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| “ | A favor gonna get you killed faster than a bullet. | „ |
| ~ Carlito Brigante. |
| “ | Maybe I don't give a sh-t. Maybe I don't remember the last time I blew my nose either. Who the f-ck are you, I should remember you? What, you think you like me? You ain't like me, motherf-cker. You a punk. I've been with made people, connected people! Who you been with? Chain-snatching, jive-ass, maricon motherf-ckers. Why don't you get lost? Go ahead, snatch a purse. Come on, take a f-ckin' walk. | „ |
| ~ Carlito rebuffling Benny Blanco. |
| “ | YOU THINK YOU'RE BIG TIME? YOU'RE GONNA F-CKING DIE, BIG TIME!!! YOU READY!!! HERE COME THE PAIN! | „ |
| ~ Carlito Brigante's famous quote. |
Carlito Brigante is the titular main protagonist of the 1993 crime drama Carlito's Way, directed by Brian De Palma.
A well-known criminal fresh out of prison, Carlito had big plans to give up his violent lifestyle and free himself away by leaving New York City and away from the criminal underworld but quickly realized that it is not that simple.
He was played by Al Pacino, who also played Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Big Boy in Dick Tracy, Richard III in Looking for Richard, Lefty in Donnie Brasco, John Milton in The Devil's Advocate, Walter Burke in The Recruit, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, John Milton in The Devil's Advocate, Tony Montana in Scarface, Willy Bank in Ocean's Thirteen, David Fisk in Righteous Kill, Roy Cohn in Angels in America, Wilhelm Zuchs in Hunters, and Jimmy Hoffa in The Irishman.
Jay Hernandez portrayed a younger Carlito Brigante in the 2005 direct-to-video prequel Carlito's Way: Rise to Power which chronicled Brigante's rise as a heroin dealer in 1960s Harlem, New York.
Biography[]
Carlito was born in The Bronx, New York to Nuyorican parents (one of whom was Corsican in ancestry). He spent years as one of the most powerful drug kingpins in the city, having had affiliations with the Italian Bottolota crime family and powerful crime bosses such as Hollywood Nicky, until he was finally caught and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 1975, after having served five years of a thirty-year prison sentence, career criminal Carlito Brigante is freed on a legal technicality exploited by his close friend and lawyer, David Kleinfeld.
Carlito vows to end his unlawful activities but is persuaded to accompany his young cousin Guajiro to a drug deal at an illegal speakeasy run by Dominican gangsters fronting as a barber shop. Guajiro's suppliers betray and kill him, forcing Carlito to shoot his way out. Later, Carlito takes Guajiro's $30,000 from the botched deal and uses it to buy a stake in a nightclub owned by a gambling addict named Reinaldo "Ron" Saso, intending to save $75,000 to retire to the Carribean.
After assuming control of Saso's nightclub Carlito hires his old friend Pachanga to keep watch as a bodyguard. It's also here that he meets his soon-to-be enemy, an up-and-coming gangster from The Bronx named Benny Blanco. Carlito takes an instant dislike to Blanco, who aspires to be like Carlito but is brash, arrogant, and abusive, and lacks the honor and ethics that Carlito has. Blanco proposes a business deal with Carlito who politely declines.
Carlito also rekindles his romance with his former girlfriend Gail, a ballet dancer moonlighting as a stripper. Their relationship develops over the course of the film resulting in Gail in being pregnant.
Events conspire to land Carlito in trouble such as a reunion with old business partner and now wheelchair-ridden Lalin Miasso who was hired by District Attorney Bill Norwalk to inform on Carlito, and an altercation with Benny Blanco at the nightclub who becomes frustrated with Carlito's constant rejections.
After being humiliatied by Carlito, Benny Blanco attempts to manhandle his girlfriend, the club waitress Steffy who has developed a love interest with Kleinfeld, which forces Carlito to intervene. After being threatened by Benny Blanco, Carlito sends him tumbling down a flight of stairs. Carlito has his bodyguards beat Blanco to a pulp, and Pachanga goads Carlito into killing him, but Carlito ultimately spares his life.
Kleinfeld, who stole $1 million in payoff money from his client, Sicilian Mafia boss Anthony "Tony T" Taglialucci, is coerced into providing his yacht to help Taglialucci break out of the Rikers Island prison barge. Dave begs for Carlito's assistance in the prison break, and Carlito reluctantly agrees, creating tension between him and Gail.
That night, Carlito, Dave and Taglialucci's son Frankie sail to a floating buoy outside of the barge where Taglialucci is waiting. As they pull Taglialucci aboard, Dave in a fit of rage bludgeons Taglialucci to death with a pole after slitting Frankie, and dumps their bodies in the East River, claiming that they would have killed him anyway. Knowing mob retaliation is imminent, Carlito immediately severs his ties with Dave and decides to leave town with a pregnant Gail.
Back at the club, Sosa informs Carlito that Pachanga has become disgruntled over his lack of money and is spying for Benny Blanco, which Carlito dismisses.
The next day, Dave is hospitalized after a mob hitman stabs him several times. Norwalk receives evidence that Carlito and Kleinfeld were indeed on the boat. It is revealed that Kleinfeld was the one who ratted out Carlito, and that he was involved in illegal activity while Carlito was in prison. When Carlito goes to find out if it was indeed true, Kleinfeld spitefully mocks Carlito's code of honor and says that the only rule he lives by is "save your own ass". Carlito leaves, disgusted, while surreptitiously emptying the bullets out of the revolver behind Kleinfeld's pillow. Moments later, Taglialucci's older son, Vincent "Vinnie" Taglialucci, barges into Kleinfeld's room, disguised as a police officer and armed with a silenced pistol, and kills him.
Later on Carlito goes to his nightclub to retrieve his retirement money, and angrily confronts Saso at knifepoint for removing his money from his safe, thinking that Carlito would get hit after Kleinfeld's murder. Carlito is met by a group of East Harlem Italian gangsters led by Vincent Taglialucci and Pete Amadesso, an old associate of Carlito's. The Italians plan to kill Carlito, but he manages to slip out through a secret exit. The Italians pursue him throughout the city's subway system and into Grand Central Terminal, where they engage in a gunfight. Carlito kills all of his pursuers except Vinnie, whom the police shoot and kill.
As Carlito runs to catch the train where Gail and Pachanga are waiting for him, Benny Blanco ambushes him and fatally shoots him three times with a silenced gun. Pachanga admits to Carlito that he is now working for Benny Blanco, but Blanco shoots Pachanga in the heart, realizing his treacherous nature, and runs away.
Carlito's death.
Succumbing to his wounds, Carlito gives Gail the money and tells her to leave the city with the baby. The cops and paramedics arrive to the scene, as Carlito is laying on a stretcher looking towards a billboard showing a woman and children dancing by the shore in the sunset. Carlito closes his eyes while saying his final words, "Tired, baby...tired...".
Quotes[]
| “ | You ripped him off, didn't you? Tony T? You did take the one million dollars, didn't you? | „ |
| ~ Carlito talks to David Kleinfield after killing Tony Tagialucci |
| “ | You're not a lawyer anymore, Dave. You're a gangster now. On the other side, whole new ball game. You can't learn about it in school and you can't have a late start. | „ |
| ~ Carlito ends his friendship with David Kleinfield |
| “ | So long, Dave. You got a beautiful future. | „ |
| ~ Carlito's final words to David Kleinfield before leaving |
| “ | Sorry boys, all the stitches in the world can't sew me together again. Lay down... lay down. Gonna stretch me out in Fernandez funeral home on Hundred and Ninth street. Always knew I'd make a stop there, but a lot later than a whole gang of people thought... Last of the Moh-Ricans... well maybe not the last. Gail's gonna be a good mom... New improved Carlito Brigante... Hope she uses the money to get out. No room in this city for big hearts like hers... Sorry baby, I tried the best I could, honest... Can't come with me on this trip, Getting the shakes now, last call for drinks, bar's closing down... Sun's out, where are we going for breakfast? Don't wanna go far. Rough night, tired baby... Tired... | „ |
| ~ Carlito's voiceover as he dies. |