At the 17th Tribeca Film Festival both Schindler’s List and Scarface are going to be receiving honors and the lead actors are going to be in attendance to talk about the movies. Talk about a treat, so many years after both movies were made and released this will be a chance to hear the actors talk about their time on the set, their motivations, and just what they were going through while the movies were being filmed. It’d be such an honor to be there and just listen in to the actors and the directors recounting tales of what happened on the set and how they decided upon certain scenes that were pivotal in the films.
If you’ve watched both or either one of them then you know that honoring these films in this fashion is a long time in coming, but it’s well deserved. Both films are iconic in their own way and have been a part of cinematic culture for years. From their story lines to the classic characters that were created by the actors that made them come to life both movies have contributed something to the world through their expert use of style and flare. Schindler’s List was obviously a much more inspirational piece as it involved the efforts of one man to save the lives of so many, even though he didn’t believe he’d done enough. The pain of knowing that your efforts had helped to subjugate and batter down those that had been targeted for humiliation, degradation, and eventual termination would have to be soul-crushing, and Liam Neeson managed to make the role perfect in his delivery. Steven Spielberg, who will also be on hand for the talks that will take place, will likely speak of how he wanted the film to show more than just what people had read or learned about WWII, such as the humanity that still existed in some of the darkest places of the world at that time.
In stark contrast Scarface was all about the depravity of humanity and how greed tore down even the greatest empires that seemed to arise overnight. Tony Montana was nothing when he came to America, less than nothing in some cases since he couldn’t get a green card without resorting back to his old ways. Once he was out of Freedom town however the sky was the limit, and even that didn’t seem like it was enough for Tony. He began to build his empire upon the grave of his former employer before Frank was even dead, making his own contacts and securing his own future in a way that left no question that he would cut down anyone that stood in his path. This was a story about a ruthless man that took what he wanted and killed to get the rest.
Both films show the stark and depraved nature of humanity at its worst. But at least Schindler’s List was redemptive. Save one life and you save the world entire, those are inspiring words to live by.
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