Scent of a Woman, based on the novel by Giovanni Arpino - 8 out of 10

Scent of a Woman, based on the novel by Giovanni Arpino
8 out of 10


This film has been so well received you would think it is a Magnus opus, a classic.
Maybe you would be right.

Nonetheless, it is not that glorious if you ask me.
In fact, I even think it somewhat ridiculous.

Al Pacino used to be one of my favorite actors.
But in The Godfather, one and two, and films like that.

Scent of a Woman represents for this cinephile, the period when Pacino is already exaggerating, moving his acting into pathetic territory.

Of course, I am wrong.
It is a humble, flawed opinion, but there it is.

Al Pacino has won the Oscar for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, the Golden Globe...interestingly, he has not been even nominated for the BAFTA.
Otherwise, the film was nominated in most important categories for the Academy Awards, also winning the Globe for Best Drama.

Which underlines for me the idea that The Cannes Film Festival is really the cinematic competition to watch.
For this viewer, at least.

I mean, compare this year's Parasite with Scent of a Woman.
It is like Mihail Bulgakov up against Dan Brown or 50 Shades of Grey...I don't know the name of the author for the latter and I think I never will.

After this hyperbole, one must admit that there is some value in Scent, just as if we try hard enough, we can find it in Brown.
Frank is a depressed, disabled man.

To use the irony we find in Extras by Ricky Gervais, especially in the episode with Kate Winslet, once a major star, or perhaps just one on the radar, plays a disabled character, his or her chances of getting the supreme prize increase ten or maybe one hundredfold.

The lieutenant colonel is very good at smelling the perfumes that women wear, thus the title of the movie?
But he can be so obnoxious, overbearing that he crosses the line between a complex and an unsavory personage...for me.

Interestingly, the film does not have a great average rating with the critics.
But even those who dismiss the film have been very impressed with Al Pacino.

This is where we part ways.