Currently available on Netflix, the film “Scarface” with Al Pacino will leave the platform’s catalog on February 15.
When a film does not meet with success when it is released in theaters, it happens that it is given a second life. In this category of films rediscovered over the years, Scarface is among the most famous cases.
If it is no longer allowed to challenge Brian De Palma’s feature film the status of a cult work, as evidenced by the quantity of derivative products bearing the effigy of his anti-hero Tony Montana, it should nevertheless be remembered that n its release in 1983, Scarface (remake of the eponymous film by Howard Hawks, released in 1932) received unanimously poor reviews.
“A cruel parody of The Godfather that only entertains for ten minutes” (according to the Boston Globe) or even “we doubt that the authors of the original film feel honored that this film is dedicated to them” (according to the Chicago Reader) are just a few examples of the countless murderous articles that greeted the film upon its release, which was also nominated the following year for the Razzie Award for Worst Director.
Quintessence of the cinema of the 80s, both for its qualities and for its excesses, Scarface was directed by a Brian De Palma then at the height of his art, served by a screenwriter Oliver Stone then crowned with the success of his two previous scripts (Midnight Express , winner of the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Conan the Barbarian).
Universal Pictures
The World is Yours
In the title role of the “scarred” Tony Montana, Al Pacino signs an excessive performance, in the skin of this vulgar and impulsive outlaw literally contrasting with the image of the cold and calculating mobster of Michael Corleone, whom he embodied in the first two installments of The Godfather (the third opus will not be released until a few years after Scarface).
Rediscovered in the years following its release thanks to its television broadcasts, but also thanks to the VHS market, Scarface is today considered one of the most emblematic films of the 80s, the feature film being sometimes even included in the list of the best films of all time.
An essential work of gangster film, Scarface continues to influence many works today, whether it is the Breaking Bad series (which saw Steven Bauer – the interpreter of Manny, the right arm of Tony Montana – endorse the role of a Mexican cartel boss) or even the Grand Theft Auto video game saga (and more particularly “Vice City”).
Currently available on Netflix, the film Scarface will leave the platform’s catalog on February 15!