Classic Throwback: Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983)

Since it’s release in 1983 Brian De Palma’s gangster epic, Scarface, has become a genre classic, Al Pacino’s Tony Montana has become a cultural icon and the film has been influential, and is often quoted, referenced and parodied. It is actually a reworking of Howard Hawks’ 1932 film of the same name. I haven’t seen this version, but I believe the broad rise and fall story is quite similar, as are the central themes, though most certainly not to the gratuitous excess of De Palma’s version.

Oliver Stone (a few years before his Oscar winning work for Platoon) wrote the screenplay. It is very evidently a Stone screenplay – full of ripe language, strong violence, and copious amounts of drug use (including the infamous cocaine inhalation sequence) and a not so subtle ‘fuck you’ to the Hollywood censors and the American government, who seem to be blamed for the drug wars during this period by allowing Cuban refugees (who all seem to be depicted as criminals or psychotics – and caused a stir) to enter the country. De Palma, who was fresh off his own battle with the censors following Dressed to Kill, was the perfect man to add his style to this grimy tale of greed, materialism and misguided pleasure.

Tony Montana and his friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) arrive in Miami as part of the Mariel exodus in 1980, which involved the arrival of 125, 000 Cuban refugees over several months. It is believed that at least 25,000 of these refugees had criminal records or were former mental patients. Montana is interrogated on arrival, and it is clear that this opportunistic low-life is bound for trouble, despite his swagger, his inability to be intimidated and a hardened armour of self-confidence. Following he and Manny’s assassination of a political refugee and the successful (but near fatal – Tony has a close meeting with a chainsaw) completion of a drug deal, which proves that Montana has the balls to make it in the business, he is invited into the cartel of Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia), Miami’s chief drug kingpin.

He soon starts undermining Lopez’ authority, forming an alliance with a Bolivian drug lord, and trying to win over Lopez’ girlfriend Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). Soon enough, Montana gets too big for his boots, and following an attempt on his life (ordered by Lopez) Montana eliminates his enemies (including a police chief, that has no repercussions) and becomes the new centre of drug distribution in Miami. But his uncouth attitude, his thirst for absolute power, his brutal ruthlessness, and his thrive off excess results in his tragic, but not sympathetic demise. “I work hard for this” he exclaims. For what? For more money than he knows what to do with and a life that leads to a premature loss of ‘everything’?

Tony Montana is certainly one of Al Pacino’s most famous roles, and his thick mush-mouth Cuban accent, his unrelenting air-of-self-importance swagger, his leering gaze, his volatile fits of anger and his general deranged attitude is initially marvelous work. Watching him grow frustrated by his dishwasher job (“I didn’t come to America to break my back”) and quickly assert himself as an honest, street-smart, no-nonsense criminal is entertaining and edgy. It soon becomes tiring, because his character is so damn unlikeable and Pacino adopts a no-holds-barred attitude. He becomes an all-round toxic presence punctuated by a series of slurred insults and frustrated narcissistic rants. Steven Bauer, who is initially more interested in American chicks than becoming a big deal, is great as Montana’s more moralistic main man but Michelle Pfeiffer just looks bored, strutting around in skimpy dresses and snorting copious amounts of coke.

Scarface is given a slick, stylish look by De Palma’s visuals, and the action is accompanied perfectly by Giorgio Moroder’s synthesizer score, and punctuated by 80’s pop songs (Push it to the limit couldn’t be more perfect). But the film is the epitome of excess, both in the materialistic pleasures of the characters, and the filmmaking. Montana’s mansion, which actually influenced the mansion of one of the characters in Grand Theft Auto Vice City (always my favourite of the GTA games), is riddled with useless and expensive décor. The double staircase leading up to Tony’s office, the extensive surveillance equipment positioned behind his desk and the huge pile of cocaine he sticks his face in at one time, are obvious examples.

The main problem I had with the film is the fact that my invested interest in the story greatly waned following the half way mark. As soon as Montana experiences his first taste of wealth, and sees a window to take what he has proven to the next level, he becomes increasingly unlikeable. The film becomes repetitive, takes disengaging tangents (the whole story with his sister could have been cut) and it is ultimately tedious and irritating. Having now seen this film twice, I have been disappointed both times. I was actually pretty optimistic for a while there, because the infamous chainsaw sequence holds up pretty well, but I can honestly confess I don’t much care for it.