Greek tragedy in 1980's Miami

Rating: 9/10 (2 August 2010)

SCARFACE (1983) Brian de Palma brings everything about the gangster saga and multiplies it to a point of excess in this intense, iconic picture about the rise and fall of a Cuban drug lord. Profanity, violence, and drugs are in full stock and the tightly plotted screen play by Oliver Stone unfolds beautifully. Al Pacino as Tony Montana is unforgettable, and as the film progresses he sinks deeper and deeper into tragedy until his whole world crumbles on top of him. Like most great crime films, this shows what the darker side of ambition can do to a person's life; the American Dream tainted and unholy. The climax in Scarface's mansion is masterful, also. The world was his oyster, and his conquest is our entertainment.