De Palma makes one of the most brutal, realistic and shocking movies about crime...

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 1999)

A fugitive from Cuba becomes, in short time,the most powerful drugs' trafficker of Miami, and his ascension is as fast as decadence. The Oliver Stone's script doesn't open concessions: it conducts this violent story in a realistic and cruel way, and demonstrates the price that the criminals pay for the power. Replete of cynic and biting dialogues and moments loaded with pathological brutality (the scene in which Al Pacino's character has to kill an ambassador who will make declarations that may destroy his drug empire before he arrives on the tribunal is memorable), "Scarface" still counts with the Brian de Palma's experienced direction, a film maker who had already demonstrated previously his talent in "The Fury".In this movie, De Palma has the chance to work out what he knows best: ally dramatic moments and excellent interpretations with technical camera movements and effects, all of them meticulously calculated to bring the movie's felling to the audience. The main cast's performance is excellent, with prominence for Steven Bauer interpreting the powerful criminal's best friend.In spite of long and strong, the film is an excellent entertainment.