 |
| Scarface... times three? |
It’s hard to believe that more than 30 years have passed since Brian De Palma’s Scarface
blew the doors off theaters in 1983, and went on to become a
pop-culture phenomenon in the U.S. and abroad. Now another remake of the
property– the third– is poised to make its way into local cinemas and
online streaming services. But before you get yourself worked up into a
lather with excitement, read on.
An updated remake of Scarface
has been licking around Hollywood for some time. Back in March the
trades were abuzz with the news that Universal was marching forward with
the project in earnest. At the time, Al Pacino, who
comprised the Tony Montana of lore we have come to love/hate, told
Hollywood Reporter that he might be interested in doing one himself: “I
may remake a movie I saw recently,” he said. “I can’t say what it is.
It’s about 50 years old.” While Pacino didn’t name the film, his attempt
at being cool with the possibility off a remake fell short, choosing to
tease out an enigma instead. Sour grapes perhaps?
Now that the United States has reconciled
a few of its differences with the island nation of Cuba, and has just
opened an embassy in Washington to continue to foster diplomatic
relations, the Hollywood casting machine (and the United States by
extension) will have to find a new so-called rogue nation and people to
fulfill its endless need for a nemesis and psychotic villains. And how
is the film being refreshed, you ask, now that sources have confirmed
that the story will not be based on tragic-hero-villain Tony Montana or
based in Miami? Enter México.
 |
| Al Pacino as Tony Montana. |
In the 1932 original, Scarface (uno)
was set in Chicago during the bootlegging epoch of prohibition. Paul
Muni, a leading actor of his day, played Tony (simply Tony). In 1983, Al
Pacino reprised the role of Tony (now Tony Montana) in Scarface (dos)
under Brian De Palma’s watch. This time Tony was morphed into a Cuban
refugee during Miami’s “Cocaine Cowboy” epidemic, whose insatiable
ambitions transform him into a larger-than-life drug lord who wants ‘the world and everything in it.’
Word now is that this next reboot will be
based in Los Angeles where a Mexican immigrant rises to become a
cartel-like crime figure. So, in essence, this Scarface is
participating in a film witness protection program where the names and
locations have been changed to protect the studio’s profits. The one
thing that will carry over from de Palma’s version: the lead character
will be played by an Anglo actor and not a Latino actor (insert GASPS
here). So who has been tapped to play the central role in a film that is
surely to receive the full tentpole treatment? Say hello to my little friend— Leonardo DiCaprio. Sorry Pacino, this boat is definitely setting sail without you.
The film is slated to be helmed by Chilean national Pablo Larraín, who most recently directed Gael García Bernal in No.
While Larraín has been attached to the project for some time, the jury
is still out if he will actually end up in the director’s chair when
principal photography begins now that DiCaprio has signed on. Straight Outta Compton scribe Jonathan Herman is penning the final screenplay after earlier attempts by David Ayer (Training Day) and Paul Attanasio (Donnie Brasco). Given how new to the game Herman is, the assumption is that he will “keep it real,” one can only think.
Now that DiCaprio is onboard, the film is
almost assured to go into production and hit theaters nationwide and
internationally and whatever writing, acting or directing choices are
made, they will be seen far and wide and have an impact regionally on
the people, places and things depicted. While Universal has claimed
that Scarface (tres) “will be a new and original take on
the immigrant story”, we’ve seen this portrayal on mainstream news a
million times when it comes to Mexican and Latin American immigration.
Even presidential hopeful (and hapless bigot) Donald Trump
has inserted the immigrant-as-killer frame into his faux stand against
the attack on Americana, casting them as mere harbingers of drugs,
crime, and rape (is that a plot spoiler?).
“Perhaps Trump is working for the studio as a story and marketing consultant”.
Already, purists and diehards are flooding chat boards
crying blasphemy. For them, De Palma’s take (a remake itself) sits atop
the Pantheon and should not be altered or remade. But the real outcry
will be from the community that will be (mis)represented, and I fear,
exploited for profit (AGAIN!). Maybe we need to sign onto those forums
and join the conversation, too.
 |
| Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata! |
Even with DiCaprio’s chops, it’s hard to
see how he will read as a Mexican, and what his choices will be as he
feigns a Latino accent. Will he pay homage to Pacino’s
mouth-full-of-marbles garble (spit or swallow, boy)? Tip the hat to Marlon Brando’s Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! (the horror)? Or genuflect to Sean Penn’s shiny gold-toothed Cuco Sánchez in Before Night Falls (¿Gua?)? Following this warped Hollywood connect-the-dots thinking, and the fact that Scarface
has become such an iconic staple in the hip hop community, we can also
imagine that African American actors will have central roles, if only to
serve as affable comic relief to the more serious storyline. One hopes
that is not the case (the added stereotypes, that is).
IMAGES MATTER.
 |
| Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera. |
So what will the impact be of another
slanted Hollywood film where caricatures dominate millions of insular
minds at a time when there is an open cultural war being waged against
Latino immigrants in the U.S.? Clearly, Universal is fixed on the bottom
line of profits and not the project’s potential negative social
implications. Only time will tell. Suddenly, the daring (or not so much)
escape of Sinaloa drug cartel overlord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán
makes perfect sense– he needed to update his headshots. Can we expect a
cameo? After all, Universal, he’s ready for his close-up. Glint.
