Following the footsteps of Robert de Niro in The Untouchables, it is the turn of British actor Tom Hardy to embody America’s biggest mobster in the new biopic Capone, directed by Josh Trank (available from May 12th on VOD). Two years after announcing the film, the first images have finally been released in a dark and violent trailer. His face scarred by three close encounters with a blade, marked by his illness, as pale as death, lips thickened, the actor has metamorphosed once again to play the final days of a gangster.
After The St. Valentine's Day Massacre by Roger Corman (1967), The Untouchables by Brian de Palma (1987), and Scarface by Howard Hawks (1932), the smouldering mobster continues to fascinate Hollywood scriptwriters. The man known as ‘Scarface’, thanks to the three distinct scars on his left cheek, was the most powerful man in Chicago during prohibition, heading an empire founded on illegal alcohol and pimping. He reached the height of his notoriety in the 1920s and was finally arrested for tax fraud in 1931 and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
After a life dominated by switchblades and machine guns, Al Capone would have probably preferred a peaceful retirement, far from the demons who’d pursued him his entire life. But instead what we see in Capone is a man in the grip of uncontrollable madness. Released from prison after 10 years for health reasons the American gangster Al Capone lived out his final years crushed by dementia and eaten away by syphilis. Alongside the mafia man we see Kyle MacLachlan and Linda Cardellini as his doctor and his wife, who try and support him despite the irreversible conditions. With the promise of violent and psychological intrigue, the film will be available on VOD from May 12th.
Capone, by Josh Trank, available on VOD from May 12th.
“Capone” — Trailer
