Scarface [R]

Tony Montana comes to the United States from Cuba as a political prisoner and he soon realises that the only path out of the immigrant ghetto is one riddled with murder and crime. He soon begins to move up in the world, beginning with hit jobs and then the movement of drugs, which takes him into the world of organised crime and its empires. Soon Tony’s eyes are widened as to how he can live: with power, control, money, indeed he sees that the world can be his and he begins to take steps to make it so. But when he finally gets it, he becomes blind as to what it really means and what it has cost him. 

Oliver Stone and Brian De Palmer’s remake of Howard Hawks’ 1932 classic renders audiences speechless and keeps them in a vice-like grip of death from start to finish. Scarface is critically acclaimed as “the first postmodern gangster epic”, and of course everyone will recognise Al Pacino’s iconic climactic line: it’s been referenced, sampled, and the scene even features minutely in those old-school film classification ads. We all know that line! 

Tony Montana comes to the United States from Cuba as a political prisoner and he soon realises that the only path out of the immigrant ghetto is one riddled with murder and crime. He soon begins to move up in the world, beginning with hit jobs and then the movement of drugs, which takes him into the world of organised crime and its empires. Soon Tony’s eyes are widened as to how he can live: with power, control, money, indeed he sees that the world can be his and he begins to take steps to make it so. But when he finally gets it, he becomes blind as to what it really means and what it has cost him. 

Oliver Stone’s adapted screenplay adds a political spin onto the original story and, as such, adds this fantastic extra layer of drama, action, and meaning. As far as gangster movies go, Scarface is an absolute classic depicting this high-flying and glamorous lifestyle that soon turns apocalyptic. As with any gangster flick, it can be a trifle hard to keep up with all the characters and remember who stabbed whom in the back and whatnot, but aside from that factor of confusion, this movie offers its audience all manner of brilliant things from a biting script to most astounding performances. I particularly love Stone’s darkly comical jab at the gangster being the tragic hero, Montano indeed openly refers to himself as the bad guy: “you need me, I’m the bad guy!” 

Al Pacino is the tragic gangster hero himself and he delivers a most breathtaking performance. He was menacing, roughly charming, protective, dramatic, and sometimes very funny. From the get go there’s no bullshit with Pacino, everything that comes out of his mouth is the cold hard truth and it’s that trait that he brings to the character that makes the movie the iconic classic that it is. 

Starring Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Miriam Colon, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, Angel Salazar, and Arnaldo Santana, Scarface is an incredible movie that’s filled with action, politics, drama, violence, protection, and betrayal. It’s a movie that really grips you and it holds you down for the almost-three-hour duration because it will not be denied and you can’t fuck with it! 

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