Weblog #3- "Scarface"

Scarface (1932) by Howard Hawks was a very well done gangster film that let audiences see into the lives of the gangsters themselves. One of the most important elements of this film was the development of the characters. Each character, from Tony the main gangster to his sister Cesca, was developed in such detail that it brought more life to the movie. By presenting each character in such an in depth fashion, the director created opportunities for audience members to sympathize with them when they encountered trouble. For example, when Cesca was hit by Tony and was being constantly yelled at for her supposedly wrongful ways of life, I was able to look at her as though she were my own sister and, therefore, sympathize with the sadness she felt brought on by her brother. Another great example of brilliant character development is seen with Tony. Even though he is clearly a bad guy who murders people without showing an ounce of remorse, we feel for him in certain situations because we are able to see his human side through the scenes with his family and with Poppy, the girl he likes.

Along with the great character development, Scarface also contained symbolism. Every time someone was murdered, the audience could see an X, either in the shadows or cast down by certain lighting sequences. In the films we have seen so far, none of them have incorporated symbolism into any scenes. I believe it was vitally used in this film because of the code of crime restrictions. Directors could not show both the man getting killed and the man doing the shooting in the same camera shot because critics believed this was to violent. Therefore, the director clearly chose to incorporate the X into every scene when someone is killed to remind audiences of what has happened. Tony's scar is also in the shape of an X, which could even foreshadow his death that occurs at the end of the film.

One main theme that I noticed in this film came from the words on a sign seen in certain scenes of the film. It read "The world is yours." I believe this was meant to inform audiences that it is up to them, or us, to stop violence and we cannot always leave it up to the police or government. Text seen at the very beginning of the film asks "What are you [audience] going to do about it[crime/violence] ?" This made it clear that this film was trying to send a message to people that the end of violence is in their hands, and we all must do our part to stop it. I really enjoyed this film, especially its use of comic relief, and I hope to one day see the remake in order to compare similarities.