MSN Movies Legend #3 - Al Pacino

Looking back over Al Pacino's long and distinguished career, it all seems inevitable – an unstoppable ascent from stage to screen that saw him showered with accolades and feted with praise. What's less known is the penury, homelessness and heavy drinking that went hand in hand with his rise to stardom. Was it this inner turmoil that made director Francis Ford Coppola cast 'the Italian midget' as Michael Corleone in The Godfather? And was it this that enabled him to get him under the epidermis of conflicted detective Frank Serpico or bank robber Sonny Wortzik in Dog Day Afternoon?

Whatever the reason, Al's work in the '70s remains his most sustained period of brilliance – a purple patch which saw him up for four Oscars in four consecutive years. Even at the peak of his celebrity, however, he found it impossible to enjoy it. ("You feel good being nominated; then you get turned into a loser," he sighed.) Pacino eventually got a hold on his compulsive nature. His career, though, was harder to control, his erratic impulses and mercurial temperament drawing him to a number of films (controversial thriller Cruising, epic disaster Revolution) which saw his talent and judgement questioned. A self-imposed absence, however, gave both him and his fans a breather, making his comeback in Sea Of Love a vibrant reminder of what they'd been missing.

 

Since then it's been a case of the very good (his driven salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross, his intense detective in Heat), the could-be-better (Scent of a Woman, Carlito's Way) and the downright ugly (Gigli, the recent 88 Minutes). Whatever he's in, though, he's the only thing you're watching. "I'm like every other actor; I'm doing it for the first time," he says. "If that stops, so do I. Because then it's just another job..."

Finest Moment:
Francis Ford Coppola fought fierce studio opposition to cast Al Pacino in his adaptation of Mario Puzo's mafia bestseller The Godfather, insisting he be hired ahead of far bigger names like Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. The Oscar noms his chilling portrayal of Michael Corleone received for both the 1972 original and its 1974 sequel vindicated the director's faith, Pacino following his character's journey from idealistic soldier to ruthless kingpin with meticulous dexterity. With hindsight he was wrong to reprise the role in The Godfather: Part III. As flawed as it is, however, Michael's swansong still has moments to treasure.
 
In His Own Words:
"Someone once said you're only as good as the chances you take."

 

Gallery: The full list of MSN Movies Legends





The views in this column are those of the author alone and not of MSN/Microsoft