Actors - Scent of a Woman

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	Actors - Scent of a Woman

Scent of a Woman is a 1992 film which tells the story of a preparatory school student who takes a job as an assistant to an irascible blind former military officer. It stars Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell, James Rebhorn, Gabrielle Anwar, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The movie was adapted by Bo Goldman from the novel Il Buio E Il Miele ("Darkness and Honey") by Giovanni Arpino and from the 1974 screenplay for the movie Profumo Di Donna by Ruggero Maccari and Dino Risi. It was directed by Martin Brest.

It won the Academy Award for Best Actor (Al Pacino) and was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Portions of the movie were filmed on location at the Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y.

Plot

The plot of the film revolves around Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell), a student at a private preparatory school, who comes from a poor family. In order to earn the money for his flight home for Christmas, Charlie takes a job over Thanksgiving looking after a former military officer who is now blind. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino) decides to take a trip to the Big Apple (New York City), and needs the help of Charlie Simms to lead him to several places. Whilst Charlie is leading Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade through New York, he is facing a very big problem at school. Fellow preparatory students have played a prank on the school principal, and only Charlie, and George Willis Jr. (Philip Seymour Hoffman) know the culprits behind the incident. The headmaster threatens to expel Charlie if he does not rat out those who committed the prank.

Slade takes Charlie around New York. After eating at a fancy restaurant with $25.00 burgers, Slade visits his relatives, where Charlie learns how Slade lost his sight. It is at this point in the film that Colonel Slade reveals the real reason for his trip to New York: to eat at an expensive restaurant, stay at an amazing hotel, to sleep with a beautiful woman, and then to commit suicide. Later on, the sly Colonel tangos with a girl, and drives a Ferrari, with a very nervous and worried Charlie tagging along. You can tell that Charlie is a good person at heart, from refusing to rat out the guilty over a prank, to taking pity on Colonel Frank Slade, and sticking at his side through thick and thin. The second highest climax was when Slade tricks Charlie into leaving the room to get aspirin, but his sly plan fails when Charlie remembers that Slade was earlier armed with a military Colt .45 sidearm. He comes back to the room to find Slade ready to commit suicide. After a few minutes of talking, yelling, and action, Charlie convince Slade not to kill himself. It is here that Slade realizes that Charlie is a very brave and tough person at heart, and would not even let a worthless, bitter man take his own life.

Charlie returns to school, knowing that George Willis Jr. is betraying him to get off the hook. The Headmaster holds a courtroom-like meeting, where he questions George Willis who complains of his poor vision, and resorts to his powerful father to help him weasel out of this jam. Unfortunately, Charlie's vision was fine at the time, and he had no parents to help him out. The Headmaster was on the verge of expelling him, when Colonel Slade, who entered the court during the Willis interrogation, started a rude, yet very truthful speech, of how "the great ship" of education and obedience was no more than a rat barge teaching rats to betray friends. This was the highest (and often considered the most hilarious) point in the film; and when Slade says that "If I were the man I was five years ago I'd take a flame thrower to this place", he more or less wins over the students, and the jury. Both Willis's statement that he might have seen three people set up the prank, and Slade's statement of "And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, fuck you too!" tells the jury who the culprits were.

The story ends with Charlie being excused from any penalties and expulsions, and Slade going back home. However, no longer bitter, he acts very kindly to his relatives and seems to have a new "look" at life - as does Charlie.

Trivia

Al Pacino was helped by a school for the blind in preparation for his role. He says he made himself look blind by not focusing his view on anything, and that using prosthetic contact lenses would "fake" his performance.
During the disciplinary meeting, the headmaster tells Slade "You are out of order!", a famous line told to another of Pacino's characters in ...And Justice for All
(1979).
Director Martin Brest disowned the version of the film shown on airlines and television.
The scene on the street where Frank falls over a garbage can was actually unplanned.

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