Scent of a Woman (1976)

Memorable, crazy movie

An Exercise In Nonsense

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Every time someone talks about the film Scent of a Woman (1992) comes in memory the modern classic starring Al Pacino, which finally received the Oscar award for Best Actor. What few people know is that this movie is a remake of an Italian film Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman - 1974), adapted from the literary novel Il Buio and Il Miele - 1969, by Giovanni Arpino, and directed by Dino Risi.Profumo di Donna tells the story of Captain Fausto Consolo (Vittorio Gassman), a retired soldier who lives alone with an old aunt in the city of Turin and decides to hold a 7-day train trip to Genoa, Rome and Naples. Having been blinded in an accident in a military operation, the army appointed a young soldier to accompany him on the tour, Giovanni Bertazzi (Alessandro Momo), to whom Fausto nicknames Ciccio. Ruled by women and alcoholic beverages their adventures seem innocent and fun, but as the journey unfolds, an obscure purpose is revealed.Gassman's interpretation is one of the highlights of the movie and he even received the award for Best Actor in Cannes. The actor manages to impeccably convey all the internal conflict of the main character: Faust is a blind man and maimed left hand, melancholic, cynical, exhausted from his life's routine, behaving in a cruel and arrogant way, despite having acquired notable ease of movement and precise notion of the objects location. Ironic and uninhibited, he acts in a natural way, as if he could see, and takes advantage of his privileged condition (blindness) to make fun of dissimulation and pretense of society, with disdain by the conventions of compassion which he is also hostage. This ambiguous feeling of admiration and disgust for a character who has a grandeur that sometimes makes us even forget his physical limitation, but who is also unpleasant, bitter and sarcastic, reflects his conflictive personality, but at the same time also charismatic. Womanizer and drinker, blindness accentuated his other senses, especially the sense of smell. Even from a distance the presence of attractive women is perceived by scent, which leaves him ecstatic, making a perfect analogy to the title of the film: Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman).The film shows the efforts that a person can do to hide their feelings and feed a false appearance of strength and security. The internal tension which Faust suffers guides his behavior and relationships with the people around him. In rejecting compassion and pity he ends up also rejecting affection and love. So the journey of the main character symbolizes a journey in search of himself, self-acceptance and the consent of other's people affection.With a parallel plot, the film highlights the contrast between the captain and the young soldier. While Giovanni is a mixture of inexperience, naivety and insecurity, Faust stands for his experience, invulnerability and security that he appears to have. Rather than being a victim of a misfortune, the captain shows himself as the true guide in the story, reversing the roles between the blind man and his companion. As the trip goes by the young soldier learns life lessons, such as how to distinguish between appearance and reality, love and fraud, words and actions. The interpretation of Alessandro Momo is quite convincing, making him another standout in the movie. It was a shame his career being interrupted so early. The actor died in a motorcycle accident a few days after the film was completed. Sara (Agostina Belli) completes the trio of main characters. She is a young woman in love with Faust and does not conform to his sickness, being the only one who knows all his facets. Here we must highlight the work of the director Dino Risi, who manages to capture the best of each actor, interweaving good comedic moments with great dramatic situations.The soundtrack is beautiful, managing to convey different feelings interpreted by the actors in the scenes, aside from involving the viewer in the narrative. The script builds up fine characters, developing brilliant dialogues. Gassman's gesticulation, Momo's self-restraint and Agostina's sensuality are noteworthy. The movie won two seats among the Oscar nominees: Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Foreign Film.With brief notes, the photograph depicts a casuistry time of Italian society, full of meanings. On the streets, on trains, in hotels, terraces, at parties and in their own language, slowly arises a profile of a society. The Italians are cheerful and receptive, talkative, using a lot the hands to gesticulate, speaking loudly and not sparing swear-words in their conversations. They are religious, romantic and spontaneous, but as all patriarchal society, they have very strong male and female stereotypes. Faust is an authoritarian man, who has to be seen as strong, an imposing figure. Sara reflects the situation of women, in which they dream to feel indispensable to the life of the men they love. All these aspects clearly translate the Mediterranean spirit.Finally, as it should be, a brief comparison between the American version (1992) and the original movie (1974) is inevitable. The remake of Scent of a Woman is completely different from the Italian film. Relying on Hollywood aspects, such as the need to have an episode of trial, the American version lengthen the story too much, spending too much time with the student, bad acted by Chris O'Donnell. The scenes of tango and Ferrari are some of its strengths, but by opting for melodramatic twists, it ends up falling in some clichés. Its great success and prominence is the exceptional performance of Al Pacino. The two main actors in each version (Al Pacino and Vittorio Gassman) are impeccable, but the original movie has a special charm, being in many ways, more humane, sensitive, stripped-down and engaging. It's a pity that the American remake completely lost the Italian culture, both of everyday life in Italy and the Italian way of doing cinema of the 70s.Originally posted in: https://vikingbyheart.blogspot.com.br

Discrimination against handicapped people is a reprehensible practice which must end. It is caused partly due to the negative attitudes which societies propagate towards people with disabilities. Blind people are the worst hit as more than anybody's pity, they are in dire need of compassion. Italian director Dino Risi's acclaimed film "Profumo Di Donna" deals with a blind person who has never been humiliated in his life despite his infirmity. Although no blind person deserves anybody's pity, compassion is what every visually challenged person is seeking. It comes to Fausto in the form of a journey with a young man called Ciccio. This journey is important for both as it changes their perceptions about life and its importance. Living the life to the fullest seems to be the mantra of an ordinary Italian. In this Dino Risi film, this sentiment is vividly echoed in the portrayal of misanthrope Fausto by veteran Italian actor Vittorio Gassman. Watching him act as a blind man with absolute nonchalance, audiences are prepared to believe that even a strong willed blind man from army can crack up in the end.

Al Pacino is a great actor, no doubt about that, but it's not enough for a director to have him to make a good movie. You should watch what Dino Risi is capable of with a handful of actors that are almost anonymous. It's true that European movies are often hard to understand from the point of view of a Hollywood movie, but be sure not to miss this one.

Even as I was trying to keep still and finish the movie, I was asking myself: is there any reason to watch this, admittedly strong and fresh in its time, film after one has seen the Hollywood remake with Al Pacino? The answer to me is 'no'. Unless you are a film school student or a movie buff exploring the phenomenon of the long-lasting, though rarely happy, romance that Hollywood seems to have with remaking older/foreign movies, there is nothing there for you. If you are, however, looking for an example of a successful remake to bolster your faith in Hollywood after such failed covers as "Father's Day", then this is the original for one of the best ones.Never once will you be as captivated by the story or performance as you are in the Al Pacino movie. The subtitles are-- well, they are the subtitles. They cater to our snob appeal but hardly add to the viewing experience. The character of the baby-faced, cigarette smoking, women-coveting boy is one-dimensional and boring, complete with thoughts read out loud by the narrator. The colonel is impressive, but then so is Pacino.This, of course, only makes sense to an English-speaking viewer familiar with the remake. I tried hard to put myself in the shoes of a "Scent of a Woman" virgin in order to do this movie justice. I failed. If you have not seen the remake, I recommend watching this original first.Briefly about the plot. A young army cadet is assigned to a retired blind colonel, who needs assistance in his cross country trip. The colonel teaches the boy a few life's lessons, before reaching his final destination, the cheerful sunny Naples, where his dark goal awaits him. A beautiful young girl, in love with the colonel since she was a child, will do anything to prevent him from carrying out his plan. Main differences from the remake: missing is the boy's school life (and, naturally, problems), but a nice and almost believable love story is present. The ending -- well, it's different.