Brian De Palma on why Al Pacino is “one of the unusual actors of his generation”
Everyone needs a muse, especially a quality filmmaker, just look at some of the best directors of all time. Francis Ford Coppola elevated the performances of Marlon Brando on more than one occasion, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have collaborated on ten different movies, and Wes Anderson has a handful fo actors that he never works without. Still, one of the most underrated cinematic duos was director Brian De Palma and iconic American star Al Pacino.
Sure, De Palma and Pacino may have only worked together on two occasions, 1983’s Scarface and 1993’s Carlito’s Way, but these performances also happen to be some of the actor’s very best put to screen. Whilst he delivers something of an undiscussed acting masterclass in Carlito’s Way, it is Scarface for which the duo are better known, with Pacino playing Tony Montana, a man who builds a powerful drug empire in Miami.
The filmmaker discussed his collaboration with Pacino on an episode of the Movie Geeks United podcast, where De Palma called Pacino “one of the unusual actors of his generation”.
Speaking in more depth about Pacino’s approach to performance, the director adds: “He keeps going back to the stage; that is what actors should do. Movie acting is a form of acting, but to really hone your skills, you really should go back on the stage where you have a certain amount of time to mould and create your character, and that’s what makes him the great actor that he is.”
Continuing, he added: “He’s always going back to the stage, he’s always testing himself and expanding what he can do, he’s very curious, he likes to work with different people to get different input, and plus he’s got a great sense of humour.”
As well as his collaborations with De Palma, Pacino is known for several feature films alongside director Francis Ford Coppola, appearing in all three of the filmmaker’s iconic Godfather trilogy. In the first film, Pacino’s Michael Corleone is chosen to be the successor to his father’s position as Mafia boss, with the subsequent films following his rise to the top of the game and his eventual fall from grace.
Coppola wasn’t the only one either, with the actor also working with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann and Christopher Nolan.
De Palma commented on the variety of Pacino’s collaborations, adding: “You know Al worked with all kinds of directors in all kinds of different forms, he’s kind of self-contained, he’s one of those great actors that you sort of let them do what they do and try to get the cables out of their way and watch what they do, and figure out a way to maximise what they’re doing with the placement of the camera.”
Take a listen to De Palma talking about the power of Pacino below.
