Critical Approaches Gangster Genre Study Journal: Scarface

Critical Approaches Gangster Genre Study Journal: Scarface (1983)

For this task I will be looking at one of the films that we looked at in class and analyzed. The name of the film is ‘Scarface’ this was written in 1983, it is an American crime film that was directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone and produced by Martin Bregman. The film stars the well-known actor Al Pacino as Tony Montana, the film follows the protagonist narrative of a Cuban refugee who’s comes to Miami in 1980, and starts to become a drug carte; during the cocaine boom of the 1980. Scarface gives us a sleazy and dodgy world where billboards and dreams portray a paradise filled with American dream, overlooking and hiding the ugly truth of the reality of drugs and violence.

Narrative                                                                                                                     

Beginning: In terms of the narrative for Scarface, the film is linear like others that have a begging, middle and end. In other words the film has a setup, development and resolution. The opening scene of the film is in a form of an interrogation. Throughout the innotegoation, the camera is focused mainly on Montana, as we are not shown the faces of the officers; this is obviously intended for the audience to focus only on Montana. A while later we then see the protagonist Tony Montana being shipped to Florida. When the credits starts, footage of Cubans being shipped over to Florida just like Tony Montana in boats is shown. We are shown this footage during the credits, to give us the audience an understanding of what has happened to the protagonist to get him to where he is now. In other words to catch us up with the protagonist. Tony is detained on suspicion of a political criminal activity, in a camp called ‘Freedomtown’ that is contained with other Cubans like himself, while the government analysis their visa petitions.

Tony is then realised after an amount of days, and has been given green cards, we then see his best friend (Manny) help Montana kill a former aide to Fidel Castro, Emilio Rebenga during a riot at Freedomtown. Frank López, a wealthy, politically astute man who trades in cocaine, requested the murder of, Rebenga. After the two of them get their green cards Tony and Manny end up finding a job, working as dishwashers in what appears to be a small corner shop. The same man, who arranged for Manny to kill Rebenga, then offers Tony and Manny a job, which was to unload marijuana from a boat from Mexico to arrive in Miami the following night for an specific amount of money. Tony then insults Suárez by rejecting the job because, he feel as the job is worth money than offered. After that Suárez sets him up with a more money-earning job where Tony and many would receive $5,000 for their efforts. The job was to pick up cocaine with over $25,000 from a Colombian dealer (Hector).

Then Elvira appears at on the top floor, coming from her bedroom into a lift wearing seductive clothing walks in. From the moment she appears Tony was infatuated and desired her.

Tony, Manny, and two other Angel and Chi Chi then go to meet "Hector a sleazy motel on the boulevard in Miami Beach. It is decided that Manny and Chi Chi wait in the car while, Tony and Angel go up to the hotel room to meet with Hector. The meeting ends up being chaotic, hector is reluctant to give tony the money in exchange for the money. Tony and Angel are then double-crossed by the Colombian. Hector was only intent on stealing the money. Hector tries to persuade Tony to give him the money, by torturing his friend in a shower stall with a chainsaw, which resorted in the friend dying. He threatens Tony by saying that he will do the same thing to him, but tony seems less bothered of his threat. Chi Chi. then saves Tony, and then Manny ends up getting a minor bullet wound in his shoulder. Hector tries to escapes but Tony tracks him down and vengefully confronts him in the street and shoots him dead then and there. Tony and his crew get away with the cocaine and the money, avoiding the police.

A couple months later Tony attempts to make amendments with his family, in particularly his mother. He visits his mother Georgina and his little sister, its implied that Gina and Tony's father, who was a former U.S. Navy sailor, abandoned the family when Tony was just a boy. Since then, his mother and younger sister Gina have been left to provide and take care of themselves.  It is made clear to us that Tony’s mother is ashamed of him, and didn’t want him here. And she is disgusted with Tony’s lies of being able to afford his Luxurious lifestyle and starts to confront him, and tells him that she didn’t raise such a child, and that he is not to stay and corrupt Gina and disowns him from the family. We then see many waiting in the car, as tony gets in Manny makes a remarks on Gina's beauty, then is severely warned by Tony that she's off limits and those remarks go no further.

In the next scene Frank sends Tony and Omar to meet with a cocaine production overlord, Tony agrees to a deal with the overload without franks permission and consent, Omar leaves to contact Frank, of what has just taken place. The overload accuses Tony of Omar being with the police, we then see Tony watching Omar being beaten and to hang to his death from a helicopter. Tony vouches for the rest of his organization and Frank, the overload then agrees to the deal, not without giving him a warning that you don’t want to double cross him. In Miami, Frank is infuriated by Omar's death and the deal that took place without his consent by Tony.

The next scene is set in a nightclub we see Tony being black mailed by corrupt detective, who puts a cost on immunity from the police so that Tony can continue his business set-ups. Tony starts to flirt with Elvira who we see Frank getting aggregated and angered by his pursuits on Elvira. Tony then see his younger sister Gina dancing with a drug dealer and sees them heading into the men’s room. Tony gets angers by Gina’s presence in such a place, that he follows the two into the men’s room and has an unpleasant confrontation scene. Which resorts in the man being thrown out and Tony slapping Gina, Manny then enters and stops Tony from going and further and from Gina retaliating and takes her home.

A hit man hired by Frank attempts to eliminate Tony, but he escapes. Suspecting that Frank sent the hit man, Tony, Manny and Chi-Chi go to Frank's office, where they find him with Bernstein. When Tony gets the confirmation that frank was involved in the situation, Frank starts to grovel and beg for his life then Manny kills Frank and Tony kills Berstein. From then Tony takes over Franks Empire and gets his girlfriend who Tony admired from the start Elvira.

We then see Tony building a multimillion dollar empire and witness his and Elviras wedding. We then see the empire starting to struggle due to Tony and Elvira’s excessively cocaine addiction. Tony's money launderer demands to be paid more, and Manny grows tiresome as Tony takes all credit for their success. Soon after that Tony is charged with money laundering and tax evasion after a police sting operation.

Sosa offers to use his government connections for Tony to avoid jail sentence. Later, Tony pushes Manny and Elvira away and offends his wife of not being able to conceive then later on she leaves Tony. In New York City, Tony, Chi-Chi and Sosa's henchman prepare to bomb the car the journalist who wants to blackmail Tony. But they are surprised when the journalist wife and children enter the car. Tony starts to get cold feet and calls of the assassination, but the henchman insist to go along with it and Tony ends up killing him to stop him.

End: When tony returns to Miami, he visit his mother who is on a high level on anger, then tells him that Gina is missing and That he has influenced and corrupted her with his way of living. After being scolding by him mother once again, he is given Gina’s address by his mother then sets out to find her. At the house, he finds Manny opening the door in nothing but a bath rod, then Gina appears at the top of the stairs in a night grown. It is obvious that the two had engaged in amorous activities. Tony goes into rage and kills Manny brutally. Gina furiously and hysterically tells Tony that she and Manny had just gotten married the day before and were planning to surprise him with the news. After killing Manny Tony and his men take Gina to his mansion and declares war with Sosa. Then we see him burying his face in cocaine due to the past events that have just happened. During this Sosa's men begin attacking Tony's men. We then see a distraught and drugged Gina accuse Tony of wanting her; due to the fact he won’t let her be with any other man. She then shots Tony in the leg after numerous chaotic shots then is shoot and killed by Sosa’s men. Tony kills the man and becomes depressed and furious with Gina’s body. Tony uses a large weapon and kills some of Sosa’s men. Tony then is repeatedly shot, but continues to fight until the end. Tony's body falls into a fountain, in front of a statue that reads. "The World is yours."

The film Scarface is a single strand movie; it doesn’t have different storylines that it conveys. It gives us small niche stories, as kind of a cut away from the main storyline so that the audience is so overwhelmed by the protagonist and what’s going on in his life, but the film has one key storyline that is about a man who overcomes and poverty and rises to power and wealth and then is consumed by it all. This is the main narrative portrayed to the audience.

In terms of the film being alternative, I found that the film is because the film features all of the events in order. We see the protagonist that is Tony Montana, we see him rising to power and how he got there and we see him at an end. All the scenes have an anchorage with one another and help to build up the storyline.

I found that when I watched the film in relations to enigma I did find the film did raise some questions that were answered and figured them out at the end of the film and some that weren’t. I question was raised for me was, if Tony came back into Gina’s life would she have turned out the way she was and would she be where she is today. Another question that was raised but that was not really answered was what had Tony done so badly in the past for his own mother to be so disgusted with him and disown him from the family. In the film we see how horrific the mother treats tony but it’s not fully explained why however they do touch on how Tony was as a child as him being a trouble young boy. In addition a question that was raised for me but was answered was if Tony would give into Manny his best friend and Gina his little sister being together. My question was answered for me in the scene where Tony finds Manny in a bathrobe and Gina in a night grown implying that they had just slept together and he kills Manny.

In the film they’re a variety of equilibriums that occur, throughout the film there are things that disturb and come between the protagonists meting his goal. For example in the end of the film where Tony declares was with Sosa but ends up getting killed in the end. Another example is when Tony is caught in the act by the police and is thought to end up in jail and blackmailed but however seems to overcome these equilibriums.

Throughout the film there was much climax, there was nothing that was really building up to a suspenseful and climatic scene however there were a few. The scene that I thought brought a little climax was when Sosa’s men were outside the building climbing up to Tony’s office, that Gina had just entered and accuses Tony of wanting her. We see the men getting closer and about to shot then Gina starts shooting and the climax is broken when Gina is killed. I felt as if this scene was very climatic because we can see the men getting closer to kill tony, and it makes you think if they are going to kill him or if something is going to happen to stop it.

Genre                                                                                                                     They’re a variety of things in the film that convey and portray the genre to the audience. In terms technical, visual, symbolic, codes and conventions.

Visual: There are a variety of things that hint to audience what the genre of the film is visually. For example in the film we constantly see guns and weapons used, this is something that we would associate with gangster type genre films.  Another visual tell is when tony rises to wealth we see him living fluxions life that is accompanied with a mansion, expensive suits and money. These things again something is very conventional to genre type films, these are aspects that we expect to see and associate gangster genre with which tells us the genre of the film. In addition we also see visual imagery of strong violence, for example the scene where Tony Montana is killed viscously or the scene where he shots his best friend. These are a perfect example of visual violence that we see. Furthermore violence again hints to the audience what type of genre it is, it tells us that the film is going to be dramatic, action and possibly a gangster genre based film.

Symbolic: There are a few symbolic aspects in the film that I think convey or hint the type of genre-based film this is. One symbolic film that I think does this the scene where Tony is killed, he gets numerous shots then falls before his status which quotes something that he said at the beginning of the film, which was ‘The world is yours’. I think this is symbolic and tells audience that the genre is gangster, because normally in films gangster seem to think that they have it all when they have wealth, and act as if the world is theirs until something happens mostly likely their demise which proves them wrong and kind of sends out a message saying that living that lifestyle and being in that kind of business, you might have the world for a bit but in the end the world can consume you. In addition I think that this scene is symbolic because tony says ‘The world is yours’ at the beginning of the film, and then we see him getting the world he wanted but then we see where it takes him at the end of the film.

Another symbolic aspect in the film is that conveys the genre of the film is the name of Scarface that is given to Tony Montana. I think that the name is not in relation to his small scar on his face. I think it’s a symbolic mean that is saying that he lives a mess or leaves a scar behind him, wherever he goes. 

Conventions: There are a wide range of conventions used in the film that conveys the genre. A typical convention used in Scarface is smart and most expensive suits that money could buy. At the start of the film tony is dressed in rag like clothing but once he starts getting into the drug laundering business that when we see him dressing in expensive suits. This is something that we see in most gangster films, so hints to us what type of film genre this conveys.

Another convention is acts of violence; from the start of the film Tony participates in violent acts. For example when many was sent to kill a man in the facility that him and Tony where sent too, we see Tony killing the man. And throughout the film we see tony competing other unspeaking acts like this. Films based around the gangster genre have acts like this and such strong violent performances, films like The Godfather.

Another convention is luxury things associated with the lifestyle such as cigars and cocaine. In some parts of the film we see Frank and Tony using cigars, and when Tony rose to power we see large amounts of money in his precession. Money again is something that we expect to see in the gangster genre films, there is always some association with this item.

Representation: (How are men/women portrayed?)

In the film ‘ Scarface’ women and men are portrayed in two completely different senses. Focusing on the women in the film the main women that we see in the film is Gina Montana Tony’s sister; Elvira originally franks wife and Mama Montana, these main women are all represented in different ways. Looking at Mama Montana she is represented as a strong character who wanted nothing to do with her son’s way of life or anything to do with him for that matter. She is portrayed in a stereotypical way I say this because mothers are naturally protective over their children as she is for her daughter Gina. I also think that she is portrayed in a positive sense because when we first see her she says ‘I work for my living’. This tells us that she takes care of herself and her child on her won, and that she works hard for her way of living. In terms of representation this shows her to be hardworking, appreciated for what she has but also a caring mother. She states in the film ‘You know, all we read about in the papers today are animals like you and the killings. It's Cubans like you who are giving a bad name to our people. People who come here to work hard and make an honest living for themselves’. I think this line really represents the mother, it shows us that she has morals and a way that a son is supposed to act. Furthermore is show her in a positive light because it shows us that she is not for Tony’s way of living and believe what he does is bad so wants to part in her sons badness.

Gina

The second leading lady in the film is Gina Montana when we are first introduced to her as Tony’s sister, she is presented also in a stereo typical way, she is presented as a typical little sister who looks up to her big brother. She is also portrayed in a positive sense at the start of the film, we see her as an innocent and sweet little sister to tony. However towards the middle of the film she is started to be portrayed in a negative sense. We see Gina dancing with a drug dealer, we then see them heading to the men’s room which is filled with other men, then see them going into a stole, as we can only guess to take part in amorous activities. This then contrast with the good girl representation that Gina portrayed to us at the start, we are misled Gina is now represented as a party girl who is involved in that illegal lifestyle. In addition I also think she represented as a girl in need of a male role model in her life, when we see Gina in the film we mostly see her accompanied with a man for example the guy at the club she state’ I like Fernando, he's a fun guy and he's nice... and he knows how to treat a woman.’ then Tony’s best friend.  This portrays to the audience that she didn’t get the male attention growing up from her brother or father, seeing that both of these male factors weren’t there in her life so she finds that attention elsewhere.

Elvira

The third main leading lady that we see in the film is, Elvira Hancock. We first see Elvira coming from her bedroom, into a lift wearing a long elegant dress which shows her asserts a bit. Throughout the film she is shown wearing skimpy and flimsy clothing. I think this is too portrayed as her desirable by men due to the clothing that we always see her in, she is always shown some skin.
Tony Montana: Hey baby what is your problem? Huh, you got a problem? You're good looking; you got a beautiful body, beautiful legs, beautiful face, and all these guys in love with you. Not only this statement but also Tony’s first reactions to her, from the start of the film we see that he wanted and admired her, prove this. In addition I also think that she is represented as a sexual object, again in anchorage to her clothing and appearance she is always shown in quite explicitly.

Overall the women in the move ‘Scarface’ are represented below men. Men are shown in more of a higher and powerful sense. I think that Tony’s interaction with the opposite gender border on domination, even though his behaviours seems to be influenced by love, whether its love for his sister or love for his wife. In the film his complete disrespect and disregard for what Gina wanted and what made her happy. In difference to his wife, he a way that he thought that she would be or act, but when she fails to meet his standards he degrades her with verbal abuse. Both relationships are fraught with masculine domination of the female.

In relation to the representation of men in the movie, though the protagonist of the film is Tony there are two other main characters in the film.

Starting of with the protagonist Tony Montana her is represented as very ambitious, from the start of the film we see immediately know what Tony’s goal and ambition is, he knows what he wants and will do what is necessary to get to achieve it, throughout the film we then see him gradually getting closer to his goal to a point where he actually gets it. For example Tony starts of at the bottom, we see him being shipped to Florida then in a type of prison, then in the middle or ending of the film we see him out of prison and living this luxurious and lush lifestyle. Furthermore in a scene in the film tony states ‘ In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women. Which is what he strived and achieve, we see him first making money, then seeing him rise to power then later on marrying a women. This supports the representation of Tony being very ambitious.

Tony

Tony is also represented as a man not to be messed with; when I say this I mean that he is not a man that does not like to crossed. For example in the scene when Tony was nearly shot by people that Frank had hired to kill Tony. The confrontation between Frank and Tony, resorting in Tony’s arm being injured. We see how serious and mad that the protagonist was, when he found out that Frank was the cause of his injury and his plan was to kill him in fact. He did not take this news lightly and ended up killing frank.                    Frank Lopez: Tony, don't kill me, please! 
Tony Montana: I ain't gonna kill you. 
Frank Lopez: Oh Christ, thank you! Thank you! 
Tony Montana: [Tony looks at Manny] Manolo, shoot that piece of shit!  This portrays tony as a guy who you don’t want to get on the wrong side of because he will, get his revenge and vengeance.

Even though throughout the film Tony is represented and portrayed as a harsh and brutal man. We also see a side of Tony that is quit unexpected, when it came to his family and kids. Tony is presented with having a caring, and sensitive side. For example their was a scene in the film where Tony and a couple of guys had plans to blow up a person who was in a car. But their plans got jeopardized, when Tony saw that their was a mother and her children in the car that they had planned to blow up.  The conversation was ‘Tony Montana: Bet you feel good, huh? Bet you feel good to kill a mother and her kids, huh, bet you feel *big*... 
Alberto The Shadow: Shut your mouth! 
Tony Montana: ...Like, you big man. Well fuck you. What do you think I am? You think I'd kill two kids and a woman? Fuck that! I don't need that shit in my life.’ we see then that Tony does have some morals and that even though he has killed many people and done many wrongs in his life, killing a women and children was a line that you don’t cross. So this represents him as a guy who has morals, that has a caring side.

Tony is also represented as a family guy but also protective, from the start of the movie we see that family is very important to him. This point is supported throughout the film when we see his relationship with his sister Gina; he acts very protective of her he states… I think that this is because she represents the only thing pure left in his life. so he has a powerful desire to protect her and make sure that she doesn’t get tainted, this powerful desire leads to him irrationally killing her husband also known as his best friend.  Also in the middle of the film Tony makes it clear that one day he wants a family, when he says….. . And again we see how much family means to him towards the end of the film when he finds out that his wife cant give him children due to her drug abuse. We see him getting angry and aggressive towards her. He states Tony Montana: Look at that: a junkie... I got a junkie for a wife... Her womb is so polluted... I can't even have a fucking little baby with her! ‘

The protagonist is also represented as a guy who keeps his word, in this film he states  I never fucked anybody over in my life didn't have it coming to them. You got that? All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break them for no one. Do you understand? That piece of shit up there, I never liked him, I never trusted him. For all I know he had me set up and had my friend Angel Fernandez killed. But that's history. I'm here, he's not. Do you wanna go on with me, you say it. You don't, then you make a move.’ When Tony says this we see that though he doesn’t have much morals and is no stranger to doing terrible things, his word means a lot. So he is portrayed to the audience as a man who can be trusted when given his word.

Manny

The second main character of the film is ‘Manny Ribera’ who played Tonys Best or close friend.  One way in which he is represented is as ladies man, in a scene of the film we see Tony and a guy heading into a building doing a job in relation to drugs, and the scene turns quit violent. But outside in the car we see Manny flirting and touching a women. After this scene we then see again Mannys interest with women when he goes over to a women and says ‘’ this presents his character with having a big interest for women.

Manny Is also represented as a man who’s motivation revolves around sex. Throughout the film he is in pursuit of it and finding a female partner. And we constantly see him humouring his erotic desires.

Manny is also represented as a loyal friend who values his friendship with tony .i say this because from the start of the film we see him by Tony’s side until the end, he was their from when Tony was at the bottom, watching his back and making sure he doesn’t get himself into too much trouble. To when Tony rises to the top, again we see him making sure that Tony is carful with his assets. He states ‘ . Also when Gina implied that Manny should take her out he declines the offer due to the fact that, she is Tony’s sister so it ends their.

Target Audience:

In regards to the target audience of the film ‘Scarface’, breaking down the audience into categories, starting with gender. I think the primary gender of the film is young males, because the film mainly focuses on strong male leads but also because the film is very male dominated. Also I think the film involves conventions that would appeal more to a male audience rather than a female audience. The conventions that would appeal to this primary gender are things such as weaponry, strong language and women.  Furthermore I think the young male audience is also targeted through the characters, I think men who have been in the same or similar place as the protagonist Tony Montana might be able to relate to him and perhaps his actions. I also think that maybe young men might admire the protagonist ambition, though he did a lot of illegal and bad things to get to his goal. I think the main thing that he is admired for is that he achieved what he set out to do; he reached his goal, which is what many of us want to do. Tony is consider a role model for rising from poverty to wealth and power and sociopathic appetite for violence.

Though I think the primary gender of the film is men, I do think there is a secondary audience. The secondary gender is female, I think that females could maybe relate to the female leads in someway or another. For example for those females in the audience who have protective brothers and are little sisters, could possibly relate to Gina’s situation with tony.  I also think that this film would appeal to a female audience as supposed to a male audience, due to the fact that Elvira is a love interest to tony which conveys a sense of romance in the film.

The age group I would say that this film is targeted at is 18 and above, despite the film classification being 18+, meaning that no one younger than this age is targeted at, because there are things that wouldn’t be deemed appropriate for a younger age. There are other aspects in the film that are targeted at an older and mature audience. Aspects in the film are very adult rated subjects such as strong violence, murder and drugs.  The film portrays that gangsters get away with a lot of things, and that they are above the law and everything else. We only see that tony Montana pays is when another gang kills him nether the less. These things would be deemed inappropriate for those, younger than the targeted age because it would convey a wrong message. In addition also the film constantly uses very strong language, and in appropriate speech such as ‘ ‘ which is why this would be targeted at a older age.

The ethnicity and nationality of the audience I don’t think is really relevant in terms of this film. I think the film is targeted at all audiences even though the film does focus on particular ethnicities.

I think also the location of the target audience is relevant as well. I think the film is open to all people in the audience from different locations. However seeing that the film is based in America, I think that it is maybe targeted at American more than other people in the audiences located in other places. I think how the film would target those who are in America, because the film is based around the American dream. Which is were most people go to achieve their dreams, and where people go to have a better and lush lifestyle. The tagline ‘ ‘

The interest of the audience that I think the audience might have and be targeted through is, are those who have an interest in violence from violent videogames to violent movies. The film would target those who have these interests, through the gun usage and violent scenes. I also think those who have an interest in gangster films, how people of these interest are targeted are through the conventional gangster conventions such as guns, women, luscious lifestyle and money these are all conventions that you would expect to see in gangster based films.  Also ‘Scarface’ is a classic gangster film that tells a typical gangster story.

Violence

It is no secret that ‘Scarface’ is highly violent and has a immense amount of strong violent scenes.  The most violent scene in the film that I thought had a big effect on me, was the ending of the film when Tony Montana finally gets what he had coming to him. How did he die? . I think the way he died, was very effective and dramatic, it was a good way to end the film and his life because it shows the audience that the life that he wanted and try to hardly to preserve was the thing that ended up killing in in the end.  I like this scene because it showed me that, that particular lifestyle doesn’t come without consequences, it does end up getting you in the end no matter what.

A scene which I found that was very upsetting for me and that I think wasn’t necessarily was the part in the film where Tony returns to Florida to find his mother accusing him of having a bad influence on Gina, Tony attempts to locate Manny, and finds him and Gina together. Realizing Manny has slept with his sister, Tony shoots and kills him in a cocaine-fueled rage, before Gina reveals that they had just married. Tony and his men take a distraught Gina back to his mansion. Meanwhile, a large group of gun-toting assassins sent by Sosa surround the mansion. While Tony sits in his office, distraught at his actions and snorting vast quantities of cocaine, the gunmen begin quietly killing Tony's guards outside. I felt strongly that he had no reason or excuse for doing this violent act. Instead of tony seeing how happy his sister and best friend were together, he looked past that and straight into seeing his best friend sleeping with his sister. I feel that tony should had considered it first, Manny being his best friend is someone he could trust meaning that he could have been the best person to keep his sister safe and someone he could trust to protect her. Furthermore I don’t think this use of violence was necessary

Another scene that I felt violence was need it the violence in this scene was physical it was more verbal. This was the scene between tony and his wife having a confrontation in a restaurant.  Tony makes snide remarks during a fight at the restaurant saying that Elvira is probably infertile due to her drug use, he states "Look at that: a junkie... I got a junkie for a wife... Her womb is so polluted... I can't even have a fucking little baby with her!” I felt, as there was no need for Tony to say this to his wife. For me this raised questions about his love for her, I understand that tony has always wanted a family and values family very much. And Elvira not being able to conceive might have been upsetting. But what he said was very upsetting, I would think that if tony really loved his wife he would consider her feelings and treated her better. After they got married Elvira still doesn’t seem happy and we don’t really see tony and Elvira as a couple in a married. In addition I think part of the reason why Elvira was unhappy, was I think she was fed up with that particular lifestyle of drugs, and that illegal life.

Another scene in the film that I have strong feelings and an opinion about is the scene where tony and his friend, going into a hotel. Tony and Angel go up to the hotel room to meet with Hector, a drug provider. The meaning doesn’t go very smoothly, in this scene we see Tony growing irritated and aggravated with Hector, who is slow and reluctant to give him the cocaine in exchange for money. Then unexpectedly Tony and Angel are double-crossed by the Hector. It is then that it becomes clear that Hector didn’t plan to sell Tony the cocaine, and that his intent was only on stealing the money that the protagonist has been given to purchase. Then Hector tries to convince Tony to give him the cash, by dismembering and threatening to torture/kill Angel in a shower with a chainsaw. I think that this see was very raw and disturbing, think the whole idea of watching your friend being killed in such a violent way in front of you is very disturbing. I it is then when we see the little innocence that tony had been lose.