The actor, who was born on April 25, 1940 in New York, is one of the most important jewels in Hollywood. An Oscar, a BAFTA, two Emmy, four Golden Globes and two Tony Awards summarize his artistic activity, which we summarize here choosing ten of his memorable performances.
Alfredo James Pacino, one of the great myths of cinema, turns 80. Protagonist of films that are benchmarks in cinematography such as The Godfather Part II (1974), Dog Afternoon (1975) or The Price of Power - Scarface (1983), is considered one of the living icons of Hollywood, recognized with an Oscar, a BAFTA, two Emmy, four Golden Globes and two Tony Awards.
Scriptwriter, producer, filmmaker, playwright, Al Pacino has shown several facets of him both in film, television and theater, but the artist is, above all, an actor, one of the most emblematic in the history of recent cinema, with more than five decades working behind him, working with filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sidney Lumet, Brian De Palma, Sydney Pollack, Garry Marshall, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, among others.
A career that, after years of preparation, even going through the legendary Actors Studio, started on the stages of the Charles Theater in Boston in 1967. From there two years later, he jumped to the big screen with a small role in the film Yo, Natalia, a romantic comedy drama directed by Fred Coe and starring Patty Duke and James Farentino.
During the 70s Al Pacino was a fixed name in the ceremonies of the Oscars. He was successively nominated for El Padrino, Serpico, El Padrino: Parte II and Tarde de Perros . He never won, but his prestige as an actor was enormous and he was considered one of the best of his generation. In the mid-1980s, one of his films, Revolution, was a resounding failure, which led him to leave the cinema for four years and take refuge in the theater. In the 90s, she returned to the forefront of film, winning the coveted Oscar for his role in Perfume de mujer (1992).
It is almost impossible to make a selection that unfairly leaves out his works in films such as The Scarecrow (1973), The Hunt (1980), Dick Tracy (1990), Frankie & Johnny (1991), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Pactar with the Devil (1997), The Dilemma (1999), Insomnia (2002) or Once upon a time ... in Hollywood (2019).
Here are ten of his most remembered performances.
MICHAEL CORLEONE IN TRILOGY OF "THE GODFATHER" (1972 - 1990)
And to start, nothing better than the trilogy that made him a film myth. An indispensable triptych in which Francis Ford Coppola left the skin on the ground to adapt the novel by Mario Puzo. The godfather showed an Al Pacino overflowing with talent giving life to Michael Corleone in a saga in which he also shared the screen with the huge Marlon Brando in the first installment and another titan like Robert De Niro in the second. Next to him, and sometimes against him, always the magnificent Diane Keaton.
FRANK SERPICO IN "SERPICO" (1973)
Al Pacino placed himself under the command of Sidney Lumet to play the inflexible policeman Frank Serpico in the adaptation of the biographical account written by Peter Maas. His performance in this film earned him an Oscar nomination, the second after which he received by The Godfather, which he eventually did not take home.
SONNY WORTZIK IN "TARDE DE PERROS" (1975)
Based on a real event, this robbery thriller released in 1975 recounted as Sonny Wortzik -Al Pacino- decides to join two criminals to carry out a robbery of a small branch of a Brooklyn bank, although sooner rather than later everything begins to go wrong. A tense film directed, again, by Sidney Lumet in which Pacino exhibited all his power as an actor and also a somewhat unusual comic vision in this type of character.
ARTHUR KIRKLAND IN "JUSTICE FOR ALL" (1979)
Al Pacino becomes a lawyer who ends up putting in check the sense of the American judicial system. Arthur Kirkland ends up defending Judge Henry T. Fleming (John Forsythe), a magistrate with whom he has had several conflicts in the past, since in a previous case he refused to admit, due to small formalities, evidence demonstrating the innocence of one of your clients. A superb performance by Pacino that led to his fourth Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actor.
TONY MONTANA IN "THE PRICE OF POWER - SCARFACE" (1983)
Ambition, rage, violence. Brian De Palma directed Pacino in 1983 in this remake of Scarface, the terror of Hampa, a film based in turn on the novel by Armitage Trail. In this new version of the criminal ascent and descent into hell, the protagonist is Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant who becomes a crime lord in Miami. The unleashed final stretch of the film is simply priceless.
FRANK SLADE IN "PERFUME DE MUJER" (1992)
And finally the Oscar arrived. It was in 1992, the year he doubled as he was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor by Glengarry Glen Ross, when with his portrayal of Frank Slade, a retired, blind and embittered US Army officer, Pacino achieved what he is so far his golden statuette.
CARLITOS IN "CAUGHT BY HIS PAST" (1993)
Al Pacino returned to put himself under the command of Brian De Palma in 1993 to give life to the ex-convict Carlitos, a heroin trafficker of Puerto Rican origin who is released from prison ready to lead a new life ... but in this kind of reverse Opposite of Scarface , it will be impossible for the character of Pacino to leave the world of crime behind. A more than solid criminal drama with a cast completed by Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, John Leguizamo or Viggo Mortensen.
BENJAMIN 'LEFY' RUGGIERO IN "DONNIE BRASCO" (1997)
A very young Johnny Depp is duped by the 'values' and the glamor of the mafia, as well as by the charismatic Lefty - who gives life to Al Pacino - in the film directed by Mike Newell in 1997. The FBI agent who gives his name. The title will soon doubt everything of everything you believe in this story about the back room of the mafia also based on real events.
VINCENT HANNA IN "HEAT" (1995)
Two legends together, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, playing cop and thief, in an action thriller with which Michael Mann proved to be a master of the genre. Pacino is Vincent Hanna, a Los Angeles detective obsessed with his job whose team goes in search of the gang of Neil McCauley (De Niro), an expert thief whose last big hit has gotten out of hand and hopes to carry out the final robbery.
JIMMY HOFFA IN '"THE IRISH" (2019)
His fourth nomination for the Oscar for best supporting actor (ninth if you count the best leading actor) came with The Irishman, his first collaboration with Martin Scorsese in his 50-plus career. Pacino played Jimmy Hoffa, a corrupt union leader who, due to his collaboration with organized crime (for which he was jailed for fraud) ended up disappearing from the face of the Earth. A magnificent interpretation that shows that Pacino is like wine, which improves over the years.
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