Brian De Palma film it retains De Palma's considerable visual flair, but points more toward his work in mainstream entertainments such as "", the thematic complex thriller for which he is now better known. For many film-goers, De Palma's gangster films, most notably "Scarface" and "Carlito's Way", pushed the envelope of on-screen violence and depravity, and yet greatly vary from one another in both style and content and also illustrate De Palma's evolution as a film-maker. In essence, the excesses of "Scarface" contrast with the more emotional tragedy of "Carlito's Way". Both films feature Al Pacino in what has become a fruitful working
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