Tony Montana
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Tony Montana is the main character in Brian DePalma's 1983 remake of the movie Scarface, played by Al Pacino in an Academy Award-nominated performance.
"In the spring of 1980 the port at Mariel Harbor was opened, and thousands set sail for the United States. They came in search of the American Dream. One of them found it on the sun washed avenues of Miami...wealth, power and passion beyond his wildest dreams. He was Tony Montana but the world will remember him by another name... Scarface".
Tony Montana was a Cuban refugee arriving on the Mariel Boatlift who quickly entered a life of crime and underwent a meteoric rise to the top of Miami's criminal underworld, feared for his willingness to kill anyone who got in his way, before an equally meteoric fall. During his time on top, Montana was highly addicted to cocaine.
Montana was volatile, aggressive, and appeared to have an incestuous desire for his sister Gina (which was also seen in the original 1932 version of the movie). His only redeeming features were his relative honesty ("All I have in this world is my balls and my word and I don't break 'em for no one."..."I always tell the truth...even when I lie") and some suggested empathy for children.
Montana became a powerful drug lord after violently eliminating all of his competition, including his one-time mentor, whose girlfriend Montana then promptly married. The marriage was rocky, marked by vicious, drug-fueled arguments, and Montana's new wife grew to despise him.
The one woman Montana cared anything for was his sister, but he expressed his love by making her a virtual prisoner, forbidding her to date and brutalizing any man who showed interest in her. She began dating his best friend and business partner Manolo in secret, terrified of what her brother would do to them if he found out. The couple eventually married, thinking that joining together respectably would win Montana's approval; when Montana found out, however, he flew into a jealous rage and killed Manolo.
The very same night, a rival's henchmen invaded his house and opened fire on him, killing Gina by mistake. Montana became outraged after witnessing the killing of his beloved sister. In one last act of defiance, Montana went to the top of his balcony and opened fire on his would-be assassins with an M-16 and an M203 grenade launcher. As he sprayed the house with gunfire, however, a gunman shot and killed him from behind.
Influence
Montana has become a role model for many rappers, who identify with his rise from poverty to wealth and outsider ethnic heritage. References and quotes from the movie are present in many rap songs. Montana's signature line, "Say hello to my little friend!", bellowed out in the movie's climactic scene as he kills his enemies with an M-16 assault rifle and an M203 grenade launcher, has become iconic.