Scarface

A closer look at the story

Scarface charts the rise of Cuban criminal Tony Montana in Miami, and the price he pays for it. Tony wins his green card by agreeing to kill an official of the Cuban government, then arrives in Miami and soon goes to work for a drug lord. Driven by ambition and fury, he climbs the criminal ladder at dizzying speed. Ruthlessly disposing of everyone who blocks his path, he ends up running a vast criminal empire and controlling almost all the cocaine that passes through the city. Staying at the summit, though, proves much harder than getting there. A tightening police net, open warfare with Colombian cartels and a paranoia fed by his own drug use slowly push him towards ruin. Brian De Palma directed this 170-minute crime drama from 1983, written by Oliver Stone. Al Pacino plays Tony Montana, with Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Robert Loggia also in the cast. Its intense violence makes it a film strictly for grown-ups.