A classic,classic!
Added 9/29/2009
It would be hard to over-compliment this film. So I will not try, but it probably should be seen by students, high school and above, just to get one aspect of our society in perspective.
We move so rapidly on to new trends and new dramatic situations in our country that we forget what some older films portraying a segment of our culture has to tell us. This film tells us a lot!!
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Drug dealing induces social schizophrenia
Added 9/28/2009
Don't let yourself be lured by the picture of the poor Cubans under the dictatorship of Fidel Castro who is kicking them out of the island. It is hinted these exiled people are far from being clean. They are the dregs of society and coming directly out of prison. Scarface is no exception. He is scum and scum he will remain till the end. The Americans are not lured at all, at least the police, but they are under strong pressure to provide these poor refugees with "libertad". As soon as Scarface gets that freedom he starts his business, from scratch and from the bottom, but he knows how to climb fast and how to get rid of obstacles and his road is punctuated with bodies or parts of bodies. In no time at all he is the boss and he is able to realize his ambition: millions from the opening Colombian route (cocaine of course) whereas those he eliminated to get in their place were only making a few grands. But the story of this man is the story of a paranoid and schizophrenic sociopath. He climbs to power and cannot see he has to share that power with newcomers. He defends his territory like a lion or a grizzly bear and his power becomes a war, a constant war in which everything and everyone is destroyed. That makes a perfect action film full of violence as if it were loaded with cocaine, but with a more human dimension in the character of Scarface himself who is impersonated marvelously by Al Pacino. The acting is so good that it transcends the pure bloody violence of the images and the plot. We can admire how Brian de Palma paints and composes his character to make him so true to what we can believe. He becomes a masterpiece in that psychological line in spite of the total absence of any other depth, social, cultural, political or whatever.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID
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I seen this movie a couple of year ago..I can't get enough of it..very good movie..even though it is brutal and violent..it's still a classic...2 thumbs up
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Brian De Palma's SCARFACE
Added 9/8/2009
This is probably De Palma's best film and one of Al Pacino's best as well. Maybe he was better in the Godfather, but Scarface was more entertaining to watch. The film was a departure for De Palma, who tends to film Hitchcock type films, until now, like Dressed to Kill and Blow Out.
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One of those rare times that I cheer for the bad guy
Added 9/7/2009
Scarface is probably my favorite movie. It's very rare that I ever end up liking the bad guy of a movie, but this was one of those rare occasions. But Tony wasn't really a bad guy, was he? He was dirt poor and did what he felt he had to do to enjoy life. Following the rules meant he would work as a dish washer. Breaking the rules meant he would have more cash than he could possibly spend.
But here's what I liked about Tony. Even though he was a thug, and he definitely was, he had a soft side. He was saddened by the fact that he couldn't have kids. He wasn't a womanizer. When an associate of his asks Tony to carry out a hit, in exchange for getting him out of trouble, Tony refuses. He refuses because carrying out this hit meant innocent children would be killed. Tony is many things, but he won't be responsible for the death of innocent children. Instead, he shoots his associate before the hit was carried out. Tony wanted to make peace with his mother and take care of her and his sister (since his father ran out on them when they were kids). She refused because she knew what he was. I don't feel sorry for Tony, but I did find him to be a likable person. If he could have made lots of money legitimately, he would have done so. Aside from that, aren't his oppressors criminals too? No, because his oppressors are the ones who get to make up the rules! By what authority? By the authority granted to them by the fact that they have bigger guns.
Scarface is extremely violent and has more curse words than any other movie I can think of. However, it's a great movie and a great story. Tony gets what's coming to him in the end. He chose to live by the sword and so he died by the sword. But in the end, I can't help but ask myself who the real bad guys are. Don't get me wrong, he was a bad guy and deserved what he got. But was he the only real bad guy in this story? He was only in business because there were cops out there accepting bribes. It's as they say, "don't hate the player, hate the game." If Scarface were a real person, I would have no sympathy for him. But since this is only a movie, I guess it sort of justifies it...at least in my mind.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A classic,classic!
Added 9/29/2009
It would be hard to over-compliment this film. So I will not try, but it probably should be seen by students, high school and above, just to get one aspect of our society in perspective.
We move so rapidly on to new trends and new dramatic situations in our country that we forget what some older films portraying a segment of our culture has to tell us. This film tells us a lot!!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Drug dealing induces social schizophrenia
Added 9/28/2009
Don't let yourself be lured by the picture of the poor Cubans under the dictatorship of Fidel Castro who is kicking them out of the island. It is hinted these exiled people are far from being clean. They are the dregs of society and coming directly out of prison. Scarface is no exception. He is scum and scum he will remain till the end. The Americans are not lured at all, at least the police, but they are under strong pressure to provide these poor refugees with "libertad". As soon as Scarface gets that freedom he starts his business, from scratch and from the bottom, but he knows how to climb fast and how to get rid of obstacles and his road is punctuated with bodies or parts of bodies. In no time at all he is the boss and he is able to realize his ambition: millions from the opening Colombian route (cocaine of course) whereas those he eliminated to get in their place were only making a few grands. But the story of this man is the story of a paranoid and schizophrenic sociopath. He climbs to power and cannot see he has to share that power with newcomers. He defends his territory like a lion or a grizzly bear and his power becomes a war, a constant war in which everything and everyone is destroyed. That makes a perfect action film full of violence as if it were loaded with cocaine, but with a more human dimension in the character of Scarface himself who is impersonated marvelously by Al Pacino. The acting is so good that it transcends the pure bloody violence of the images and the plot. We can admire how Brian de Palma paints and composes his character to make him so true to what we can believe. He becomes a masterpiece in that psychological line in spite of the total absence of any other depth, social, cultural, political or whatever.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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I seen this movie a couple of year ago..I can't get enough of it..very good movie..even though it is brutal and violent..it's still a classic...2 thumbs up
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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