Abstract: This essay will situate Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006) within the ongoing controversy and continued popularity of remakes in both Chinese and American cinemas. While many Hollywood remakes are indeed commercial fluff made for profit, the aesthetic integrity of the remake in and of itself needs to be examined more closely so that people do not fall into the equally problematic trap of reinscribing the hierarchical division between "originals" and "copies," eviscerating the poetic possibilities of the déjà vu along the way.

Key words: Hollywood, the Departed, remake