Scarface (novel) Camonte's sister, and also stars Karen Morley, Osgood Perkins, and Boris Karloff. The plot centers on gang warfare and police intervention when rival gangs fight over control of Chicago. A version of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre is also depicted. The LCCN is 30008162. Scarface is a 1983 American crime film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. The film tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino) who arrives in 1980s to Miami with nothing and rises to become a powerful drug kingpin. Rather than being a new adaptation based on the novel, the
Brian De Palma Hollywood generation of film directors. His directing style often makes use of quotations from other films or cinematic styles, and bears the influence of filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard. His films have frequently garnered controversy for their violence and sexual content, but have also been championed by prominent critics such as Roger Ebert and Pauline Kael. De Palma, who is of Italian ancestry, is the youngest of three boys and was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Vivienne (née Muti) and Anthony Federico De Palma, an orthopedic surgeon. He was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire,