In 7 words or less: The rise and fall of Tony Montana
What's it all About? It's 1980 when Tony Montana arrives in Miami. He's one of 125,000 Cuban refugees sent over to the United States by Fidel Castro and 'wants what's coming to him, the whole world and everything in it'. What proceeds is a man climbing all the way to the top of Miami's drug infested underworld. But how long can it last?
Best bits? The motel scene on South Beach is still to this day one of my all time favourite cinema moments. It's shocking, scary, funny and numbingly gripping from start to finish and pretty much spawned a generation of directors that make entire films based on this microcosm.
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| I just don't see how this can end well |
Everyone by now knows I'm a total sucker for neon drenched night scenes and visceral cityscape cinematography. This film has it by the bucket load and it's of the highest caliber. The sets and locations are such an important character in this movie, they give every scene an extra potency, reinforcing the dialogue with the desired emotion or notion. I think the interior of Tony's mansion demonstrates this perfectly.
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| Too much? |
All of Montana's dialogue is amazing and stems from a great Oliver Stone script. Shame it gets over quoted by morons though! "Say hello to my little friend!" Oh god....
Any scenes at the deliciously 80s Babylon club are a highlight too. I want to go to that place! The dancing is hilarious! Talking of clubs, the music and score for Scarface are absolutely perfect.
Did it make you think thoughts? The style and structure for this film is immense. It plays more like an opera than a conventional film. You get filler scenes and little skits that slowly build up to these huge, powerful, operatic moments that signify the closing of a chapter and the start of another. Really gripping stuff.
Watching Scarface really reminds me of playing GTA Vice City (which obviously drew a lot from this film). So much of the first act is Tony driving around completing various missions for people. The operatic talky bits almost feel like the cut scenes you're rewarded with after completing a level! I understand that Scarface started this kind of narrative concept in computer games but it really is strange when you watch it now.
Would you watch it again? Totally.
Rating (out of 100%): 91% An incredibly powerful, mesmerising, perfectly executed performance from Al Pacino (that in no way has diminished or aged with time) makes this an absolute must watch! Bravo to all involved!
