Scarface (1983)

94. Watch all of the films on AFI’s “10 Top 10“ list. (37/100)

Since I had some spare time Friday night, I decided to watch a movie I had on my Tivo for months.  I borrowed a few movies from the library for the weekend, but I didn't want to watch any of them in case someone wanted to watch them with me later.  So Scarface on Tivo it was.

I was nervous about this because I can't watch scary movies by myself, and by that I don't just mean horror movies - I mean thrillers, gangster movies with bloodshed, and so on.  I knew enough about Scarface to know that it was going to include a lot of shooting and killing and blood - things I'm not so good with at all, much less on my own.  Then I noticed that on top of all that, it's three hours long??  I love long movies but the idea of three hours of bloodshed had me really worried. 

And, as expected, I spent the whole movie totally nervous about what would happen next - on the proverbial edge of my seat. I really loved the movie's opening; it promises a great story - and it delivers on that.  Tony's descent into paranoia is the real story with the crime, violence, and drugs as the backdrop.  Al Pacino completely inhabits the role.  His acting is so superb that you forget he's Al Pacino.  He actually is Tony Montana. 

The whole storyline about his sister is a bit weird.  I didn't understand why he was so extremely protective of her; it was entirely pathological and I was convinced that they had an incestuous relationship - and from his sister's last scene, perhaps I had the right vibe all along, I don't really know for sure. 

Aside from that, though, I have no plot complaints. Pacino really carries the film but all of the acting throughout the film is amazing.  The music is totally 80s and now that I've been to Miami, I can say that the exterior shots are so Miami and, specifically, what I imagine early 80s Miami to have been like.  It's not so over the top or time-capsule-like, though, that it's distracting.  It's actually quite amazing how the time and place are always clear and key to the story, but not distracting. Overall, I greatly enjoyed the film but it's not one I would watch repeatedly because I really can't stomach all the bloodshed.  Art-wise, though, it's a great film and totally deserving of being on AFI's list - or any list of great films, for that matter. The 1932 version of this film is also on AFI's list.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the story was originally told.