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 enrolled at the newly coed Sarah Lawrence College as a graduate student in their theater department in the early 1960s, becoming one of the first male students among a female population. Once there, influences as various as drama teacher Wilford Leach, the Maysles brothers, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Luc Godard, Andy Warhol, and Alfred Hitchcock impressed upon De Palma the many styles and themes that would shape his own cinema in the coming decades. An early association with a young Robert De Niro resulted in "The Wedding Party". The film, which was co-directed with Leach and producer Cynthia Munroe, had been shot