Scarface (5 Stars)

I don't like Brian De Palma as a director. I don't particularly like Al Pacino as an actor. And yet this film is brilliant. I can't put my finger on what makes it so good. Is it the chemistry between the main actors, or is it just a good story? I don't know.

The film was made in 1983, and it was a current topic at the time. Tony Montana was one of many ex-criminals that Fidel Castro was sending to America. It was a clever strategy. Rather than have to feed criminals in jail for years, putting a strain on a poor nation, he told them they could go to America if they pretended to be refugees. Tony turns up at the US immigration centre spouting the same anti-Communist rhetoric as all the other Cuban boat people. He's put in a cramped refugee camp while the authorities decide what to do with him. He might have been sent back to Cuba, eventually, but he's given a chance. Among the refugees is a former government official who has fallen into Castro's bad favour. He used to torture prisoners for Castro. An influential politician offers a green card to anyone who kills him. Tony Montana is the man for the job.

From then on he steadily climbs up the ladder in the criminal underworld. He carries out drug deals. He becomes a senior member of a large gang of drug smugglers. Eventually he becomes the boss of the South Florida drug syndicate. He imports cocaine directly from Bolivia, bypassing middle men and making huge profits.

It's a rise and fall story. When someone reaches the top the only way is down. Different factors play a role in Tony Montana's fall. I'll only name the main problem here: drugs. His former boss gave him a rule to live by: "Never get high on your own supply". That's a good rule. Hard drugs like cocaine are destructive. If you want to make money you have to sell it to others for high prices to destroy them. Taking the drugs yourself is suicide. By the end of the film Tony is a wreck. It's true, things in his life have driven him to drugs, but someone who has never used drugs won't be tempted when life goes bad.

The film is a tragedy of epic proportions. Tony Montana is the film's hero. We want him to succeed. He's the underdog who fights and claws his way to the top, when everything is against him. We shed a tear for him when he finally fails. We can shrug our shoulders and say he got what he deserved, but that doesn't change the fact that we wanted him to succeed. The speech that he holds to respectable restaurant guests is also for the viewers:

You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your fingers and say, "That's the bad guy". So what does that make you? Good? You're not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don't have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth, even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. This is the last time you're gonna see a bad guy like this again.

Success Rate:  + 0.6

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