Al Pacino Anti Hero
A Look at the Delightfully Dark Side of Pacino's Characters
Celebrating some of the career highlights of master actor Al Pacino, and how his iconic roles as villanous characters have earned him the title of a classic anti hero.
Let's face it. Movie lovers across the world love a rouge. Aside from the obvious choice of Robert DeNiro as the greatest anti-hero in movie history, Al Pacino (who has walked a similar path to DeNiro) has also played many roles that the movie going demographic identify as heroes, despite the less than savory nature of some of these said roles.
Scarface
Pacino’s ability to play a steely mannered and callous character with a resolve that won’t falter is the charm here. Firstly, a character almost as celebrated as DeNiro’s Travis Bickle is Pacino’s performance as Cuban refugee Tony Montana in Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983). The movie sees Montana making it big in the world of crime and drugs in a steamy neon-lit Miami and also sees another classic rendering of an anti-hero which has been immortalized in the annals of movie history.
Montana is a criminal in the criminal world. He plays by his own rules and only shows loyalty to his fellow refugee Manny (Stephen Bauer) and his family. In a display of typical anti hero behavior, Montana kills and betrays, and eventually his mind is corrupted by a deadly cocktail of high powered enemies and cocaine induced paranoia.
Audiences enjoy identifying with a character that has risen from a poor or even politically unstable background and made it to the big time and Montana in Scarface is the definitive example. Montana reels of many classic quips and lines that help to give a residual dark humor to the story of his character, which elevates the potential for a timeless anti hero.
The Godfather
Pacino’s involvement in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy (1972-1990) not only gave him the opportunity to be in two of the greatest movies of all time, but also to play one of the greatest anti hero characters in the form of mob boss Michael Corleone. Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando) may be the icon of the series, but Michael is definitely the anti hero.
Michael was responsible for ruthless orders and many hits carried out in his name, and even the assassination of his brother Fredo (John Cazale) at the end of The Godfather Part II (1974). However the scene in which Michael proved his mettle and galvanized his reputation as the anti hero is that in The Godfather (1972) where in an Italian restaurant Michael assassinated Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) and Sollozzo (Al Lettieri). This is a glorious scene immortalized by very vivid violence.
Another Anti Hero
It isn't just coincidence that Pacino and DeNiro both rhyme with anti-hero; Pacino is comparable to DeNiro in terms of multiple characters that are worthy of the title anti hero. More movies support this claim such as The Devils Advocate (1997) in which Pacino plays a lovable devil, comparable to DeNiro in Angel Heart (1987), Donnie Brasco (1997) in which Pacino is cast as a clumsy but adorable crook who has some fantastic dialogue with Johnny Depp about what it its to be a gangster and Carlito’s Way (1993) where he desperately tries to resist temptation to return to a criminal lifestyle.
