Analysis of the Opening to ‘Scarface’, DePalma, 1983

There are many different elements to the film ‘Scarface’ and I am going to explore the opening credits and the first scene from the film. The opening credits begin with blank black screen and white text. The text is small and just at the bottom of the screen like subtitles; this shows us that it is just background information to help us understand the movie that we are about to watch. We then cut to archive black and white footage of Fidel Castro giving a speech about how he does not want criminals trying to hold back the revolution in his country; we later find out that this is why the main character Tony Montana is shipped over to Florida. When the credits begin it is footage of boats packed with Cubans being shipped over to Florida. This helps us to understand what the main character has gone through before we catch up with him in the film. There are pauses in the footage where the names of the directors, screenwriters and main characters come onto the screen. Their names are written in bold red letters and are on a black background, these colours are very powerful together and we often see them together as the movie progresses.

The form of the opening scene is an interrogation. It is not a flash back; the movie runs in a linear sequence. We are constantly looking at Al Pacino’s face. We do not see the faces of the immigrations officers in the scene, so all of you attention is focused on Montana. The camera focuses particularly on the side of his face that his scar is on, this is to reinforce that it is ‘Scarface’ that we are looking at and so we know that he is the main character. His scar connotes that he is quite a tough man; it shows us that he is not afraid to get in fights. When the camera does eventually move it circles him, like the immigrations officers do, therefore it is like we are watching him from their view. The genre of the film is American gangster, although it is hard to work this out from the first scene, we start to get clues for example we find out that he was in a gang. Another clue that this is going to be an American gangster film is that Al Pacino is a stock character for these types of films, he played large parts in ‘The Godfather’ trilogy as well as other films. From the first scene, you cannot say that ‘Scarface has the typical conventions of an American gangster film. You would expect him to be walking around in flashy, expensive suits with lots of money and jewellery, but this does not come until later in the film. The audience’s generic expectations of an American gangster film are fulfilled by the fact that we know that Al Pacino is a stock character and we find out the Montana has been in prison and was previously in a gang. Montana is an anti-hero, he is not one of the good guys but we instantly like him. The camera angle helps us come to this conclusion about him as it constantly focusing on him. The majority of the scene is shot in a medium close up (MCU) shot, this means that the camera is just looking at the head and shoulders of the character, you can also see some of the background in the shot. The scene also uses a medium shot (MS) and a close up (CU). CU’s are usually used to draw the audiences’ attention to a characters reaction, but in this opening sequence it is used to show Montana in a state of emotion.

From the verbal language of ‘Tony Montana’ I can tell that he is an immigrant and not American as he has a foreign accent. He is not fazed by the immigration officer’s questions as his volume stays low and his tone is cool, calm and collected. ‘Tony’ does not say any more then he has to, he just answers the questions in as little words possible. This makes him seem quite mysterious, therefore we can tell that there is more to him then he is letting on. The immigrations officer’s tones are angry and annoyed. ‘Tony’s’ body language is very casual and relaxed. He leans back in his chair and almost slouches. However, when he starts getting asked questions about drugs, he starts to get uneasy and he scratches the back of his head. His expression stay neutral and unchanging throughout his interrogation so he does not give anything away to the immigrations officers, this furthers are suspicions into him. The immigrations officers stand up where as ‘Tony’ sits down, we know that they are the people with the authority. However, the camera never looks down at ‘Montana’ from a high angle shot, this shows us that he is not intimidated by them. The immigrations officers walk in circles around him and surround him, like wolves moving in on their prey, this connotes that they are trying to intimidate him, although we know it does not work.

The opening scene is set in a bland room without many props, as to not take any attention away from the main character in the middle of the room. ‘Tony’ is wearing a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt, the connotations of this could be that he is relaxed and laid back as if he is going on holiday. The Hawaiian shirt also reinforces the fact that Montana is not American. The immigration officers are all wearing uniforms; this connotes authority.

The narrative style of the opening sequence is subjective treatment. Although the sequence is not shot through point of view shots, the way the camera is positioned makes it seem as though the audience are another immigration officer. When the immigration officers move around the camera moves around with them, but we never see a point of view shot from them or Montana. Montana does not look at the camera, which makes the narrative style feel like objective treatment.

I believe the target audience to be young males in the age range of 18-30. The film is rated an 18 so obviously the target audience cannot be anyone below this age. There are some very adult subjects in this film, such as murder and drugs. ‘Scarface’ is a very typical male film. The preferred reading of ‘Scarface’ is that everything comes at a price, especially greed and a thirst for wealth. A negotiated reading of ‘Scarface’ is that crime does pay, and drugs can earn you a lot of money if you are careful and not greedy. An oppositional reading of ‘Scarface’ is that crime didn’t pay for Montana, but it could for other people. An aberrant reading of ‘Scarface’ is that gangsters get away with everything, and they are above the law. Another aberrant reading would be that all Cuban’s are gangsters.

Capitalism is an ideological discourse within 'Scarface'. Montana leaves Cuba to get away from the communist regime. He moves to America to try and achieve the 'American dream'. One of the main themes within 'Scarface' is to get as rich as possible, which reinforces capitalism. If you did not analyse this film you would not of discoverd capitalism as an ideology within it, the references to it quite subtle, therefore we only take them in subconciously. The culture that we live is constantly forcing ideologies at us threw our norms and values, films such as 'Scarface' reinforce this. 'Scarface'is teaching us that capitalism is a norm within our society and that we should all follow it, if you were to show this film to a group of communists they would get a different reading of it.

Cubans are represented in 'Scarface' as outcasts and trouble makers. It seems like they are portrayed as being on from the 'wrong side of the tracks'. I think that they are portrayed as this because the immigration officers instantly assume Montana is trouble maker. There are no positive representations of cubans as a whole in the film, they are made fun of and they are put into camps.