Year-1983. Dir- Brian DePalma. Writer- Oliver Stone. Duration-170 mins. UK rating-18
Scarface is my favourite film ever. My older brother Tim agrees with me, he told me that it was his favourite film before I had even seen it, so then I just had to see it.
Set during the early 80’s when Castro opened the gates of Mariel Harbour and allowed some 125,000 Cubans to travel to America, Scarface tells the story of one such immigrant, Tony Montana, a man who aims for the stars and so very nearly makes it.
***SPOILER ALERT***
Tony’s increasing addiction to the very drugs he has made his millions from proves to be his own downfall, he murders his best friend because he was dating Tony’s sister, not realising that they have in fact gotten married, and in an unforgettable and climactic conclusion to the film his sister, first of all tries to force Tony to make love to her thus proving his unnatural love for her, then tries to kill him in retaliation for the death of Manny.
All the while this is happening his biggest rival, Sosa has sent a death squad to kill him at his mansion and one of the assassins jumps through a window and kills Gina in front of Tony, the assassin is killed and Tony see’s on the security cameras that the killers have surrounded him, he picks up his machine gun and blasts through the door yelling the immortal line “Say hello to my little friend!”, he then starts shooting wildly at anything that moves killing dozens of Sosa’s men.
***END OF SPOILER***
Al Pacino is brilliant as Tony Montana, his accent is borderline comical but still believable, he was on the back of some remarkable films like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and The Godfather parts 1 and 2, so no stranger to violence in films, definitely a plus when it came to this film.
The rest of the cast work superbly, Steven Bauer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Yep, Maid Marian!) as Manny and Gina play their parts well and even the very bland Michelle Pfeiffer brings Elvira to life brilliantly.
In conclusion this truly is a masterpiece of film making, you genuinely feel the Miami heat and even though he is a brutal, drug addled narcissist, you root for Montana and want him to succeed, the problem is (and not exclusive to this film) what is it to succeed at his game? Throughout the history of gangster films, none have ever had a “Hollywood ending” and this film is the same.
But don’t you just love watching him try? I know I do!
Marcus Mitchell – July 2010
