Highlights
- Scarface remains a controversial and iconic piece of American cinema, known for its graphic nature and portrayal of the illicit drug trade.
- The movie explores the American dream and the consequences of pursuing wealth and power at all costs.
- Scarface has left a significant legacy, influencing various forms of media, from music and video games to comic books, and continues to be referenced and admired by filmmakers and artists.
Al Pacino is one of America's greatest talents with a career that spans decades and numerous hits. His roles have put him on both sides of the law from Michael Corleone in The Godfather to Luitenant Vincent Hanna in Heat. However, most fans remember him as the tough-as-nails gangster Tony Montana in Brian De Palma's Scarface. Despite it being a remake of a 1930s film with the same name, it became its own thing that kept fans talking for decades.
At the time of its making, Scarface was significantly controversial for its graphic nature. Critics accused it of glorifying drugs and violence. It even received an "X" rating until De Palma appealed the Motion Picture Association of America. The chainsaw in the shower scene alone had people covering their eyes. Nonetheless, Scarface remains a cultural phenomenon that's a classic piece of Americana that helped set up Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio for success.
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What is Scarface About?
The short story is that Scarface is about the American dream. The other short story is that it's about the illicit drug trade of the '80s, addiction, and too much of a good thing. Tony Montana was a Cuban refugee who ended up in Miami and rose through the ranks of a criminal empire. From the very beginning, audiences see that Tony will do whatever it takes to get what he wants as he hustles a couple of U.S. federal agents during an interrogation. At this point, he's a nobody with only one friend. He eventually gets out of the refugee camp and becomes a dishwasher, but he wants more than that for himself.
The way he sees it, he can either stay a dishwasher, work hard, and try to move up in a business for lousy pay, or he can join South Florida's illegal drug trade business, do half the work, and get what he wants faster. The choice seemed easy to him as he was a man with no scruples. Montana wants fast cars, a big house, and a beautiful wife. He ends up getting exactly all of that by burning bridges along the way. He starts making decisions without consulting his superiors, which paints him as a go-getter and it impresses the bosses. Eventually, Tony becomes the big boss, and he learns that it's not all it's cracked up to be.
Tony ends up with everything he could want, but in Al Capone fashion, the feds end up charging Tony with tax evasion. That's when he makes a deal with the devil that involves an assassination attempt. Tony ends up pushing everyone away. Well, he pushes his wife away, but he shoots and kills his best friend for sleeping with his sister. By the end of the movie, Tony has to defend himself in his home from his boss's goons after he backed out of the assassination attempt.
What is the Legacy of Scarface?
Scarface has stood the test of time, becoming one of the most iconic pieces of cinema of all time. References from the movie find their way into a multitude of songs, television, movies, and even video games. Many filmmakers have cited Scarface as a primary influence on their work. Even comic book publishers Dark Horse and IDW put out Scarface comics due to its popularity and cultural impact.
The movie was made at a time when hip hop was on the rise, influencing significant artists of the genre from Nas and Future. The latter even put out a song and eventual hit called "Tony Montana," of course referring to Al Pacino's role. The video game industry has no shortage of references to the movie and its characters. Grand Theft Auto most notably created a duplicate of Tony Montana's home in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City while also taking a few story beats as well.
How Does Scarface End?
In order to avoid prison time, Tony Montana makes a deal with the drug kingpin Alejandro Sosa to assassinate an activist threatening to expose Sosa's entire operation. Tony agrees and heads to New York City with "Shadow," Sosa's assassin. Sosa plants a bomb underneath the activist's car with the intention of "pulling the trigger" once the man reaches his destination. However, Tony takes not of the man's wife and child in the car with him, giving Tony cold feet. There's obvious reluctance within Tony because on one hand, Sosa can keep him out of prison if he just goes along with the plan. On the other hand, Tony might not be able to live with his conscience knowing he was directly responsible for the murder of an innocent child and wife.
He might have been a drug lord, but Tony Montana was no child killer, so he put a stop to the assassination attempt right away by putting a bullet in Shadow's head. Unfortunately, that meant the activist exposed Sosa's operation, which put Tony on Sosa's new hit list. Tony returns to his home in Miami and prepares for Sosa's enforcers by getting high off his own product.
Tony Montana wasn't like other movie protagonists. He remains the same character from beginning to end, which is the whole point. He's a person who doesn't take no for an answer and has his own way of doing things. He's a proud person, but that ends up being his downfall. After taking out a few of Sosa's men with his "little friend" -an M16 with an under-barrel grenade launcher- he feels invincible. He feels like he's on top of the world. So much so that he goes to his office balcony and taunts the assassins down below. His pride blinds him to the fact that right behind him is another assassin with a double-barrel shotgun pointed at his head.
The movie ends with Tony's body floating in his pool next to a globe that reads "The World is Yours." It's an ironic statement because Tony never learned any lessons. Had he paid attention and got his ego under control, he would have had his wife, his friend, his sister, and even his mother.