Carlito Brigante is released from jail after serving five years of a much longer stretch. He vows to go straight and to live life as a fine, upstanding citizen. He even rekindles a romance with his ex-lover. However, Carlito’s associates cannot seem to leave him in peace…his nephew involves him a pool-room gunfight, his lawyer asks him for “favors” which spiral out of control, and even an old friend tries to get him into trouble with the law. Carlito decides to make a run for Florida and the promise of a new life, but has one final dramatic escape to make from some hoods who believe (wrongly) that he was behind the murder of their boss.

Carlito's Way (1993)
  • Rating: (78,432 votes)
  • Runtime:144 minutes
  • Director: Brian De Palma
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Carlito 'Charlie' Brigante
    Al Pacino
    David Kleinfeld
    Sean Penn
    Gail
    Penelope Ann Miller
    Benny Blanco
    John Leguizamo
    Steffie
    Ingrid Rogers
    Pachanga (as Luis Guzman)
    Luis Guzmán
    Dist. Atty. Norwalk
    James Rebhorn
    Vincent 'Vinnie' Taglialucci
    Joseph Siravo
    Lalin
    Viggo Mortensen
    Pete Amadesso
    Richard Foronjy
  • Genres:Crime, Drama, Thriller
  • Producers:
    Martin Bregman
    producer  
    Michael Bregman
    producer (as Michael S. Bregman) 
    Willi Bär
    producer (as Willi Baer) 
    Ortwin Freyermuth
    executive producer  
    Judith Stevens
    associate producer  
    Louis A. Stroller
    executive producer  
  • Plots: A Puerto Rican ex-con pledges to stay away from his former drug dealing ways but finds himself being dragged back by his past connections and the naive machinations of his lawyer and best friend. Hoping to raise enough money to get away from New York, Carlito Brigante takes on the job of running a nightclub, renews an affair with a dancer but old associates and old instincts suck him back into a world of violence and mistrust. Written by Keith Loh <loh@sfu.ca>
Carlito's Way
  • User's comment:More human than "Scarface." by MovieAddict2011

    "Scarface" was a great operatic film rooted in Greek tragedy, primarily the downfall of its protagonist related to his own hubris and pride. Its over-the-top theatrics and scenery-chewing acting complemented the absurdist tone of the film; some carping critics complained it was "too violent," but it was silly violence...and it worked.

    "Carlito's Way" is considered by many to be a companion piece of sorts to "Scarface" - but in its own ways it is vastly different. As "GoodFellas" differed a great deal from "Casino" in its narrative methods, "Carlito's Way" isn't as broad and theatrical as "Scarface." Of course, it's still a DePalma film, and that means we get some beautiful set pieces - but for the most part DePalma avoids his excessive visuals and instead opts for a balanced mixture of both storyline and directorial flair. It is not a sequel to "Scarface" - it is an expansion, and it seems entirely apt that its narrative is more mature, considering that Carlito Brigante (the main character) is wiser than Tony Montana from "Scarface." Carlito is a Puerto Rican ex-con who gets out of a thirty-year jail sentence based on a technicality after serving a mere five years of sentence. Faced with a new life and fresh horizons, he decides to heed the lessons he learned in jail and embark on a new and honest lifestyle.

    "Scarface" was Greek tragedy insofar as Tony Montana was doomed to a downfall based on his own egotism and stubbornness. Like Oedipus in Sophocles' classic story, Montana was too bull-headed to take the advice of his wife and friends and was entirely responsible for his own emotional (and, in "Scarface's" case, physical) demise.

    "Carlito's Way" is the flip side of the coin. It's still Greek tragedy, but it offers a new perspective. This time, the protagonist tries to change his fate, but his life is doomed to its inevitable conclusion. Carlito tries to change his ways, but - to paraphrase a character from another film - there is only one guarantee...Carlito Brigante will never see heaven. That's the fundamental truth of this movie, and DePalma's less showy camera-work, and the more mature characterizations by the actors, and the believable script, ensure that "Carlito's Way" is an entirely human experience - far more so than "Scarface." (Which is still a great film based on its own goals.)


  • Quotes: Carlito: You a gangster now. You can't learn it at school... you can't have a late start. David Kleinfeld: Fuck you and your self-righteous code of the goddamn streets. Did it pull you out of a 30 year stint in only 5 years? No, it didn't, I did. Did it get you acquitted 4 fucking times? No, it didn't, I did, so fuck you, fuck the streets, your whole goddamn world is this big, and there's only one rule, you save your own ass. Carlito: If I ever, I mean if I ever see you here again, you die.
  • Also known as: Carlito's Way (Argentina), Carlito's Way (Austria), Carlito's Way (Germany), Carlito's Way (Italy), Υπόθεση Καρλίτο (Greece), Путь Карлито (Russia), À la manière de Carlito (Canada - French title), Atrapado por su pasado (Spain), Caracortada 2: Atrapado por su pasado (Peru - poster title), Carlito (Finland - TV title), Carlito útja (Hungary - imdb display title), Carlitov nacin (Croatia - imdb display title), Carlitov zakon (Slovenia), Fanget af fortiden (Denmark), Karlitov put (Serbia), L'impasse (France), O Pagamento Final (Brazil), Perseguido Pelo Passado (Portugal), Ypothesi Carlito (Greece - transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title), Zycie Carlita (Poland - imdb display title),

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