A Filmmaker's Guide to the Best Performances: Al Pacino

As of 2020, Al Pacino, one of the greatest actors of all time, turns 80 years' old. Here's a fun fact: he's my older brother's favourite actor ever. He has been in a wide range of films, TV shows and theatre productions and he also won an Academy Award for his role in Scent of a Woman. Pacino has become the symbol of the Italian-American bad boy in Hollywood, and yet he has actually played a multitude of different roles - possibly known for his symbolistic image from his role as Michael in Coppola's Godfather Trilogy.

Background

Al Pacino was born in New York City in 1940 and his parents divorced when he was 2 years' old. He then moved to the Bronx with his mother and lived with her and her parents there. He attended Herman Rider Junior High where he was known as 'Sonny' and was the greatest actor in his school. He subsequently then attended the High School of Performing Arts and his mother ended up disagreeing with his decision. Al Pacino would leave home to pursue his dream. To finance his studies in acting, he took low paying jobs here and there and would work a lot in order to pay his way through school.

Pacino began a certain lifestyle of smoking, drinking and drugs at the age of only nine years' old. He got into fights and was one of the lead troublemakers at his school. He was often homeless whilst attending acting school and had to sleep on the street in order to have enough money to pay his acting school bills. Pacino's mother would die when she was 43 years' old with his grandfather following the next year. Pacino himself was only 22 when his mother died.

Pacino went on the study method acting after a successful audition for the Actor's Studio. In 2010, he became a co-president of the organisation.

Al Pacino has never married, though he has fathered some children and the woman he is currently with has a child from a former marriage who claims Pacino as her step-father. Although he had a relationship with Godfather co-star Diane Keaton, the two are no longer together. From 2008 to 2018, he was with Lucilia Polak.

Pacino's recent works include his role in Scorsese's The Irishman and Tarantino's One Upon a Time in Hollywood alongside Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. He is also set to play in a film about a fictional Nazi Hunter called Hunters - set for release on Amazon Prime in 2021.

As of 2020, Al Pacino has been in over 40 feature films not because he hasn't been offered roles, but as he has gotten older, it is clear to see that Pacino got more choosey with his roles. He seems to be avoiding being typecast into a similar character to Michael from "The Godfather" series and yet, it is still his most famous role. I believe that his role in The Godfather isn't just his most famous because it's so good, but I think it's also famous because it is Pacino proving everyone who doubted him to be very wrong and the films went on to be nominated for quite a few Academy Awards.

So now, we're going to take a look at what I think are the top ten performances by Al Pacino in a film. Now, we're going to look at his characters so "The Godfather" will count as a trilogy and not individual films because that wouldn't be fair, it would take up three spaces. Let's have a look at these roles then...

The Ten Best Film Performances by Al Pacino

10. Willie Bank in "Ocean's 13" (2007)

9. Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice" (2004)

8. Carlito in "Carlito's Way" (1993)

7. Sonny in "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975)

6. Will Dormer in "Insomnia" (2002)

5. Frank Slade in "Scent of a Woman" (1992)

4. Tony Montana in "Scarface' (1983)

3. Benjamin or 'Lefty' in "Donnie Brasco" (1997)

2. John Milton in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997)

1. Michael in "The Godfather Trilogy" (1972-1990)

So there you have it, the top ten greatest performances by Al Pacino in a film. I really wish I could've included more but yes, we have only covered ten. I think the thing you really have to notice is when you look at Al Pacino's filmography you see roles that have gone on to change the face of cinema. Not many actors can say they've done that.