Scarface (1983 movie)

Scarface
Official Logo
Directed by	Brian De Palma
Screenplay by	Oliver Stone
Based on	Scarface by Armitage Trail Scarface by W. R. Burnett Ben Hecht John Lee Mahin Seton I. Miller
Produced by	Martin Bregman
Starring	Al Pacino Steven Bauer Michelle Pfeiffer
Cinematography	John A. Alonzo
Edited by	Jerry Greenberg David Ray
Music by	Giorgio Moroder
Production companies	Universal Pictures Martin Bregman Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	December 1, 1983 (1983-12-01) (New York City premiere) December 9, 1983 (1983-12-09) (United States)
Running time	170 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$23.5–37 million
Box office	$66.4 million

Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma. and written by Oliver Stone. It is based on the novel of the same name by Armitage Trail and a remake of the 1932 movie of the same name by Howard Hawks. The film stars an ensemble cast led by Al Pacino, who stars as Cuban refugee Tony Montana. In the film, Montana arrives in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and becomes a powerful drug lord.

Pacino worked with producer Martin Bregman to develop the project. Bregman and Sidney Lumet both conceived the idea of setting the story during the boatlift. Lumet was initially hired to direct the film but left, feeling that it was too violent and wanted it to be more of a political film. De Palma replaced Lumet as director and Bregman hired Stone to write the script. Stone, who had been struggling with his own cocaine addiction at the time, wrote the script in Paris. Several actresses were considered for playing Elvira Hancock before Michelle Pfeiffer—then almost Glenn Close—was chosen for the role; Pacino and De Palma had argued against her casting, but Bregman fought for her inclusion. The film was initially going to be entirely shot in Miami, but the Cuban community denied requests to film there, feeling that the script portrayed them in a bad light. Filming took place from November 1982 to May 1983 in Los Angeles and two weeks in Miami. The film's soundtrack and score was composed by Giorgio Moroder.

Scarface premiered in New York City on December 1, 1983, and was released on December 9 by Universal Pictures. The film was a commercial success, grossing $66 million. Initial critical response was negative due to its extreme violence and depiction of stereotypes. However, in the years that followed, some critics have reappraised it, and it is now considered a classic of the gangster genre. Screenwriters and directors such as Martin Scorsese have praised the film, and it has been referenced extensively in pop culture, especially in hip-hop culture, as well as comic books, television programs and video games. The film is regarded as a cult classic.

Story

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is a prisoner from Cuba who is coming to the United States on a boat to escape the oppressive Communist government. Once there, he works for Frank Lopez, a Miami drug lord.

Soon, Tony kills Frank and takes over his business. He also marries Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer), Frank's girlfriend who at first refused to go out with Tony because of Frank. Soon, Tony becomes very rich and powerful because of his growing cocaine empire. He meets Alejandro Sosa, a powerful Bolivian drug lord. Elvira later leaves Tony because she feels that despite all of their money and power, Tony's criminal lifestyle and drug problems make them losers.

Tony is eventually arrested for not paying taxes and even though he would be able to bribe some of the judges, he will still have to go to jail for three years. Sosa offers to have one of his contacts in the Justice Department write off Tony's charges if Tony helps kill a journalist who is going to make a speech against Sosa to the United Nations. One of Soza's men plants a bomb on the target's car, but when Tony sees the journalist's family inside it, he prevents the explosion of the bomb. Tony later visits his best friend, Manny (Steven Bauer), but when he sees his sister, Gina, with him, he kills him. Gina reveals that she and Manny got married a few days earlier and wanted to surprise Tony. Tony, feeling extreme guilt for killing his friend and ruining his sister's life, withdraws to his mansion and begins to snort large amounts of cocaine. Sosa gets angry and sends many men to Miami to kill Tony. When the men enter Tony's mansion, they kill Gina and most of his men. Angry and sad at the death of his sister, Tony singlehandedly kills many of Sosa's men in a major shootout. Tony is then shot in the back by an assassin with a shotgun, and falls into his fountain below, dead.

References

Other websites

• Scarface on IMDb
• Scarface at Letterboxd
• Scarface wallpapers

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1. ↑ Neither the novel nor the 1932 film are credited on-screen. The end credits include a dedication to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, director and co-screenwriter respectively, of the 1932 film.