f one looks underneath the profanity and perceived brutal violence of Scarface, they will find an admirable all-round motion picture. However, for those who have an open mind and are unwilling to dig deep, Scarface is still one cool film.
Antonio 'Tony' Montana (Al Pacino) has just arrived from Cuba along with his friend Manolo Ray (Steven Bauer) and about 125 000 other Cubans. It seems Fidel Castro has opened a Cuban port allowing Cubans to go to the United States. Unbeknownst to the U.S. though, Castro has secretly cleared his jails and included prisoners with the refugees (guess what group Tony and Manolo belong to, *wink wink*).
Tony is an ambitious person; he wants the world. He always says what is on his mind and does not let people take advantage of him. His attitude eventually lands him a job with Drug Lord Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). Lopez immediately takes a liking to Tony, who takes a liking to Lopez’s trophy girlfriend Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). Lopez is not greedy; he is happy with the state of his business, but less happy with Elvira’s cocaine addiction.
As Scarface progresses, it details Tony’s rise in the drug business as well as his relationships with his partner Manolo, his sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) -of whom he is overprotective- and Elvira.
Scarface is loosely based on the original 1932 Scarface (directed by Howard Hawks and based on real life gangster Al Capone). The talented Brian De Palma (Carrie, 1976) directs the ‘remake’, written by another famous director: Oliver Stone (Midnight Express, 1978). Stone deserves real credit for his gritty yet accurate depiction of the drug industry. Stone, who was himself struggling with a cocaine addiction at the time, interviewed both Law Enforcement officials and drug dealers before writing his script. The lack of positive characters and an unconventional ending is also praiseworthy since it makes this film into an atypical Hollywood movie.
Brian De Palma’s direction in this film is slick. While the plot is very violent, the movie shows only some of this violence. De Palma expertly cuts the camera away from some scenes at the last second, showing us the actor’s reaction rather than the deed.
Visually the movie uses bright colours, with a focus on neon and whites. While this sounds contrary to the dark nature of the character’s actions, it fits nicely with the colours of Miami and its people.
“Wes was so confused. He loved and respected his brother. Tony was the closest thing Wes had to a role model. But the more he tried to be like his brother, the more Tony pushed back.” (72) Wes then got his girlfriend pregnant 4 times and dropped out of school to help out with her. With multiple arrests for shooting someone and drug dealing. Tony his "so called role model" helped Wes rob a jewelry store and they were convicted for murdering Sergeant Prothero along the way. Tony's motives were right but he never really got across to Wes with leading him in the right direction. Tony tried to push Wes away from the drug game but Wes was to drawn to it.
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
Maria had no authority over her restless family. The source of the conflict between Antonio and Maria originates from her oldest sons taking to going where they please and not caring about their parent’s wishes. The burden of pleasing their parents passes from the eldest sons to the youngest one. With the sole duty of pleasing his parents, Tony internally rebels against their wishes instead seeking to set to rest his churning mind by seeking his own beliefs. His brothers console themselves about abandoning their family by saying that “Tony will be her priest” (Anaya 36) and not knowing that the “dreams of their father and mother [haunt] them” (Anaya 36) also haunted Antonio. Having the responsibilities of his brothers and his family shape the way he grows and thinks. He isn’t just thinking about himself he also has the problems of redeeming his family on his head. Through the story and through Ultima Tony realizes that he is not bound by obligations and can instead shape his own
In the end, Tony plays the role of both hero and villain. His wife, Marcela, represents both the whore and the virgin Mexican-American. The both prove unfaithful: Tony to America and Marcela to Mexico. Herein lays the schizophrenic world in which good and bad coexist across the borders of two emerging world countries struggling for control of land and culture. There’s a price to be paid for such human greed and unrealistic expectations. Ultimately it proves to be a place where virtue doesn’t remain intact and villains abound, even among the good guys!
Characters: Ultima- An old Curandera who comes to spend her last days with Antonio and his family. She is Tony’s mentor and helps him to find the right path for his life.
January 17, 1899 Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born to Gabriele and Teresina Capone (about.com). Capone was the fourth of nine children born in to the family. Capone’s mother and father emigrated from Naples, Italy and settled in Brooklyn, New York. Capone’s father was a barber, and his mother stayed home with the children (about.com). Capone was in two gangs as a child, Five Point Gang, and Brooklyn Dive (chicagohs.org). In sixth grade, Capone dropped out of school; some say it is because he beat up his teacher. Others say he dropped out to help earn money for his family. After dropping out of school, for whatever reason, Capone had quite a few different jobs. He was a candy store clerk, a pin boy at a bowling alley, a cutter at a book bindery, and a bouncer bartender at the Harvard Inn. While working at the Harvard Inn, Capone got into a fight with Frank Gallucio after Capone said a comment to Gallucio’s sister (about.com). During the fight Gallucio pulled out a knife and slashed Capones face. The cut left a scar leaving Capone with the nickname, Scarface.
Torrio was a gangster who taught Capone the importance of maintaining a respectable front and on how to run a racketeering business. Torrio introduced Capone to the gang life where he joined Torrio’s gang, the James Street Boys gang, which later came to be known as the 5 Points gang. Capone, like most gangsters got in brawls and during a bar-fight he gets a cut across his left cheek from a razor or a blade and received the name Scarface for the scar that was left behind.
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.
The Five Points Junior introduced Al Capone to a New York mobster named Frankie Yale. By watching Hale using violence to keep control of his turf, Capone followed in his footsteps.Al Capone worked in an Inn where he saw a man and women sitting at a table. He whispered a rude comment into her ear, the man that was with her was her brother Frank Gallucio. It escalated as Frank punched Capone, but Capone didn’t back down as he tried to fight back. Frank Gallucio pulled out a knife and cut Capone from his ear all the way to his mouth. That is how he got the nickname Scarface. A little while after the fight, he met a blonde Irish girl named Mary. They dated, got married, and had a son. Al Capone kept his business away from his family. In 1920, he moved to Chicago to start over.
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 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.
He starts following firm and strong in a style and way of thinking (boy full of good principles that had just won a government medal for his honor and participation in the 2nd war) which then, to protect your beloved father, changes completely Entering head in a world that he swore not be yours. This sudden change is also part of a big move (master Francis Ford Coppola, director), changing the protagonist of the first film: Marlon Brando stars as protagonist, being so famous Don Vito Corleone, while Al Pacino was just (not so just so) the son of Vito and protected in the course of the plot there is a change in the roles. When Michael Corleone finally becomes the Don Corleone and the Godfather, Marlon Brando, has its modified role, becoming the protégé of his beloved son, and the best - without reducing some of the significance of their
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.