a modern-day macbeth

Rating: Null/10 (2 July 2004)

Scarface is a brilliant modern-day tragedy. Like MacBeth, Tony Montana's flaw is his insatiable ambition. Even though Montana may be morally dubious, we can hardly help but admire his drive and single-minded motivation. It leads him, in a relatively short time, to the top of his own criminal empire. Yet once he has gotten it all (the money, the power, and the woman), Tony - forever a man of action - realizes that he has nothing left to conquer. Now the cynical realization of the emptiness of all earthly gratification consumes him. Finally, the great tragedy comes when Tony finally acts upon his own moral reservations. Unable to become a complete monster (by killing a man along with his innocent wife and children) Tony signs his own death warrant and is destroyed by the criminal world in which he has made his fortune. Yet, even still the epic warrior, he is only able to be killed from behind, by one who hides in the shadows like a coward. Tony Montana may have been a killer, but one thing he never did was hide.