Corruptor
Scarface shows what success means in his adopted country: people trying to snatch as much as they can handle. And even more.
De Palma’s over-the-top violence is exhilarating, because it’s true. Latin America is the playground of savage violence, funded by US dollars. Scarface brings it home.
Scarface has the most colourful cast of sleazy characters since the spaghetti westerns. They are irresistible caricatures who wave their oversized hands around. A lot.
Snake Eyes is set in an isolated environment, which acts as a micro-version of the world we live in. There we see people relentlessly chasing after their dreams, even if it means stomping over their brothers and sisters.
In US political reality, the eyes (shown in a shattering closeup) are a voiceless witness and the lost conscience.