BEST AND WORST REMAKES: BEST #5 – SCARFACE
Scarface is a difficult show to watch for a lot of reasons, and I had to give up watching it with anyone else a few years ago. The last time I saw it in a theater, the place was filled with a throng of hipster douche-bags who reacted to it as high camp. And to be honest, I can’t totally blame them. Movies can transform into different animals depending on where and how you watch them. First and foremost, Scarface is a product of the 1980s, and rightfully shows the excess of that era’s fashion and trends. It was also a weird time when Pachino started playing around with mega-acting (a bizarre trait Nicolas Cage picked up and rarely puts down). Watching it with a crowd can overemphasize the wrong details.
But watching Scarface alone… that’s a whole other trip. It’s just you alone with Tony Montana and his struggle to be a self-crowned king. Everything becomes both natural and mythic: the accents, the clothes, the violence, the music. Even Paul Engemann’s “Push it to the Limits” — as ridiculously cheesy as it seems– plays like a spiritual anthem.
It’s easy to see why Tony Montana has become a generation’s Robin Hood. He’s loyal to his friends but equally loyal to his own ambitions. He’s fearless, uncompromising and follows no one’s rules, even if it means signing his own death warrant (Tony may be a killer, but not a child killer). He’s also a warning to anyone who seeks goals beyond their station: your visualization board is only as strong as your own morality.
If anything, I love Scarface due to a personal indulgence. Anytime I leave a restaurant after one too many drinks, I stumble around a bit, look at the other patrons with disdain, and spit out: “You need people like me so you can point your fucking fingers and say ‘that’s the bad guy’. Well, say goodnight to the bad guy!”
