Scarface

With all the fuss about Borat recently (and in a year it will be "Borat who?"), I was thinking about another piece of entertainment ( I use the term loosely), namely Scarface.

Digg had a link to an article about The Best Worst Movies, and our little friend Scarface comes in at # 3 (#1 is a collection of Sylvester Stallone films. The article itself is rather pointless, as the author has not seemed to have viewed a movie made before 1980).

This little opus, released on an unsuspecting world in 1983, is a remake of the vastly superior original from 1932 (any viewing of the 1983 version *must* at some point be preceded by a viewing of Scarface, the Shame of the Nation. Look for the Xs. They are also used here and there in the 83 version, but without the skill).

Its director, Brian De Palma, has undergone an interesting transformation since then. Well, not so much him, as his reputation.

One of the great truimphs of the 80's has been that what drove the decade has been largely forgotten. Much of 80's music and film was a conscious effort to revisit the styles of an early period. Some of this produced good work. "Blade Runner" or "Back to the Future" for example.

The triumph comes in that today, the works that these works were based on are now largely forgotten, and the 80's films are seen as 100% original.

At the time, De Palma was seen as a hack, a warmed over Hitchcock with little originality. Not so anymore..the 80's babies now see him as a master film maker, an genius.

*smack head to make sure I'm awake*

Not so anymore..the 80's babies now see him as a master film maker, an genius.

*smack* nope, I'm awake.

And this list of "classics"? Dressed to Kill (stolen Hitchcock), Blow Out (stolen Blow Up), The Untouchables (now here I can see that it is a good film, with a classic line "That's the Chicago way", but for me it doesn't work all the way through. And while writing this I have learned he is doing The Untouchables II - Capone Rising).

But, topping the recently compiled list of De Palma's great works is Scarface.

Oh my fucking God. As the above mention article states: Settle down, holmes. I know your Tony Montana silk-screened shirt, bedsheets, pool table cover, and mudflaps bristle at the thought of Scarface being called a "bad" movie, but ignore the hype and the fake gangster posturing and do something you've never done: Watch the movie.

I did just that recently to see if my view of the film had changed since the last time in the 90's when I saw it.

It hasn't. (the article is actually kinder: Still, as generally trashy B-movie stuff goes, it's good stuff, and we don't mind wallowing in Tony's sleaze any chance we get. Just wipe your nose and keep it in perspective.

The movie goes well below B.

Al Pacino, who is no stranger to overacting, outdoes even himself with this performance. Audiences in 1983 immediately heard not a authentic Cubic voice, but Ricky Ricardo gone bad.

Ricky Ricardo?...I love Lucy?...oh never mind.

I can sympathize with U.S. viewers of today not knowing what an actual Cuban sounds like, as your government has protected you from such things since 1959, but believe me, Tony Montana isn't it.

With this revisionist trend continuing, can "The Bonfire of the Vanities" classic status be far behind?