“Scarface”, an original gangster film created by Brian De Palma, has captured audience’s attention by remarkable editing shots and the superb use of mise-en-scene. “Scarface”, originally released December 9 of1983, is a drama revolved around the life of Tony Montana who is played by Al Pacino. Tony gets his name by the scar on his face going over his right eye. He was born in Cuba who immigrated to the United State who then starts his life in Florida from the bottom of the drug cartel to soon making his way up to becoming one of the most powerful cocaine cartel leaders in Miami. What made this film so realistic was because at the time, Miami was becoming a huge crime scene to cocaine smuggling and drug wars. According to Answers.com, this time was brutal and the people associated with this lifestyle were known as “Cocaine Cowboys” (par.3). It was a time where it wasn’t unusual to see and hear about drug related deaths. Brian De Palma captured all of this by his utilization of editing style and application of precise mise-en-scene.
There are many diverse types of editing styles that are used in the film industry. The one that Brian De Palma used was that of continuity editing, which in short, uses cuts and other transitions to tell stories efficiently with each shot having a continuous relationship to the next shot. The film is over two hours long so the scene up for discussion is about twenty minutes in when Tony is going into an apartment to collect some cocaine. The overall scene is about ten minutes long and shows Tony walking to the apartment, getting tied up with his accomplice who tagged along, and watching that accomplice get murdered in front of his face while Tony is anxiously waiting for his friends to show up and sho...
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All in all, this film is the dark side of the American dream. Brian De Palma did an excellent job at creating memorable scenes, such as the scene earlier explained and the famous ending with Pacino reciting “Say hello to my little friend”. Throughout the film some confusion is made due to frequent slips but overall the theme is consistent and remains consistent with the help of a strong cast. Without a doubt Al Pacino was the main star of the film and it probably wouldn’t have been such a success if another star was assigned his character. It’s hard to see anyone else playing Tony Montana after Al Pacino’s performance. This film, though full of violence and crime, protrudes moments of humor and controversial situations. It’s a momentous film created in the 80’s that is still considered a classic gangster film in today’s generation.
The characters in these films were savvy, secretive and wealthy unlike the gangsters seen in Little Caesar and Scarface: The Shame of the Nation. Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983) payed homage to the original, and although they follow roughly the same storyline, De Palma’s remake is more reminiscent of The Godfather films than its predecessor. Tony Montana (Al Pacino), the film’s main character, worked his way up from poverty by selling drugs and committing horrifying acts of violence in order to attain the power, wealth and woman he so desired. In his 1983 review of Scarface, Pulitzer prize winner, Roger Ebert states “Al Pacino does not make Montana into a sympathetic character, but he does make him into somebody we can identify with, in a horrified way, if only because of his perfectly understandable motivations” (RogerEbert.com). More than fifty years later, Ebert expresses similar thoughts to those of Robert Warshow, esteemed film critic and author of “The Gangster as a Tragic Hero.” “…We [the audience] gain the double satisfaction of participating vicariously in the gangster’s sadism and then seeing it turned against the gangster himself.” (Warshow) These sentiments are exactly what the censorship of the 1932 version intended to prevent, yet Scarface (1983) did not receive the same scrutiny. Despite the mixed reviews that Howard Hawk’s original Scarface: Shame of the Nation and Brian De Palma’s
Al Capone’s family came with a wave of other Italian immigrants that migrated to the United States in the 1800’s. Most immigrants in that time were living in poverty and in very urban areas. Capone’s family lived in the heart of Brooklyn, but his father was a successful barber which allowed them a slightly better lifestyle than most. Al Capone was the fourth of nine children and grew up with a very tight-knit Italian family who were trying to succeed in their new country”. Capone attended public school in the city and had a natural brightness by keeping a “B average” despite playing hooky on many occasions. The sixth grade showcased Capone’s short temper when he hit a female teacher who was lecturing him. This incident reveals the beginning of who Al Capone would come to be. After being suspended for his violence, he never officially furthered his education. He began his life of crime by joining the kid gangs that existed all over Brooklyn. These “gangs” were nothing more than children being hoodlums and participating in petty crimes, although they would be the ...
Gangster Al Capone played a significant role during the Prohibition era by revolutionizing whiskey bootlegging, becoming America’s most notorious mobster by controlling his business through manipulation and fear, and paving a pathway that many crime organizations follow today. Al “Scarface” Capone was born in a poor Brooklyn tenement on January 17th, 1899 to Theresa and Gabriele Capone, who had immigrated from Italy. Not only did Al Capone play an infamous role within his time period, but he also left a lasting legacy behind him. His lifestyle proved to have a vital impact on the justice system and organized crime scene of today.
Alphonse Gabriel Capone was the most notorious bootlegger in American History. He was born on January 17, 1899 and died of a heart attack on January 25, 1947. Capone grew up in Brooklyn and became a member of the Five Points Gang. During a street fight he had received a scar on his face that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone quickly moves up the ranks in the mafia world, often noticed for his toughness, in 1919 he grabbed the attention of mobster John Torrio of Chicago. Capone was promoted to bodyguard of the mob boss James Colosimo. When Capone moved to Chicago, bootlegging was just starting to blow up. These bootleggers pounced on the opportunity to completely control the business of making, importing, and distributing alcohol and all alcohol products. Alcohol wasn't the only flourishing industry for the the mob, they also did trade in
This movie was a tale of an immigrant seeking money and power who untimely set up his own demise. The producers did a good job at pointing out certain features that let you into the life of an organized crime leader. He tells of his humble beginnings and shows you in details how he rose to the top. The producer had a point to make and I took that point as being you can never get and stay someone good while being bad. The sound effects and graphics also makes this movie. They show just enough to intrigue you but yet not to completely make you sick to your stomach. The music is very telling and
Like most things captured on film for the purpose of being marketed, the richness of gangster life, with sex, money, and power in surplus, is glorified, and thus embraced by the audience. And as a rule, if something works Hollywood repeats it, ala a genre. What Scarface and Little Caesar did was ultimately create a genre assigning powerful qualities to criminals. Such sensationalism started with the newspapers who maybe added a little more color here and there to sell a few more copies, which is portrayed in Scarface’s two newspaper office scenes. Leo Braudy denounces genres as offending “our most common definition of artistic excellence” by simply following a predetermined equation of repetition of character and plot. However, Thomas Schatz argues that many variations of plot can exist within the “arena” that the rules of the genre provide.
The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American Mafia in cinema?
Alphonse Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York to Gabriele and Teresina Capone. He grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two gangs; the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Alphonse did well at school until the 6th grade when he was expelled for retaliating against a teacher who hit him. He was fourteen at the time. He became part of the Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's bar, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn one night, local gangster Frank Gallucio was drinking with his sister at the Harvard Inn. Capone approached the girl to compliment her, and Gallucio took offense to him started a fight. Gallucio pulled a knife and cut Capone's face three times. That is how "Scarface" came to be.
His name is Frank Gulouchyo. Frank Gulouchyo scarred Capone for life. Capone got up, walked over to the young lady’s table, and told her that she had a nice butt. Then Gulouchyo got up and pulled a knife out of his pocket and sliced the left side of his face. That is how Al Capone acquired the nickname of Scarface.
The director Antoine Fuqua vision for this film was to bring that intense love-hate relationship onto the big screen and showcase it for the world to see. To ensure a convincing film setting, Fuqua shot on location in some of the most hardcore neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Fuqua also wanted to show the daily struggles of officers tasked to work in the rougher neighborhoods of cities and how easy it can be to get caught up in a street life filled with killers and drug dealers. Overall the film displayed the city of Los Angeles in a different perspective. One which m...
...s we are given. Some displayed right on the screen, others shown through actors’ gestures. At the same time this film keeps us entertained with action and violence current the interested of the present generation. This shows “American Gangster” was made with the audience in mind and this is why it did so well in the box office. This film really does such a quality job of capturing the time period, but it still had all these other elements in it to try to make it perfect. “A perfect cast”, that become their character and still brings their own personification into the film. Setting that can not confuse you, as well as narrative economy that still again remind you were you are. Editing that flows nice and evenly. But is this all the makes for a perfect film or just a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Are all these qualities too much and really their downfall?
The Godfather is the “dark-side of the American dream story” (Turan, pp2). The film follows the practices of a fictional Italian mafia family, the Corleone’s. Though most Americans do not condone the practices of the Italian mafia, they cannot deny that Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather is a cinematic masterpiece. This film gave insight to a mysterious way of life that the average person does not have knowledge of. As the audience is educated about the mafia they also are introduced to many stereotypes.
Scarface shows how the fast life is not the best life to take. The illegal drug business will always end in negative ending resulting in death or being imprisoned. This movie showcased what the public in the area of Miami had to go through including the law. The 1980s was a major time for the break of cocaine. Tony Montana gained so much power with the distribution of cocaine. This movie came together so well because of the time frame. The break of cocaine caused a lot of crime to rise in Miami, Florida. An estimated 70% of all marijuana and cocaine imported into the U.S. passes through South Florida. Drug smuggling could be the region’s major industry, worth anywhere from $7 billion to $12 billion a year. (Rivers, 1996) This movie correlated with the immigration of the Cuban community in America. Since the spring of 1980, when Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to those who wanted to leave, about 125,000 “Marielitos” have landed in South Florida. In addition, 25,000 refugees have arrived from Haiti; boatloads of half-starved Haitians are washing up on the area’s beaches every week. (Rivers, 1996) A lot of illegal immigrants rose the rate of unemployment, taxed social services, irritated racial tensions and helped send the crime rate to staggering heights. Rebellious immigrants are believed to be responsible for half of all violent crime in Miami. Tony Montana was one of those rebellious immigrants who wanted to
In the film Scarface (1932) the ideological message that I personally see is the issue of power, more specifically street credibility, and how your reputation defines you in the streets to other gangsters and thugs. For one to understand the ideological message of power that this films projects one must know a thing or two about how street life was like during the time this film takes place, which is (1932). At this time in United States history, there was a large portion of these criminals who actions and methodology became to be known...
The Godfather is most notably one of the most prolific films of its time. This "gangster" film displayed many transformations of permeating color to give the viewer observable cues in its mise en scene that drew one right into the movie. The dramatic acting set the tone of the film with a score that lifted the viewer right out of their seat in many scenes. The directing and cinematography made The Godfather ahead of its time. The nostalgic feel of family importance and the danger of revenge lets us into the life of the Mafia. Even though no other techniques would have given the viewer a feeling of inside the mob like the mise en scene of the power the godfather held, the characters are reinforced literally and figuratively because the story views the Mafia from the inside out, and the cinematography of the film gives it a dangerous and nostalgic feel.