I’m not usually a fan of violent or crime-related films. I’m actually anti-violence unless it’s in the context of fighting oppression. But Scarface is one of my biggest exceptions, and honestly, one of my favorite films as a film buff.
There’s something about it that goes beyond the blood, beyond the guns, it’s entertaining, funny, bold, and full of unforgettable lines. It’s ICONIC.
One of the things that grounds the movie for me is the friendship between Tony and Manny. Their dynamic adds so much personality and humor. Manny’s charm and Tony’s intensity bounce off each other perfectly.
Even in all the chaos, their friendship feels real, loyal, and complicated in a very human way.
The film also has incredibly strong dialogue. The scene between Tony and Elvira on the dance floor is one of my favorites. It was ego versus ego and ambition versus apathy.
I really loved that whole exchange and it’s a perfect example of how sharp and layered the writing was. Every line reveals something.
Tony’s hunger for a bigger life and Elvira’s cynicism, and the way both of them use arrogance as a shield.
Tony arrives in America with his own complicated experience of political oppression. He rejects both systems, but for different reasons.
It raises the question: is Tony actually a good person, or just someone trying to escape the humiliation he felt under one system by over-indulging in another? The film NEVER excuses him, but it does explore how ego, trauma, and desperation shape a person’s morality.
Al Pacino’s performance is honestly brilliant. The fact that he’s Italian American playing a Cuban doesn’t matter because he disappears into this role completely.
When I watch films, one of the things I pay close attention to is the facial expressions of the actors. To me, good acting is also about knowing exactly when to shift your expression in a way that feels natural and not forced which can come off as bad acting for me.
I can see Tony dissociate, check out, or leave his own body in moments of intense emotion. Pacino communicates that with just his eyes, jaw tension, and posture.
It’s unsettling and fascinating at the same time.
The directing is another thing that sets Scarface apart. Brian De Palma uses the camera like a narrator.
The long pans out and slow pans back in allow time to pass, raise tension, or show how the environment shifts around Tony as he rises in power.
This technique makes the story feel bigger than Tony, even though it’s centered on him.
And the way the stakes keep escalating from small-time hustling to stealing his boss’s girlfriend shows how recklessness and ego drive every major turning point.
The music and cinematography also play a huge part in the film’s identity. The synth-heavy score gives the movie this dreamy yet aggressive feel.
Something about synths just does something to me, they hit a part of my brain that makes everything feel more dramatic, more emotional, more electric.
And every time Tony gets angry, the zoom-ins on his face with the synth heavy score playing just intensifies the emotion even more.
At the end of the day, Scarface is a film about EGO and how far someone will go to never feel powerless again.
The message all through out the film “The world is yours” is both a promise and a warning. It’s the message Tony builds his empire on, and the same message that destroys him.
This is why I love Scarface.
It’s not just bold, psychological, stylish, and full of character, but it’s also a story about ambition without limits, arrogance without restraint, and the emptiness that waits on the other side of unchecked ego and desire.
Honestly, Vanessa 