Scarface - 1983

Universal Pictures digitally restored reissues continues apace with its release of Scarface on the big screen. And like Spartacus before it, the picture quality is phenomenal, so is the sound design. The chainsaw sequence is particularly special. As with my new found desire to see as many classics as possible in their original format (on the big screen), to be able to tick Scarface off is a particular treat.

The film is famous now, a cult classic, which despite aging slightly is still, if not more enjoyable now than it has ever been. There are perhaps too many scenes which now raise a chuckle, but the film remains a classic of the 1980's with its blistering rise and fall tale of Tony Montana (Al Pacino).

Watching the reissue I was struck not only by Pacino's performance which is less shouty than I had remembered (except the ending), but also by how good Steven Bauer is as Montana's most loyal and closest friend Manny. Scarface demonstrates that his career should have been more successful than it was. The film has great performances throughout, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is brilliant as Montana younger sister, her life suffering a fate similar to Montana's after he returns after five years, some of it spent in prison. Robert Loggia is also brilliant as the drug dealer who brings Tony under his wing, but later conflicts with him as Tony's ambition blinds him to the lessons Loggia tries to teach him. By Loggia end he brilliantly depicts a small time criminal who never seems to have the backbone or finance to make his organisation bigger than it is.

De Palma's direction stands out magnificently on the big screen, his camera is almost always meandering, tracking around the large sets or dollying to capture the events of different characters in different places at the same time - he commands large sets with his camera, shifting the focus of the plotlines with a simple zoom, dolly or pan. In this way the film is a joy to behold. De Palma is a filmmaker who has built his career by using techniques and shots from old greats such as Eisenstein and Hitchcock. With Scarface, he may employ the long tracking in and out shots which became a staple of Hitchcock's cinema, most famously used in Notorious, but in Scarface however it brings the film to life. Scarface is a story of excess and for that reason it is perhaps the defining film of the 1980's and De Palma's camera exposes and embraces the excessive lifestyle of the characters in the film with its camera work, for which cinematographer John A. Alonzo deserves a mention.

The script is written by Oliver Stone and he orchestras a number of key scenes, including an assassination attempt, an attempted car bombing and of course the famour chainsaw sequence. His script also includes a number of quotable lines and he gives all the principal actors some great opportunities to show their talent. Although not as subtle as Taxi Driver, Stone's script captures the themes of excess to perfection.

Scarface is also notable for the performance of Michelle Pfeiffer, who is glamourous and beautiful almost beyond comparison in modern cinema. She channels the stars of the Golden Age, and in her first scene, in which she hypnotises Montana with just her dress and bare back, she completely captures her allure and there is not a single moment of doubt over Montana's desire for her, even if we can see how destructive it will be.

After watching Scarface I began to wonder if this was De Palma masterpiece. The Untouchables, 4 years later is perhaps its equal, and even Carlito's Way is a brilliant work of cinema. I even considered Blow Out, De Palma's lose remaking of Blow Up which has probably De Palma's best ending. Yet Scarface is without doubt a classic gangster film which moves the genre about as far away from The Godfather and even the original Scarface as is possible. It's influence can be seem in the recent Mesrine with it brash, charismatic Vincent Cassel, and it stands as one of Pacino's great performances.

On a final note, the film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, who directed and wrote the original respectively. This made me wonder whether Hawks would have enjoyed a film like Scarface. Obviously its impossible to tell, but with the remake being so far aware from the original I wonder what purpose dedicating it served beyond reminding the audience the film is remake and De Palma acknowledging a great filmmaker and no doubt hero.