Reception Among Cubans
While the film was controversial in general, it was even more so among Cubans who worried that they were being portrayed as criminals (the film even has a title card at the end asking audiences not to judge the entire Cuban-American community by Tony’s actions). Bauer explained that he was cagey explaining his role to other Cubans while preparing. He didn’t call Manny a criminal, but said that he “was living by the seat of his pants.” “I didn’t tell anybody really, the extent of the mayhem we would be a part of.”
However, he also defended the film’s violence as a realistic portrayal of the violence in South Florida at the time, referencing the documentary “Cocaine Cowboys” as proof. “We were actually shooting while all that was going on. A lot of the old-school Cubans were concerned with me, to the point where they weren’t really sure my participation in a Hollywood movie was worth me degrading or downgrading their accomplishments in the new society. And what I tried to convey to them was, ‘Relax man, it’s a movie. Just take it easy and be happy for me.’”
Say Hello to My Little Friend!
Asked about the film’s most iconic line, Pacino said, “Oliver Stone wrote that, as he did so many wonderful lines in this movie.” He marveled at the extent to which the line and the movie have caught on, considering how controversial it was upon release. He praised the book “Scarface Nation,” which thoroughly explores the film’s place in the culture, but “they still come away not knowing why [the film is so popular], why it’s still here, why it still lives… how the spirit of the movie, this kind of thrust in the movie, stays somehow relevant.”
Pacino spoke about the line in the movie’s explosive climax and shared that he was so caught up in the scene that afterward “I grabbed the barrel of the gun I’d just fired. My hand just stuck to it, it just stuck to it. Then it was over, and we had to go to the burn hospital.” He related that at the hospital, a nurse was shocked to recognize the actor because he was so covered in blood and dangerous looking that she said, “I thought you were a scumbag!”
De Palma explained that while Pacino was in the hospital for two weeks, he was still filming the climax, which helps explain its length. “We shot everything away from Al, that’s why there’s so much shooting because we just kept shooting.” Asked about Steven Spielberg visiting the set and operating a camera, De Palma couldn’t remember what exactly Spielberg shot, but Bauer claimed it was “the mirrors.”
Further Thoughts on Tony
The moderator asked De Palma if he thought the movie was similar to Oliver Stone’s later film “Wall Street” with its focus on greed. “I’ve always been interested in making movies about people who start rather humbly and then acquire a great deal of power and then ultimately isolate themselves and sort of live in their own world. Could that be anything we’re experiencing now?” said the filmmaker.
Asked if they could envision a remake with a female Tony Montana, every member of the panel gave a flat “No.” De Palma reminded the audience that their movie was already a remake and expressed pride in the difficulty of remaking something great.
Discussing the Latin setting, De Palma explained that he was interested in “gangsters that were Latin American because not only do you have the guns, you have the beautiful colors, and you have the dancing.” Bauer elaborated that it was important to remember that Tony is not fully Cuban, but a half-American, “with America in his DNA,” who is ready for and craving life in America.
Follow along with all our 2018 Tribeca Film Festival coverage here.