![]() ![]() If mainstream America assigned the humanity to them that we do the white working or middle class, we would be calling them nihilists. What you don't seem to understand is that the people who hold these movies, and these characters, in high regard are people who believe they're going to die at a very young age. Especially if you're flashy and don't have any self control. The point that is lost is that there are a lot of men from nothing coming for your spot and the men on top don't last long. That's why it's worshipped in hip-hop culture and venerated more generally by the "My favorite movies are Fight Club and Boondock Saints" college Blacklight-Bob-Marley-Poster set. It's a movie about immigrants and the lower class taking what they want and coming up. It's impossible to overstate how important to minorities an (ostensibly) Person of Color as the lead character in a movie where he gets one over on the rich old white guy. He is the American dream, perverted by the 80s and Reaganomics and the War on Drugs. Scarface brought that level of debauchery to the rest of the country, who collectively flipped their shit.Ģ) Scarface himself is an entrancing figure. If you weren't in Miami, you only had Miami Vice and Scarface to go on, and even compared to Michael Alig's club kids, Miami was on a whole other level back then. But two things:ġ) It is absolutely 100% spot-on perfect at displaying the sort of coked-out excesses of the 80s. And that is the actual message of Scarface. Now does it come crashing down because of his hubris and poor impulse control? Absolutely. What you need to understand about Scarface is that it paints a very specific portrait, of a man with nothing, in fact a refugee with less than nothing, and the chips stacked against him - he barely even speaks the lingua franca - who makes something of himself through grit and determination. I remember the Mariel Boat Lift that Scarface starts with. So, does anyone agree? Am I missing something? As I said, to be fair, I haven't seen it in years, but I do remember never having been too impressed with it before. If anything, I feel it almost coincides with the end of the "New Hollywood" era, for lack of a better term, and the "blockbuster" being truly christened as the driving force behind American cinema. It's not a bad film by any means, but definitely nothing to write home about IMO. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but smack dab in the middle of such fantastic mob movies like Mean Streets, The Godfather 1 & 2, Goodfellas and Reservoir Dogs, I really feel like Scarface is the weakest link in the bunch. ![]() While the cinematography has always stood out to me as being particularly striking, I can't help but be disillusioned with the corny dialogue, wooden acting, and snail-like pacing. I've always found the movie slow, boring and cheesey. I believe it's the only Brian de Palma movie I've seen, though I would like to see some of his other films, especially Blow Out. But I've never been impressed with Scarface. Granted, I haven't seen it in several years. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |