'Me, I want what's coming to me... the world chico, and everything in it'
Scarface 9.5
The story opens with factual info and images about the Cuban Revolution and Castro flooding the US with his unwanted criminals, one of which is a young, ruthlessly ambitious thug called Antonio Montana, and his friend and apprentice Manny, both of which have an American dream, just perhaps not a conventional one. They arrive for processing, in a holding pen known as 'freedomtown', it's tucked away largely out of sight under a freeway - perhaps symbolising the American attitude towards immigration. It is significant that Tony buys his freedom by committing a contract killing, teaching himself that violence can get you places, and setting in motion his journey deep into the Miami underworld, which he will ultimately claim his own.
This isn't a film as heavy with metaphor, symbolism or hidden meanings as something like TWBB (although there is lots in common between Tony and Daniel Plainview), it's somewhere inbetween that and a great action film in it's sensibilities. But there is a huge amount to analyse that you would only understand fully after 2 or more viewings, mostly the deeper personality of Tony, who is unapologetically the focus of all aspects of the story. The frst shot of him is his interrogation by 3 or 4 officers, the camera swirls around him, essentially ignoring the officers, he is never out of frame. Through this and the fact he is in almost every scene and we see many close ups of him, we immediately and naturally assume his perspective of things.
Tony Montana is one of my favourite all time characters and is one of those that has gone down in folkloric history, like Don Corleone or Darth Vader. His name is synonymous with Gangster and violence, which I believe is mainly down to the acting by one of the greatest American screen legends. It's a hard performance to define, and an easy one to dismis as overacting but it's not that simple. Firstly, he character is not without morals (he will not target women or children) and in his civilian mode is not even particularly intimidating, but within his underworld he is totally terrifying of course, and importantly, it is laced through him inside and out - meaning that at no point does it seem unlikely that he is really like that - we never feel he is doing it just for effect. His personality eclipses all other bosses in the film and, even among other despicible gangsters, he totally stands out as the most unhinged and dangerous. To be terrifying is his most valuable weapon. He rules with fear, fear that others, no matter how brasen, will not beat him in a head to head of balls or ruthlessness. He's like something from the medieval world, where everything can be solved by killing, or threat of killing, and repercussions don't come into it until afterwards, if atall. This all fits in with his attitude of everything to excess - represented by the famous huge pile of coke at the end. Many of the more seemingly minor scenes are still written to show us about him. He is all business, when some of the other guys act like they're on holiday, he's not got time for it. They all follow him loyally, not just out of fear, but he is clearly also the smartest. To get his way to the top, he charms some people with his straight talking - Sosa says 'i like you tony, there is no lying in you'. Others are so nervous around him that they will do anything he asks. He seems to know how to play people to get what he needs out of them.
His strength and weakness is the intensity of his ambition. He always wants more, can't quit while he's ahead and needs to run everything, eventually making him the architect of his own destruction (as mentioned, similarly to Daniel Plainview in TWBB, and countless other gangster characters). He is also crippled by his own temper, which will eventually prove to be his downfall.. his intense stare, red mist and fits of rage all shown through filmmaking, seem to sometimes be uncontrollable. Interestingly he has a bit of a fatherhood complex, about his own- 'forget papa, we never had one', and about becoming a father himself, which is the final straw in the argument that ends his marriage. This isn't explored that much but we are shown that he had no role model as a child. Throughout all of these traits, he is honest to a fault. He wears his heart on his sleeve, even when it comes to Elvira, who is the only person other than his sister to see a softer side, although only once or twice. As a valuable insight to the character, he is shown to have moments of introspection himself, when he has gone too far, which he does periodically. So he is no doubt cold, calculating and ruthless, but the extreme violence may be more involuntary than it seems. A famous poster, and the DVD cover show him in a suit which is half black and white, on a background of black and white, suggesting two sides to him, not as simple as good and evil, but perhaps bad and worse.
Of course the script gets alot of the credit for the character complexity but to bring it all to life and get it all this across mostly through a performance that is more nuanced the more you see it, means for me this is the best work Pacino's ever done, just ahead of another very showy outing in Heat and the polar opposite quiet and reserved performances in Donnie Brasco and The Godfather (with his work in Glengarry Glen Ross getting a mention). He is forever and rightly associated with portraying gangsters, when Pacino dies, the headlines will almost certainly read 'Godfather and Scarface actor dies'. I remember reading about Marlon Brando's portrayal of Don Corleone being the most true to life of a real Don, partly because he doesn't lose his temper and speaks so quietly. The theory being that in the position of ultimate power, you don't need to shout to assert your dominance, when you speak, everyone listens no matter what. But Tony doesn't have that subtlety within him, and Pacino commits entirely to the character's energy. I said in my review of Heat, Pacino has perhaps the best shouting voice of any actor, and this proves he can also do accents well, his Scarface accent is often imitated by someone wanting to act as a gangster, I know I've done it.
His suits and surroundings get darker as the film goes on, reflecting the state of his soul and paranoia, all set against the beautiful homes and beaches of affluent Miami. I think I remember reading that a similar thing happens in Breaking Bad. At a point when Walter White had neared his entire transformation to the evil Heisenberg, we see him watching, enjoying and showing his son the infamous 'say hello to my little friend' scene, demonstrating his attitude at the time. It's not the only connection between the two in fact. The TV show was originally pitched as 'Mr Chips meets Scarface', meaning a mild mannered teacher (Goodbye Mr Chips, 1939 film) who becomes an evil drug lord. Plus Hector in Breaking Bad played the assassin (Mark Margolis) in Scarface and when Don Eladio first appeared in Breaking Bad, I recognised him but couldn't place him immediately, until he smiled, in that unmistakable Manolo (Steven Bauer) way.
As with others of the genre like Goodfellas, it is just scene after classic scene. Lots of scenes could be analysed deeply but my favourite, besides the classic final shootout, is probably the wonderful scene of him meeting his family after years. He goes in and tries to impress them with money, but he entirely misses the point. They represent most normal people's attitude towards organised crime I believe - in fact they are the only characters who aren't involved in his business in some way - and the only thing in his life that isn't infected, Manny says as much to Gina. He just insults them by saying they don't have to work anymore.. he looks down on them, thinking he is their saviour (or replacement father figure) but we can see they are in the right, this is the start of him losing his perspective of reality. We see him and Manny pull up outside the family house, and I think visually the shot is very important. The background is a pitch black silhouette of industrial buildings against a brightly coloured sunset sky, and the house is the only thing that's lit. Significantly, if you take the time to look at it properly, It makes it look like the house isn't part of the same world, like a view from another celestial body, a haven or sanctuary from everything else, a pool of calm and safety within a see of violence etc, but once he's inside, he mistakenly makes sure it doesn't turn out like that.
My favourite image of the film is probably when he is waiting on the balcony for Elvira, after finishing Frank, and he looks up at the blimp in the sky, displaying a neon sign which reads 'The World is Yours'. It clearly makes an impression on him as he has one made for his house, it's about the last thing we see. The phrase sums up his attitude and his current position in the story and leads into a montage of him making more and more money, (inevitably becoming more of a target) all over a song 'Push it to the Limit' - which again sums him up. The wonderful phrase 'The World is Yours' is also used in (along with the original 1930s scarface) perhaps my all time favourite foreign language film La Haine, I can't recommend it highly enough. It follows three ethnic minority teens on a lazy day in war-torn Paris, they come across a billboard with the phrase, and they graffiti it so that instead it reads 'the world is ours'. Again, very symbolic of the character's feelings at the time and another one of those connections I love to notice.
Scarface is an iconic evocation of not just crime and gangs (for instance alot of the music has been used in GTA games since) but also 80s US. He meets bankers, police and politicians and it's really interesting how corruption is everywhere around him, there's no point in even considering going more straight, it would just be a disadvantage. Outside of his family there are no ethically sympathetic characters, no one trustworthy which just perpetuates his worsening behaviour, putting him on a path that could only ever end with one fate.
Technically it is pretty much all top notch, without being very artsy. It is a very quotable script, you will hear lines from it in all sorts of other films, TV and songs etc. The story is very well paced, it flies by quickly for nearly 3 hours. It does tension very well, there are great scenes of instrumental dialogue throughout, the music is well chosen and composed to communicate moods of certain scenes. A couple of moments of effects, stunts and acting in the minor roles may be dated but all the main cast are superb. F. Murray Abraham plays Omar, the one who ends up taking a short helicopter ride. The year after Scarface this genius gave what has to be one of my top 5 all time performances as Salieri in Amadeus, my 2nd all time favourite film. Michelle Pfeiffer does the strung out on drugs thing very well, she looks like she's a shell of a former self we never see - even calmly stood still, she is often swaying, seemingly unsteady on her feet. The director Brian de Palma uses little dramatic touches to keep things cinematic and ensure our perspective stays with Tony the whole way through, for instance the slow zoom into Tony's face after he shoots Manny in a fit of rage. De Palma also made Carlito's Way with Pacino a decade later, about a gangster trying to go straight but unable to cut all ties. In a parallel universe it could almost be seen as something of a sequel to Scarface, or even a retelling of Godfather 3.
Alot of people are unaware that this isactually a remake. The original was made over 50 years earlier in 1932, directed by Howard Hawks and written by Ben Hecht (hence the message at the end of this version dedicating the film to them) and told a similar story but around Prohibition era booze instead of cocaine. Although the film is not as excellent as this version it is still very good (one of the rare examples of a quality original being improved by an American remake). I must have seen this ten times but even so I was happy to do it all again. It can be joyous to watch something that you know so well, you can bask in the minor details and moments, aswell as the overall effects. Going back about ten or fifteen years Scarface was, along with Gladiatior, my favourite all time film, and even will all the other amazing, transcendent, beautiful, inspirational films I have fallen in love with since, this still has to be top 20 material.
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