Humanizing The Monster In Scarface
The Beauty Behind the Beast: Humanizing the Monster in Scarface Through the Use of Mise-en-scene
When Howard Hawk’s Scarface was first screened to the public in 1932, it was in limited release due to disagreements on censorship with the Hays Office. The production code was implemented to protect the public from violent, sexual, and morally corrupt films, so it could be assumed that such a code had been put in place because people did not want to see such films. However, Scarface was a blockbuster success. People wanted to see a movie that glorified the gangster life, but why? Was the public simply bloodthirsty? It could be argued that people did not go to see Scarface because it showed the monster inside the human, but the human inside the monster. The idea is simple: take obvious “monsters” and slowly reveal their human side; the concept is so compelling because it is so counterintuitive. Through the use of mise-en-scene, Hawks is able to humanize his violent protagonist. In the …show more content…
beginning of Scarface, we label the protagonist, Tony Camonte, a murderer. In the hands of another director, we might feel unsympathetic toward Tony, but Hawks is able to slowly unveil a side of the character that is so poignantly human that the audience cannot help but feel a growing sense of sympathy. This is the magic that Howard Hawks works; the same magic that can be seen in Coppola’s Godfather and Scorsese’s Casino. Through the film’s mise-en-scene, the “monster” is humanized. Hawks’s most cunning decisions involve what to show and what not to show. Through the manipulation of mise-en-scene -- including setting, staging, costume/makeup, and lighting-- certain aspects of the characters ' personalities can be revealed while other aspects remain hidden. This use of mise-en-scene to reveal a hidden side to the film 's protagonist is the genius behind Scarface. Hawks uses these devices throughout the entirety of Scarface, and they rise to a crescendo toward the end of the film. As the film progresses, more and more of the violence and blatant cruelty is shown until Tony’s personality is completely laid bare. By the end of Scarface, we have seen all of Tony’s misdeeds, but it is too late. We have fallen in love with the Beauty in the Beast. In order to properly understand this crescendo, one must go through the film’s major scenes in chronological order, taking note of each mise-en-scene device used. The opening scene illustrates and foreshadows these devices later employed in the film. In this first scene, a mob boss named Big Louie is murdered by an unknown man. This unknown man is the audience’s first introduction to Tony, and, appropriately, he is in shadow. We do not see his face, nor know his name in this first scene. The audience only knows that the killer whistles. In fact, it is never stated outright that Tony is Big Louie’s killer; this can only be inferred much later in the film when Tony’s whistling motif is established. This delayed reveal is done purposefully; it is a way of postponing judgment on Tony until further evidence is collected. If the first scene was of Tony openly killing the charismatic Big Louie, our first impression of Tony would be very negative. In other words, hiding certain character actions from the audience’s view can cast the perpetrators in a more lenient light then if the actions were put clearly on display. There are other ways that Hawks hides details through the use of mise-en-scene to lessen the blame we place on Tony. First, there is the setting. The entire scene of Big Louie’s murder is actually one continuous shot, and the set is probably the most interesting part of that shot. As the camera tracks past Big Louie in the phone booth, the screen becomes blocked by a forest of house-plants. Through the shadow of these plants we see the shadow of the killer stalking his target like a jaguar in the jungle. This type of setting changes the definition of the act that is being performed: the shadowy man is no longer a “murderer” but a “hunter” stalking his prey. This disassociation is a clever move on Hawks’s part. While a jaguar is a killer, it is also a beautiful, natural animal deserving of respect. The immorality of the killer’s act is hidden behind a veil of fatalistic acceptance: the idea that it is natural for a hunter to kill his prey. This lessens our condemnation of the killer. In other words, by creating this jungle setting, the connotations of Tony’s act are cast into the shadows as well. The next scene in the movie takes place in the barber shop, and Tony’s face is revealed for the first time. This second scene is characterized by high-key lighting, contrasting with the first, shadowy scene. After being escorted out of the barbershop, Tony is taken to the police station for questioning. There is nothing visibly hidden in these scenes like in the previous one; what is hidden is the message. This message is expressed through contrasts in costume and staging (namely performance). The first act of violence seen in the film is not committed by Tony or the mafia; it is committed by the police. The deputy, Guarino, is the first to lose his temper and lash-out, casting the law enforcement in a negative light. Tony on the other hand remains cool, collected, and cheerful. Paul Muni (the actor who plays Tony) imbues his character with a natural charisma that immediately connects with the audience. The chief himself looks more like a gangster with his black suit and black fedora, and his deputy stands like a hired-thug by the door. Seated beside the cops, Tony and Guino are bare-headed and, consequently, look less menacing. The Chief’s tone is condescending and unlikeable, while Tony’s voice is full of good-humored laughter. Juxtaposed against these unlikable cops, Tony appears almost innocent as he jokes around, calling Habeas-Corpus “hocus-pocus” with a boyish grin on his face. Hawks purposefully introduces the characters of Tony and Guino so innocently; he is hiding the true evil of their personalities behind a veil of charismatic acting, humorous dialogue, and purposeful costuming. The audience is being fed anti-cop/pro-mafia subliminal messages through the use of mise-en-scene. As Scarface progresses from this point, Tony and Guino’s violent behaviors are slowly exposed. Only thirty minutes into the movie the audience already knows Tony is a remorseless killer. Yet, we do not hate him. Surprisingly, we root for him to succeed. Much of the reason we do not hate him can be attributed, ironically enough, to the Hollywood Production Code. The Code’s clause stating that showing a character “committing murder by whatever method” should be avoided, actually causes the “sympathy of the audience [to be] thrown on the side of crime” (Jacobs, 2012). In other words, by refraining from showing actual violence on-screen, Hawks delays our disenchantment with the charismatic protagonist. We can like Tony a little longer because we have not seen the results of his crimes. For the majority of the first half of the film, we see few actual acts of murder being committed. A great shot that replaces the violence is the one of the calendar pages flying past the screen as a gun fires. This ingenious composite-shot leaves it up to the audience’s imagination to decide what Tony and his gang are doing over those calendared months. The shot is so creative because the audience does not see the killing, but numerous killings are implied. For a viewer, implied violence does not have the same impact as seen violence. Inevitably, the audience is eventually shown the carnage and bloodshed. However, there is an interplay between shots of violence and shots of joviality that is purposefully discordant. The scene where Tony and Poppy are attacked in the restaurant might be the most ironic scene in the entire film. While bullets riddle the walls above their heads, Tony and Guino are both laughing, making sport of the serious situation. At the same time, the dunce, Angelo, is having his own slap-stick solo on the telephone. Thanks to the exuberant actors, the tone of the scene is jovial and fun, that is, until the last few seconds. In those last few seconds before the screen turns to black, we see the restaurant staff -- frightened, confused, and bleeding. The shots in the beginning of the scene show only the front of the restaurant where Tony, Guino, and Poppy are hiding under the window. Hawks does not show us the back of the restaurant where the staff must be hiding. We are not shown the dead bodies that must exist in the aftermath of the shooting. Since we are not shown anything until the end of the scene, these last few seconds are incredibly jarring to the viewer; we suddenly remember that our protagonists are not as innocent as the actors have made them appear. Up until this point, only people involved in the mafia were killed, not innocent bystanders. The interplay of shots in this scene raises the audience’s awareness of the violence that has been going on off-screen. The borders of the frame are being expanded; we now see the bystanders’ point of view. The realization that this mafia gang has no empathy for the innocents they might harm shifts our sympathies away from Tony and Guino, but we are not ready to completely forsake them yet. While the audience now knows Tony and Guino’s crimes, there is one character we still hate more: Johnny Lovo. Why we hate him can be summed-up in the conversation after Johnny betrays Tony; “I never hurt anybody!” Johnny screams, to which Tony replies, “Yeah. You get somebody else to do it for you!” Johnny is a coward who is willing to give the sentence but not watch the execution. The character of Johnny Lovo might seem superfluous to the story as a whole, but he is necessary in order to keep our sympathies with Tony. Compared to Johnny, who was unlikeable from the beginning, Tony seems like the lesser of two evils. Why this is so can be traced back to the very first scene. While Johnny is a corrupt bureaucrat, Tony is a hunter. When Tony kills, he is indiscriminate and clear-headed; rarely does he kill out of passion. This contrast is illustrated in the scene where Tony kills Johnny. The camera is high-angle when looking at Johnny, but low-angle when looking at Tony, making it clear that Johnny is the prey and Tony the predator. Johnny’s face is sweaty (literally “oily’), and we see his cowardly nature through the actor’s performance and the pleading dialogue. Tony’s face takes on a hard-edge during this conversation thanks to dark, defining makeup, and his clothes are in tatters, making him look more animal-like than ever. When Johnny is killed, we feel no sympathy for him. Not only does he try to have Tony, his partner, killed, but he pathetically denies his crime to the very end. Hawks is purposefully juxtaposing the oily character of Johnny against the feral character of Tony. He does this by utilizing staging and costume/makeup in such a way as to make Johnny more unlikable to the audience than Tony. Through these mise-en-scene devices, Hawks is able to keep our sympathies on Tony even after we have seen his true, apathetic nature. By this point in the story, almost everything about Scarface’s protagonists has been revealed.
By hiding certain details, Hawks has managed to keep the audience on Tony’s side. However, with all the details now in high relief, there is little to keep the audience from turning against Tony. Though the film is nearly over by the time Tony has Johnny killed, there is still one wildcard left in the story: Cesca. Her allegiances have yet to be established. There are other questions as well, such as: How much does she know about her brother’s work? Will she side with her mother or her brother? Not only does Cesca’s uncertain position have the potential to throw a monkey-wrench into Tony and Guino’s plans, but she is both men’s only weakness. Both men make dangerous mistakes when it comes to Cesca. Tony’s possessive obsession with his sister nearly gets him killed. Guino, Tony’s most trusted right-hand-man, chooses Cesca over Tony, destroying their bond
forever. In the scene where Cesca comes into Tony’s office, blocking and costume are used to show the subtle shifting of alliances. In this scene, Guino is seated at Tony’s chair. Symbolically, he is Tony’s replacement. Connecting back to the very first scene in the film, Cesca is wearing a leopard-printed outfit, and, like a leopard, she is on the prowl. When Cesca attempts to seduce Guino, he comments, “You’re like Tony when you go after something, huh?” Here, the audience is given a clue that Cesca might be similar to her brother, and, like her brother, she wants Guino standing by her side. While Tony is away, he has effectively been replaced by the two people he trusts most. Hawks’s directorial abilities shine at the climax of Scarface. Up until this point, Hawks has hidden the character of Tony behind visual and narrative veils so that we might empathize with him. At this point in the story, there are no more veils. In order for us to continue empathizing with Tony, he must change. In order for Tony to change, his comfortable world must be shattered, and the only characters with the potential to emotionally wound Tony are Cesca and Guino. Symbolically, these two characters represent the two halves of Tony’s personality. Cesca represents his fun, wild side; Guino represents his cold, calculating side. When Tony kills Guino in the apartment scene, he loses his rationality, and when Cesca dies in the final scene, he loses his mind completely. Seeing the story’s once proud and powerful protagonist destroy everything he loves ignites the audience’s sympathies once again. Scarface’s last scene takes place in Tony’s barricaded house. Performance and lighting are the prominent mise-en-scene devices used to reveal the last hidden aspects of Tony’s character. Having just killed Guino, Tony is noticeably shaken. “I didn’t know,” he keeps muttering, assumably referring to Guino and Cesca’s secret marriage. Poppy is shown to be far away and Angelo is dead. Hawks lets the audience know that Tony is completely alone in his hour of need. Then, Cesca appears from the shadows holding a gun. His friends are dead; all Tony has left is his sister. As she emerges from the shadows, she symbolizes the wild side of his personality coming forward. The gun might symbolize his wish for death, or maybe it symbolizes all the people he has killed. Either way, it is a representation of his sins. When Tony asks Cesca why she did not shoot him, she replies, “Maybe it’s because you’re me, and I’m you.” With Cesca at his side, Tony regains his charisma, but when she dies, he loses his mind. During this sequence, Hawks uses all of the mise-enscene devices at his disposal to show Tony’s mental state. The set is filled with blinding smoke. The actor, Paul Muni, screams and stumbles around the room. Tony’s face is covered in sweat, and he tears at his tight neck-tie trying to breath. The glare of spotlights dance across the room and over his face. Tony’s most private emotion -- fear -- is finally revealed. The film ends with Guarino saying, “I told you you 'd show up this way. Get you in a jam without a gun and you squeal like a yellow rat!” before Tony makes a break for it and is shot in the street. Scarface has been hailed as one of America’s most "culturally, historically, [and] aesthetically significant" films in history (U.S. National Film Registry, 2012). However, at the time of its release, critics declared that the film would decay moral values. These critics only saw the outward violence and crime; they only saw the “monster” with a scar on his face. Looking deeper, Scarface is about searching for the human in the monster, not the monster in the human. Through his use of mise-en-scene, Howard Hawks is able to let the audience delve into the life of a fascinating character who would otherwise be labeled an immutable, static “criminal.” Yes, the character of Tony Camonte is a murderer, but he is also a many-faceted human being. Scarface is not about condoning violence but of dissecting the man behind the gun. By hiding the condemning brutality until after the audience as met Tony, Hawks allows us to see the character from a new perspective. We are able to see the human in the monster -- the Beauty inside the Beast.
Works Cited
Dirks, Tim. "Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)." Filmsite. AMC Network Entertainment, 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .
Jacobs, Christopher P. "The Production Code of 1930." Intro to Film. University of North Dakota, 2012. Web. .
"Motion Picture Production Code." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.
Scarface. Dir. Howard Hawks. Prod. Howard Hughes. Perf. Paul Muni, George Raft, Boris Karloff, and Osgood Perkins. Universal, 1932. Streaming. Netflix. Netflix, Inc. Web. 26
Nov. 2012. .
U.S. National Film Registry -- Titles." Ed. Steve Leggett. National Film Preservation Board, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
When Howard Hawk’s Scarface was first screened to the public in 1932, it was in limited release due to disagreements on censorship with the Hays Office. The production code was implemented to protect the public from violent, sexual, and morally corrupt films, so it could be assumed that such a code had been put in place because people did not want to see such films. However, Scarface was a blockbuster success. People wanted to see a movie that glorified the gangster life, but why? Was the public simply bloodthirsty? It could be argued that people did not go to see Scarface because it showed the monster inside the human, but the human inside the monster. The idea is simple: take obvious “monsters” and slowly reveal their human side; the concept is so compelling because it is so counterintuitive. Through the use of mise-en-scene, Hawks is able to humanize his violent protagonist. In the …show more content…
beginning of Scarface, we label the protagonist, Tony Camonte, a murderer. In the hands of another director, we might feel unsympathetic toward Tony, but Hawks is able to slowly unveil a side of the character that is so poignantly human that the audience cannot help but feel a growing sense of sympathy. This is the magic that Howard Hawks works; the same magic that can be seen in Coppola’s Godfather and Scorsese’s Casino. Through the film’s mise-en-scene, the “monster” is humanized. Hawks’s most cunning decisions involve what to show and what not to show. Through the manipulation of mise-en-scene -- including setting, staging, costume/makeup, and lighting-- certain aspects of the characters ' personalities can be revealed while other aspects remain hidden. This use of mise-en-scene to reveal a hidden side to the film 's protagonist is the genius behind Scarface. Hawks uses these devices throughout the entirety of Scarface, and they rise to a crescendo toward the end of the film. As the film progresses, more and more of the violence and blatant cruelty is shown until Tony’s personality is completely laid bare. By the end of Scarface, we have seen all of Tony’s misdeeds, but it is too late. We have fallen in love with the Beauty in the Beast. In order to properly understand this crescendo, one must go through the film’s major scenes in chronological order, taking note of each mise-en-scene device used. The opening scene illustrates and foreshadows these devices later employed in the film. In this first scene, a mob boss named Big Louie is murdered by an unknown man. This unknown man is the audience’s first introduction to Tony, and, appropriately, he is in shadow. We do not see his face, nor know his name in this first scene. The audience only knows that the killer whistles. In fact, it is never stated outright that Tony is Big Louie’s killer; this can only be inferred much later in the film when Tony’s whistling motif is established. This delayed reveal is done purposefully; it is a way of postponing judgment on Tony until further evidence is collected. If the first scene was of Tony openly killing the charismatic Big Louie, our first impression of Tony would be very negative. In other words, hiding certain character actions from the audience’s view can cast the perpetrators in a more lenient light then if the actions were put clearly on display. There are other ways that Hawks hides details through the use of mise-en-scene to lessen the blame we place on Tony. First, there is the setting. The entire scene of Big Louie’s murder is actually one continuous shot, and the set is probably the most interesting part of that shot. As the camera tracks past Big Louie in the phone booth, the screen becomes blocked by a forest of house-plants. Through the shadow of these plants we see the shadow of the killer stalking his target like a jaguar in the jungle. This type of setting changes the definition of the act that is being performed: the shadowy man is no longer a “murderer” but a “hunter” stalking his prey. This disassociation is a clever move on Hawks’s part. While a jaguar is a killer, it is also a beautiful, natural animal deserving of respect. The immorality of the killer’s act is hidden behind a veil of fatalistic acceptance: the idea that it is natural for a hunter to kill his prey. This lessens our condemnation of the killer. In other words, by creating this jungle setting, the connotations of Tony’s act are cast into the shadows as well. The next scene in the movie takes place in the barber shop, and Tony’s face is revealed for the first time. This second scene is characterized by high-key lighting, contrasting with the first, shadowy scene. After being escorted out of the barbershop, Tony is taken to the police station for questioning. There is nothing visibly hidden in these scenes like in the previous one; what is hidden is the message. This message is expressed through contrasts in costume and staging (namely performance). The first act of violence seen in the film is not committed by Tony or the mafia; it is committed by the police. The deputy, Guarino, is the first to lose his temper and lash-out, casting the law enforcement in a negative light. Tony on the other hand remains cool, collected, and cheerful. Paul Muni (the actor who plays Tony) imbues his character with a natural charisma that immediately connects with the audience. The chief himself looks more like a gangster with his black suit and black fedora, and his deputy stands like a hired-thug by the door. Seated beside the cops, Tony and Guino are bare-headed and, consequently, look less menacing. The Chief’s tone is condescending and unlikeable, while Tony’s voice is full of good-humored laughter. Juxtaposed against these unlikable cops, Tony appears almost innocent as he jokes around, calling Habeas-Corpus “hocus-pocus” with a boyish grin on his face. Hawks purposefully introduces the characters of Tony and Guino so innocently; he is hiding the true evil of their personalities behind a veil of charismatic acting, humorous dialogue, and purposeful costuming. The audience is being fed anti-cop/pro-mafia subliminal messages through the use of mise-en-scene. As Scarface progresses from this point, Tony and Guino’s violent behaviors are slowly exposed. Only thirty minutes into the movie the audience already knows Tony is a remorseless killer. Yet, we do not hate him. Surprisingly, we root for him to succeed. Much of the reason we do not hate him can be attributed, ironically enough, to the Hollywood Production Code. The Code’s clause stating that showing a character “committing murder by whatever method” should be avoided, actually causes the “sympathy of the audience [to be] thrown on the side of crime” (Jacobs, 2012). In other words, by refraining from showing actual violence on-screen, Hawks delays our disenchantment with the charismatic protagonist. We can like Tony a little longer because we have not seen the results of his crimes. For the majority of the first half of the film, we see few actual acts of murder being committed. A great shot that replaces the violence is the one of the calendar pages flying past the screen as a gun fires. This ingenious composite-shot leaves it up to the audience’s imagination to decide what Tony and his gang are doing over those calendared months. The shot is so creative because the audience does not see the killing, but numerous killings are implied. For a viewer, implied violence does not have the same impact as seen violence. Inevitably, the audience is eventually shown the carnage and bloodshed. However, there is an interplay between shots of violence and shots of joviality that is purposefully discordant. The scene where Tony and Poppy are attacked in the restaurant might be the most ironic scene in the entire film. While bullets riddle the walls above their heads, Tony and Guino are both laughing, making sport of the serious situation. At the same time, the dunce, Angelo, is having his own slap-stick solo on the telephone. Thanks to the exuberant actors, the tone of the scene is jovial and fun, that is, until the last few seconds. In those last few seconds before the screen turns to black, we see the restaurant staff -- frightened, confused, and bleeding. The shots in the beginning of the scene show only the front of the restaurant where Tony, Guino, and Poppy are hiding under the window. Hawks does not show us the back of the restaurant where the staff must be hiding. We are not shown the dead bodies that must exist in the aftermath of the shooting. Since we are not shown anything until the end of the scene, these last few seconds are incredibly jarring to the viewer; we suddenly remember that our protagonists are not as innocent as the actors have made them appear. Up until this point, only people involved in the mafia were killed, not innocent bystanders. The interplay of shots in this scene raises the audience’s awareness of the violence that has been going on off-screen. The borders of the frame are being expanded; we now see the bystanders’ point of view. The realization that this mafia gang has no empathy for the innocents they might harm shifts our sympathies away from Tony and Guino, but we are not ready to completely forsake them yet. While the audience now knows Tony and Guino’s crimes, there is one character we still hate more: Johnny Lovo. Why we hate him can be summed-up in the conversation after Johnny betrays Tony; “I never hurt anybody!” Johnny screams, to which Tony replies, “Yeah. You get somebody else to do it for you!” Johnny is a coward who is willing to give the sentence but not watch the execution. The character of Johnny Lovo might seem superfluous to the story as a whole, but he is necessary in order to keep our sympathies with Tony. Compared to Johnny, who was unlikeable from the beginning, Tony seems like the lesser of two evils. Why this is so can be traced back to the very first scene. While Johnny is a corrupt bureaucrat, Tony is a hunter. When Tony kills, he is indiscriminate and clear-headed; rarely does he kill out of passion. This contrast is illustrated in the scene where Tony kills Johnny. The camera is high-angle when looking at Johnny, but low-angle when looking at Tony, making it clear that Johnny is the prey and Tony the predator. Johnny’s face is sweaty (literally “oily’), and we see his cowardly nature through the actor’s performance and the pleading dialogue. Tony’s face takes on a hard-edge during this conversation thanks to dark, defining makeup, and his clothes are in tatters, making him look more animal-like than ever. When Johnny is killed, we feel no sympathy for him. Not only does he try to have Tony, his partner, killed, but he pathetically denies his crime to the very end. Hawks is purposefully juxtaposing the oily character of Johnny against the feral character of Tony. He does this by utilizing staging and costume/makeup in such a way as to make Johnny more unlikable to the audience than Tony. Through these mise-en-scene devices, Hawks is able to keep our sympathies on Tony even after we have seen his true, apathetic nature. By this point in the story, almost everything about Scarface’s protagonists has been revealed.
By hiding certain details, Hawks has managed to keep the audience on Tony’s side. However, with all the details now in high relief, there is little to keep the audience from turning against Tony. Though the film is nearly over by the time Tony has Johnny killed, there is still one wildcard left in the story: Cesca. Her allegiances have yet to be established. There are other questions as well, such as: How much does she know about her brother’s work? Will she side with her mother or her brother? Not only does Cesca’s uncertain position have the potential to throw a monkey-wrench into Tony and Guino’s plans, but she is both men’s only weakness. Both men make dangerous mistakes when it comes to Cesca. Tony’s possessive obsession with his sister nearly gets him killed. Guino, Tony’s most trusted right-hand-man, chooses Cesca over Tony, destroying their bond
forever. In the scene where Cesca comes into Tony’s office, blocking and costume are used to show the subtle shifting of alliances. In this scene, Guino is seated at Tony’s chair. Symbolically, he is Tony’s replacement. Connecting back to the very first scene in the film, Cesca is wearing a leopard-printed outfit, and, like a leopard, she is on the prowl. When Cesca attempts to seduce Guino, he comments, “You’re like Tony when you go after something, huh?” Here, the audience is given a clue that Cesca might be similar to her brother, and, like her brother, she wants Guino standing by her side. While Tony is away, he has effectively been replaced by the two people he trusts most. Hawks’s directorial abilities shine at the climax of Scarface. Up until this point, Hawks has hidden the character of Tony behind visual and narrative veils so that we might empathize with him. At this point in the story, there are no more veils. In order for us to continue empathizing with Tony, he must change. In order for Tony to change, his comfortable world must be shattered, and the only characters with the potential to emotionally wound Tony are Cesca and Guino. Symbolically, these two characters represent the two halves of Tony’s personality. Cesca represents his fun, wild side; Guino represents his cold, calculating side. When Tony kills Guino in the apartment scene, he loses his rationality, and when Cesca dies in the final scene, he loses his mind completely. Seeing the story’s once proud and powerful protagonist destroy everything he loves ignites the audience’s sympathies once again. Scarface’s last scene takes place in Tony’s barricaded house. Performance and lighting are the prominent mise-en-scene devices used to reveal the last hidden aspects of Tony’s character. Having just killed Guino, Tony is noticeably shaken. “I didn’t know,” he keeps muttering, assumably referring to Guino and Cesca’s secret marriage. Poppy is shown to be far away and Angelo is dead. Hawks lets the audience know that Tony is completely alone in his hour of need. Then, Cesca appears from the shadows holding a gun. His friends are dead; all Tony has left is his sister. As she emerges from the shadows, she symbolizes the wild side of his personality coming forward. The gun might symbolize his wish for death, or maybe it symbolizes all the people he has killed. Either way, it is a representation of his sins. When Tony asks Cesca why she did not shoot him, she replies, “Maybe it’s because you’re me, and I’m you.” With Cesca at his side, Tony regains his charisma, but when she dies, he loses his mind. During this sequence, Hawks uses all of the mise-enscene devices at his disposal to show Tony’s mental state. The set is filled with blinding smoke. The actor, Paul Muni, screams and stumbles around the room. Tony’s face is covered in sweat, and he tears at his tight neck-tie trying to breath. The glare of spotlights dance across the room and over his face. Tony’s most private emotion -- fear -- is finally revealed. The film ends with Guarino saying, “I told you you 'd show up this way. Get you in a jam without a gun and you squeal like a yellow rat!” before Tony makes a break for it and is shot in the street. Scarface has been hailed as one of America’s most "culturally, historically, [and] aesthetically significant" films in history (U.S. National Film Registry, 2012). However, at the time of its release, critics declared that the film would decay moral values. These critics only saw the outward violence and crime; they only saw the “monster” with a scar on his face. Looking deeper, Scarface is about searching for the human in the monster, not the monster in the human. Through his use of mise-en-scene, Howard Hawks is able to let the audience delve into the life of a fascinating character who would otherwise be labeled an immutable, static “criminal.” Yes, the character of Tony Camonte is a murderer, but he is also a many-faceted human being. Scarface is not about condoning violence but of dissecting the man behind the gun. By hiding the condemning brutality until after the audience as met Tony, Hawks allows us to see the character from a new perspective. We are able to see the human in the monster -- the Beauty inside the Beast.
Works Cited
Dirks, Tim. "Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)." Filmsite. AMC Network Entertainment, 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. .
Jacobs, Christopher P. "The Production Code of 1930." Intro to Film. University of North Dakota, 2012. Web. .
"Motion Picture Production Code." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 04 Dec. 2012.
Scarface. Dir. Howard Hawks. Prod. Howard Hughes. Perf. Paul Muni, George Raft, Boris Karloff, and Osgood Perkins. Universal, 1932. Streaming. Netflix. Netflix, Inc. Web. 26
Nov. 2012. .
U.S. National Film Registry -- Titles." Ed. Steve Leggett. National Film Preservation Board, n.d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.