“Nothing exceeds like excess. You should know that, Tony.”
Those are Elvira Hancock’s words to Tony Montana in Brian De Palma’s immortal masterpiece Scarface. Essentially an almost three-hour-long rise-and-fall chronicle of its titular antihero. The film, released in 1983, is an incendiary meditation on the source. It’s the blood-pumping heart behind the psychology and phenomenon of fame: ambition. Its lessons (and prophecies) were writ large throughout the ’90s, the last cultural era when fame it appears, was directly measured by tangible output and product and continues to illuminate its current strains the way a blacklight picks up stains.
Fame is a universal proposition—like love, rage and Nike. Everyone, everywhere, wants some iteration of it, whether it’s just a little piece or the whole pie. A big part of what makes Montana such a compelling and indelible character isn’t just that Al Pacino played him with reputation-defining gravity, but because of the humanity—the good, bad and downright ridiculous extents of it—that was hardwired into his pursuit of empire. At one point, his associate Manny Ray asks him: “Oh well, what’s coming to you, Tony?” To which he famously replies: “The world, chico, and everything in it.” As we know, that response didn’t age well.
Denne historien er fra July/August 2022-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
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Denne historien er fra July/August 2022-utgaven av Esquire Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
AN ELECTRIC FUTURE
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LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
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WHAT I'VE LEARNED...
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The Body Is a Language
A bad handshake is such a turnoff; we feel irked when someone rolls their eyes at us; we can't stop pacing when we're nervous-ever wondered how certain body language has the power to change how we feel instantly? We explore why.
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
LIKE NO OTHER
With its horological triumphs, Hermès has truly come into its own as a watchmaking maison. In this exclusive interview with Esquire Singapore, CEO of Hermès Horloger, Laurent Dordet sheds some light on his timepieces' rising stardom and the importance of being different.
