With a superb script by Oliver Stone, masterful direction from Brian DePalma, a deliciously menacing score by Giorgio Moroder and an exceptional performance by Al Pacino, is any wonder the 1983 film, Scarface, has achieved such exposure. Al Pacino stars as the Cuban refugee, Tony Montana, whose intelligence, guts, and ambition help him skyrocket from dishwasher to the top of a criminal empire but whose eventual paranoia and incestuous desire for his kid sister (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) prove his undoing. Scarface exceeds the boundaries of its genre and achieves the devastating feel of a Shakespearean tragedy.

DePalma’s 1983 remake of the 1932 gangster picture Scarface (1932) transplanted the thirties premise to modern day Miami, with the

Scarface was an extremely controversial movie in many respects. When asked to comment on why he felt the need to horrify the audience with gratuitous acts of extreme violence, DePalma replied, "I wanted to establish a level of violence like nobody had ever seen before because this is a whole different level of mob interaction, and I wanted to get it over with early in the movie to say, 'This is what it is’ -- we're in a whole different world here” (Associated Press).

Scarface is a living testament to much of the 80’s ideals and way of thinking. The excessive graphic violence, the nearly three hour running time, the non stop profanity, the gaudy lifestyle, and Al Pacino's overacting and exaggerated Cuban accent have often been targeted as flaws of the movie. However, when seen as a whole, the purpose of these elements is to create a surreal atmosphere. John A. Alonzo's beautiful camera work suggests a “larger than life” epic adventure. The eighties was a decade of excess. It was the decade that introduced us to such staples of American culture as cocaine, money, and fast-paced lives.

Capone-inspired lead character involved in bootlegging, now a Cuban refugee who rises through the ranks of the cocaine industry. Instead of the straight "rise and fall" story of an Italian mobster, we now have a Cuban, cursed with obsessive ambition, utilizing his new freedoms in the capitalist society of the U.S. The plot is generally the same as the original, including the implied incestuous relationship with his younger sister.

Explaining the decision to give Scarface a stark, sunlit appearance that distinguished it from previous gangster epics, DePalma states, "I wanted to go in completely the opposite direction (from other such films). I wanted to do kind of a high tech, neon, acrylic, vibrant pastel, instead of your usual dark 'film noir.' Because you looked at South Florida and this was what it was all about -- these guys dressed in white, not black.... It's not all grim death and murder. It's fun. The clubs should be fun, the girls should be fun” (The Making of Scarface).

A young Michelle Pfeiffer has little to do in her and Montana’s relationship. One less sexually charged than the relationship between Montana and his sister Gina (Mastrantonio), but unsurprisingly for a Stone-scripted film, the boys tend to have all the fun; partying, spending, snorting, drugging and womanizing.

Because of his education, or lack thereof, Montana relies on reading people, more specifically their faces. He, himself, has a very powerful and impressive presence, often relying on that alone to forge ahead in the cocaine business. He uses this same power to read both Lopez’s and his wife Elvira�

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