Scarface Nation

"Don't get high on your own supply." Brian de Palma's brash, bloody version of Scarface was trashed by critics when it came out twenty-five years ago and didn't do well at the box office, but has become a spectacular fan favorite and enduring pop culture classic since. "Never underestimate the greed of the other guy." What makes millions of people obsess over this movie? Why has Al Pacino's Tony Montana become the drug kingpin whose pugnacity and philosophy are revered in boardrooms and bedrooms across America? Who were the people that made the movie, influencing hip-hop style and swagger to this day? "The world is yours." Scarface Nation is Ken Tucker's homage to all things Scarface—from the stars that acted in it to the influence it's had on all of us, from facts, figures and stories about the making of the movie to a witty and comprehensive look at Scarface's traces in today's pop and political culture. "Say hello to my li'l fren!" You know you love the line. You know you've seen the movie more than once. Now dive into the ultimate book of Scarface—mounded as high as the pile of cocaine on Tony's desk with delicious details and stimulating observations. "You know what capitalism is? F--- you!"

'Scarface' is a powerful, stylized commentary on violence, materialism, excess, corruption and crime in America. Set during the drug-driven decadence of Miami in the 1980's, it is a rags to riches story about the rise and fall of an illegal immigrant from dishwasher to narcotics kingpin who is undone by greed and delusions of grandeur triggered by cocaine psychosis. It is both thrilling entertainment and a wicked, nightmarish parody of the American dream. 'Scarface: The Ultimate Guide' places the movie in its historical context and examines its origins, development, production, release, critical reception and current status in the culture. The highlight of the book is a detailed analysis of the movie from first frame to FADE OUT. ""Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi. Get the yeyo.""

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, Technical University of Braunschweig, language: English, abstract: Worse than the economic impact of the Depression were its psychological effects on the people: unemployment and hunger lead to moral depression, distrust, and the downfall of traditional legal norms. Consequently, criminality became a major problem which politicians did not seem to be able to stop. It was an open secret that gangsters such as Al Capone made a lot of money by trading with alcoholic beverages during Prohibition and gained a lot of political influence by this. Chicago is commonly seen as the place where gangdom first developed. Its gangster image still clings to the city today. The most prominent events and people related to the gangs of Chicago were Al Capone and the ‘War of Sicilian Succession’ which resulted in the St Valentine’s Day Massacre, leaving seven gang leaders killed and Capone as the new czar of the underworld. For the public, the adventurous and fancy life of the gang world became the symbol for the new mass culture that evolved from urbanization. The stereotype of the new criminal helped to overcome the traditional social boundaries that seemed no longer apt for the urbanized society. The gangster-movie genre, along with the press reinforced the gangster myth. SCARFACE –SHAME OF THE NATION by Howard Hawks (1930/1932) fits in with this concept. However, the movie also shows the influence the press takes in the creation of the media gangster. For this reason, it gives an ambivalent picture of the gang world in the 1930s. So is it a critique or part of the gangster myth creation? How are the historical events depicted, and how much is the representation of the gangsters in the movie predisposed by the media image of the gangster? In order to answer these questions, a short historical overview of Chicago’s ganglife at the turn of the 19th century is given and the development of the gangster myth and the role of class, ethnicity, and style is explained. The characteristics of the gangster movie in the 1930s are put into context with the analysis of Howard Hawks’ SCARFACE – SHAME OF THE NATION. The movie is furthermore analyzed with regard to the depiction of historical events, gangster iconography, and the role of the media.

The wild, true story of the Mutiny, the hotel and club that embodied the decadence of Miami’s cocaine cowboys heyday—and an inspiration for the blockbuster film, Scarface... In the seventies, coke hit Miami with the full force of a hurricane, and no place attracted dealers and dopers like Coconut Grove’s Mutiny at Sailboat Bay. Hollywood royalty, rock stars, and models flocked to the hotel’s club to order bottle after bottle of Dom and to snort lines alongside narcos, hit men, and gunrunners, all while marathon orgies burned upstairs in elaborate fantasy suites. Amid the boatloads of powder and cash reigned the new kings of Miami: three waves of Cuban immigrants vying to dominate the trafficking of one of the most lucrative commodities ever known to man. But as the kilos—and bodies—began to pile up, the Mutiny became target number one for law enforcement. Based on exclusive interviews and never-before-seen documents, Hotel Scarface is a portrait of a city high on excess and greed, an extraordinary work of investigative journalism offering an unprecedented view of the rise and fall of cocaine—and the Mutiny—in Miami.

The author of The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear, brings us another sensational Hollywood tell-all celebrating the 40th anniversary of Brian De Palma’s legendary 1983 gangster film, while also showcasing its broader appeal across the past century by confronting the equally controversial legacy of its 1932 predecessor. When Brian DePalma’s operatically violent Scarface debuted in 1983, the film drew almost as much fire as the relentless gunfire in the film itself. Starring Al Pacino as Cuban refugee-turned-crime-boss Tony Montana, Steven Bauer as his best friend Manny, and Michelle Pfeiffer as an Eighties gangster’s moll, the movie revamped the original 1932 film for a new era of drugs, sex, and graphic violence. Attacked as both a celebration of cocaine-fueled excess and a condemnation of it, the film’s reputation continued to rise over the years. But the real story of its success started nearly a century ago—when Hollywood first fell in love with the American gangster . . . Hollywood’s infatuation with money, power, and organized crime has captured the public’s imagination and made Scarface one of its most enduring modern myths. From a 1912 gangster film by D.W. Griffith to the 1932 hit Scarface starring Paul Muni, to Brian DePalma’s 1983 shocker, the antihero’s rise and fall exposes the dark side of the American Dream—whether it’s Prohibition Era bootleggers or modern-day drug dealers. When actor Al Pacino got the idea of doing a remake of Scarface after screening the original, a legend was (re)born—and the rest is history. Filled with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, untold tales from Old and New Hollywood, and sixteen pages of eye-popping photos, Say Hello to My Little Friend is the ultimate guide to everything Scarface. With guns blazing and chainsaws whirring, movie biz writer Nat Segaloff tears into this pop culture phenomenon with fascinating insights, stunning revelations, and a true fan’s glee. This is a must-have book for movie buffs, crime lovers, and culture vultures everywhere.

2014 Runner-Up, MLA Prize in United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies In Unbecoming Blackness, Antonio López uncovers an important, otherwise unrecognized century-long archive of literature and performance that reveals Cuban America as a space of overlapping Cuban and African diasporic experiences. López shows how Afro-Cuban writers and performers in theU.S. align Cuban black and mulatto identities, often subsumed in the mixed-race and postracial Cuban national imaginaries, with the material and symbolic blackness of African Americans and other Afro-Latinas/os. In the works of Alberto O’Farrill, Eusebia Cosme, Rómulo Lachatañeré, and others, Afro-Cubanness articulates the African diasporic experience in ways that deprive negro and mulato configurations of an exclusive link with Cuban nationalism. Instead, what is invoked is an “unbecoming” relationship between Afro-Cubans in the U.S and their domestic black counterparts. The transformations in Cuban racial identity across the hemisphere, represented powerfully in the literary and performance cultures of Afro-Cubans in the U.S., provide the fullest account of a transnational Cuba, one in which the Cuban American emerges as Afro-Cuban-American, and the Latino as Afro-Latino.

The behind-the-scenes story of the iconic film Scarface, featuring new interviews with the cast and crew. An unflinching confrontation of humanity’s dark side, Brian De Palma’s crime drama film Scarface gave rise to a cultural revolution upon its release in 1983. Its impact was unprecedented, making globe-spanning waves as a defining portrait of the gritty Miami street life. From Al Pacino’s masterful characterization of Tony Montana to the iconic “Say hello to my little friend,” Scarface maintains its reputation as an unwavering game changer in cult classic cinema. With brand-new interviews and untold stories of the film’s production, longtime film critic Glenn Kenny takes us on an unparalleled journey through the making of American depictions of crime. The World Is Yours highlights the influential characters and themes within Scarface, reflecting on how its storied legacy played such a major role in American culture.