Scarface

I had always heard of the movie Scarface but I had never seen it until recently. I had been watching many of the classic gangster movies from the 80s and 90s such as Heat and Donnie Brasco so I decided to watch Scarface. Before watching the movie I thought it would be some boring movie with a basic plot and some decent acting but I was surprised. Scarface is certainly one of my favorite movies if not my favorite now. After watching it I can easily see why it is a favorite of many people. Al Pacino’s portrayal of Tony Montana’s emotions along with the intriguing plot make the movie one of the best. 

The movie starts with a Cuban refugee, Tony Montana, arriving in Miami. Montana eventually rose to the top of the Miami cocaine trade. Throughout his career you can see Montana start to change as a person: he starts to become crazier and crazier. Pacino’s depiction of the character ameliorates the viewer’s connection to Montana. Through Pacino’s acting, he manages to turn Montana into a character that elicits empathy from the viewers. I find that many actors fail to make unscripted emotions which tends to remove a connection to the fictional character. As his drug dealing career starts to disintegrate, Pacino lets the viewer see Montana’s inner turmoil start to take over all logical thinking. You can see the effect of this in the scene where he opens the door to Manny’s mansion and sees what is going on (this is a terrible description but I do not want to give spoilers). You can already see how crazy Montana is getting in previous scenes. When Montana sees Manny upstairs you can instantly see the rage on Montana’s face. This display of emotions is then connected to what he does next (again I do not want to spoil it). 

In addition to the acting, the plot itself was one of the best in my opinion. Not only does the plot include actual events such as the Mariel boatlift but it also is loosely based on the famous gangster Al Capone which I find interesting. The plot shows how corrupting material wealth is to people. Montana initially just wants to rise above poverty but this soon turns into a never-ending, cocaine-fueled greed for amassing wealth. The plot depicts how people will easily throw out their morals for wealth and power in return. As he gets richer and richer, Montana exploits and backstabs his allies for more. He becomes intoxicated by his power which makes him completely lose touch with his previous values. In the end, Montana’s insatiable appetite causes him to lose it all. He had the chance to stop while he was ahead but was overcome with greed. This plot stands as a message to the viewers but it also is an accurate representation of what happened to many other gangsters such as Al Capone. If anyone is interested in watching Scarface I would highly recommend it along with many other similar movies of its time.