1980s
Fate seemed to be in Jack’s hands, but he couldn’t hold on to it. Because he counts on exact technology in a world where things are swayed by human “error” – or something more sinister.
The conflict between needing to open up and having to protect yourself brings fatal consequences in contemporary urban life.
Scarface shows what success means in his adopted country: people trying to snatch as much as they can handle. And even more.
De Palma’s over-the-top violence is exhilarating, because it’s true. Latin America is the playground of savage violence, funded by US dollars. Scarface brings it home.
Scarface has the most colourful cast of sleazy characters since the spaghetti westerns. They are irresistible caricatures who wave their oversized hands around. A lot.
In US political reality, the eyes (shown in a shattering closeup) are a voiceless witness and the lost conscience.