Scarface (1983 film) Scarface (1983 film) Scarface is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. The film tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino) who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing and rises to become a powerful drug kingpin. The cast also features Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, F. Murray Abraham and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. "Scarface" was released on December 9, 1983 and grossed $44 million at the domestic box office. Initial critical reception was negative, with criticism over excessive violence
Brian De Palma De Palma is known for quoting and referencing other directors' work throughout his career. Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blowup" and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" plots were used for the basis of "Blow Out". "The Untouchables" finale shoot out in the train station is a clear borrow from the Odessa Steps sequence in Sergei Eisenstein's "The Battleship Potemkin". The main plot from "Rear Window" was used for "Body Double", while it also used elements of "Vertigo". "Vertigo" was also the basis for "Obsession". "Dressed to Kill" was a note-for-note homage to Hitchcock's "Psycho", including such moments as the surprise death of the