OBLIGATORY SPOILER WARNING
Next on the chopping block is Brian DePalma’s 1983 remake of
Scarface starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. Recently, I’ve become quite interested in the
mobster genre having watched mob films and TV shows like the Sopranos, the
Godfather and Goodfellas just to name a few.
This meant that Scarface was the next logical film for me to watch, even
if it focuses on cartels rather than the Mafia.
Scarface follows the progression of Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
and his close friends and associates, from Cuban immigrants to high ranking
members of a drug cartel in Miama, Florida, focusing on the relationships
forged out of these cartels, as well as the promises and families that are
broken because of them. Scarface has
become an undisputed classic in the mobster genre and has given way to some of
the most quotable lines in film history, most notably: “first you get the
money, then you get the power and then you get the women” and “say hello to my
little friend!”
The good: Firstly, I think Pacino gives a commendable
performance as Montana. He is suitably
psychotic in his role, but also very manipulative and subtle too. I also really like how the film explored the effect that crime can have on civilians.
The most notable example is Montana’s own family and mother who curses
at him and screams at him to leave, upon him bringing filthy blood money into
their home. It is a hard-hitting message
about the true realities of this kind of life.
Furthermore, in my favourite scene of the film, Montana’s wife
leaves him in a busy restaurant and Montana chastises everyone watching him for
their judgemental and hypocritical behaviour.
He argues that each of them have holier-than-thou attitudes and they
enjoy scapegoating people like him, so that they can validate their own behaviour
and feel better about themselves. I felt
that this was a very good commentary on the morality that accompanies crime.
The bad: I felt that this film had quite a lot of bad points
that makes it a little overrated.
Firstly, in certain places it was very talky and it didn’t have as many
explosions or shootings that I would expect from a mobster film. Granted, the concluding scene was
action-filled, but this was really just an exception. As a result of this, the film was slow in
places and it did lose my interest. As
an extension of this, I didn’t enjoy how the film was told. Rather than a sequential narrative, where one
event followed another, the narrative was closer to episodic, with each event
being self-contained and no discernible connection to the next. For this reason, I found the film hard to
follow. Finally, Scarface had too many
characters. Other than Montana and his
best friend Manny, I found it difficult to keep track of who was who. I was left confused at the film’s conclusion
over who had whacked Montana. When
Wikipedia told me it was Sosa, this only deepened my confusion, as I struggled
to remember who this character was.
The ugly: All of the open-necked shirts. I saw more middle-aged hairy men’s chest in 2
and a half hours than I’ve seen in a lifetime.
Rating: Good
Whilst this film was good, I certainly don’t think it’s a
“classic in the mobster genre,” definitely not in comparison to the Godfather
or Goodfellas which are worthier of the title.
Whilst Montana had the ferocity of a sabre-toothed tiger, the film’s
pace and tone was at certain times, glacial at best.
Thanks for reading
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