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About Al Pacino in the 1980s
In the early 1980s, Al Pacino faced a downturn in his career. His roles in the controversial film “Cruising,” which sparked protests from New York’s gay community, and the comedy-drama “Author! Author!” were met with critical disdain. However, his performance in “Scarface” (1983), directed by Brian De Palma, marked a turning point and a defining moment in his career. Initially criticized for its violent content, the film later garnered critical acclaim and achieved significant box office success, grossing over US$45 million domestically. Pacino received a Golden Globe nomination for his portrayal of Cuban drug lord Tony Montana.
In 1985, Pacino embarked on a personal project, adapting the 1969 off-Broadway play “The Local Stigmatic” by English writer Heathcote Williams. He starred in the play and later transformed it into a 50-minute film with director David Wheeler and the Theater Company of Boston. While the film didn’t have a theatrical release, it became available as part of the Pacino: An Actor’s Vision box set in 2007.
Unfortunately, Pacino’s 1985 film “Revolution,” set during the American Revolutionary War, experienced both commercial and critical failure. Pacino attributed this to a rushed production and subsequently took a four-year hiatus from film. During this period, he returned to the stage, participating in workshop productions of plays like “Crystal Clear” and “National Anthems” and appearing in “Julius Caesar” in 1988 as part of producer Joseph Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival. Reflecting on his absence from film, Pacino commented, “I remember back when everything was happening, ’74, ’75, doing ‘The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui’ on stage and reading that the reason I’d gone back to the stage was that my movie career was waning! That’s been the kind of ethos, the way in which theater’s perceived, unfortunately.”
Pacino finally returned to the silver screen in 1989 with “Sea of Love,” in which he portrayed a detective tracking down a serial killer who targets victims through newspaper singles columns. The film received favorable reviews.
