Voracious and extremely over the top, yet manages to be an intelligent film

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2013)

Not a big fan of Brian DePalma, but this one just blew me away. He did one of the worst homages i've seen for Psycho with his horrible 'Dressed to Kill' in 1980, but that one, Scarface, compensates every mediocre moment i had to pass through the aforementioned film.
Scarface, hated by some and loved by others in the 80s for being utterly violent and for being the most controversial and shocking film produced in Hollywood to the date, divided critics, the audience and even the people who works doing films. While the director Martin Scorsese said 'I love it', the actor Dustin Hoffman said 'I fell asleep' and the division went for a long while. Obviously all the hate for it being so 'over the top' passed, because every year since then there is a film with even more profanities, violence and drug use coming out.
But yeah, it still shocking. The only reason it is not worth a NC- 17 is because some effects actually looks very cheap and fake, so it inevitably affects the impact of the film over nowadays viewers. But again, the overuse of profanities will upset those who are easily offended.
This film is, after all, a reflexion about what ambition can brings, but it's not a moralist tale at all, and despite being over the top, it's possible to see a bit of truth on it.
Al Pacino is superb as Tony Montana. The impulsive and totally unpredictable crazy drug- dealer. I simply loved him in that role. I also found interesting the editing and art direction. Some strong contrasts, specifically in the 'hot colors' (red,orange), used remarkably in a bright white ambient. Interesting choice. The cinematography looks very campy. The zoom in the 'Party Scene' was almost amateur. But i didn't have major problems with it, and neither with the 80s typical beats that were played constantly.
Watch this film. 9.2/10