and the "prestige drama" was still the king of the mountain. We weren't yet in the era of superhero dominance. A movie like The Departed could be a massive cultural event.
The ceremony itself was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres for the first time. It was a relatively "safe" show, but the tension in the room during the Best Picture announcement was palpable. When Graham King, the producer, took the stage, it felt like the industry was finally righting a wrong.
Interestingly, The Departed is the only remake of a foreign film to ever win Best Picture. That's a wild stat if you think about how many remakes Hollywood churns out. It managed to bridge the gap between "popular movie" and "artistic achievement" in a way that very few films have done since.
How to Revisit the 2007 Nominees Today
If you want to understand why the oscar best film 2007 race mattered, you have to watch the films in context. Don't just watch The Departed. Watch it alongside Babel and Letters from Iwo Jima. You'll see a snapshot of a world grappling with globalization, war, and the breakdown of communication.
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- Watch the Editing: Pay attention to how The Departed cuts between Damon and DiCaprio. It’s a lesson in building anxiety.
- Compare the Scores: Howard Shore’s guitar-heavy score for The Departed is a complete 180 from his work on Lord of the Rings.
- Track the Career Arcs: See how this win propelled Scorsese into his next phase, leading to Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Irishman.
The legacy of the 79th Academy Awards isn't just a trophy on Scorsese's shelf. It’s the validation of a specific type of filmmaking—unapologetic, adult-oriented, and stylistically bold. It remains a high-water mark for 21st-century cinema.
To truly appreciate this era of film, start by watching Infernal Affairs to see the DNA of the story, then follow up with the 2007 winner to see how a master director adapts a narrative for a different culture. You can find both on most major streaming platforms or at your local library's media section. Understanding the interplay between these two films offers the best insight into why the Academy finally relented and gave the legendary director his due.