Chapter 104

Along with the good reviews from the "Chicago Sun", the good news came one after another.

First from the "New York Times (The. New. York. Times)" wrote a review saying, "The persistence and principles of this film allow all audiences to have a chance to think for themselves, and the wonderful performances of Al and Hugo make this The story became believable," and gave it a high score of eighty-five.

This was followed by a review from Nicholas McClen of the Los Angeles Times, "Al uses his superb acting skills to make every scene of the film a catalyst that could detonate a storm of our minds at any time, and Hugo's superb performance as the opposite scene leaves us in a trance. Once again, I saw the young boy in the 'Dead Poets Society' who amazed everyone." And Nicholas also gave the highest score of 85 points.

The first four film critics were full of praise for "Smell the Scent and Know a Woman", especially the completely different reaction of the "Los Angeles Times", which surprised the entire film market.

Before the movie was released, no one was optimistic about the prospects of this movie. Whether it was word of mouth or box office, everyone thought that this would be another boring cannon fodder movie released in October, and the combination of Al, Hugo and Martin was even more It makes the future of the movie bleak. But who could have predicted that after the movie was released, it not only overturned all the previous doubts, but also announced its strong debut with a proud attitude.

The "Los Angeles Times" had previously written a professional film review by Nicholas, thinking that "smelling the scent and knowing a woman" would be a disaster, but after the film was released, Nicholas turned his back, and he even wrote a long piece for the entire film The film review is enough to show his serious attitude towards the film.

"The movie 'Scent of a Woman' is adapted from the original novel of the same name by the Italian writer Giovanni. Arpion, in Giovanni's pen is not Lieutenant Colonel Frank - Slade, but Captain Faus Capt. To. Fausto is more real and ordinary. He is not sensitive to smells. He hides under a pair of heavy sunglasses all day. His greatest interest is to make himself happy in a vicious way. Man suffers, and he enjoys the process. This is his attitude to life: the storm is always better than the sun, because the storm can make you recognize your current situation, and the sun will only make you lost in the imaginary of silence and tranquility .

In the 1974 film of the same name by Dino. Risi, the focus is on the past of Captain Fausto and on the perception of life. But in the 1992 version contributed by Martin Brest, the same book stretched out a different story. Living in a different culture and environment will inevitably have different experiences and outcomes.

Martin infuses the main characters with distinct American values ​​in the film - family, whether it is Frank Slade, or Charles Simmons, or George Willis, everyone has their own family here, Their personalities and concepts are deeply influenced by their families, and their bond with their families is inseparable in the setting of Thanksgiving.

Although George looks good on the surface, he is actually completely dependent on his father. After the accident, he can only obey his father's mercy like a well-behaved puppy. The previous promises and oaths disappeared in front of his father's strength, because he needed to. His father supported him for a day, including his future.

Charlie's poor family situation makes him well aware of the hardships of life, so he has always worked harder than everyone else, he is stronger and more valuable than he looks, he is an unpolished rough diamond. So when he faced the school's criticism and the lieutenant colonel's strength, he was always able to stick to himself. This is the principle that he has rooted in his blood since he was a child.

The family around Frank is not in the original story. Those who cared about him, hated him, liked him, and rejected him. Their love, condemnation, and rejection all affected him more or less. On Thanksgiving, Frank broke into his brother Willie's house and created a typical American-style family conflict. Communication barriers and poor expression of feelings are the incentives for the final unhappy breakup. This is also the root cause of conflicts in most families. .

The film simplifies the infiltration of the suffering of life in the original book into a choice of life, which is just a simplification, rather than making the problem simple. Frank said that there are two kinds of people in this world, one is the one who takes responsibility when encountering something, the other is the one who looks for the support, and the support is better. It was this choice that Charlie encountered, the premise of betraying his friends to gain the light, or the consequences of being tight-lipped.

This reminds me of a story I heard when I was a child. Linda was on the first day of school. The teacher had to go out for a while during class. Before leaving, let the children not make trouble. As soon as the teacher left, the whole classroom was in chaos. After the teacher came back, Linda reported the situation to the teacher. As a result, that afternoon, the teacher left Linda down as punishment.

When I heard this story, I was very puzzled. Linda obviously helped the teacher, why should I be punished, so I asked the reason, and Linda's answer was, 'Because I betrayed the team. ’ It turns out that the teacher told the children not to make trouble. This is the rule she set, and she will carry out the judgment and punishment. Children's snitching violates another rule of the game: children must be united and not betray each other. Children who are disobedient, have their own teachers to clean up, and their own parents to teach. At least in theory, this should be the way the world works.

So is the choice facing Charlie. In fact, no matter what choice Charlie makes, it has its reasons. This is a contradiction between right and right. From the perspective of relativity, it can also be said that his choice was wrong. In this real society, there are many kinds of choices, not only the choice between right and wrong, good and evil, but also the conflict between right and right, wrong and wrong. Right and wrong are not so simple.

Should relatives and friends commit crimes, should they report to the police? Should the family be killed righteously? Yes, this is the bottom line of the law, but the moment the party chooses to report his relatives and friends, he is bound to face inner torment, because those are his relatives, and this is the bottom line of morality.

This conflict between right and right is the most cruel and complicated choice in reality, and it is also what Charlie faces. However, Charlie's two choices are subtly different, that is, whether his choice is to safeguard his own interests or to uphold his own principles.

It is understandable that George confessed his friends under pressure from his father, but his choice was to protect his own interests, which is why he couldn't raise his head in front of Charlie. Because Charlie's choice seems too stubborn, too blind, and too stupid, but he is not to protect his own interests, to a certain extent, he would rather sacrifice his own interests to protect others than choose to protect himself. He insisted on sticking to his principles at the last moment, which is why he deserves praise and what makes Frank speak so generously.

Compared to sacrificing his own interests and protecting his friends, what Frank appreciates is that Charlie insists on his principles and is not shaken by his interests. This "principle road, leading to personality road" makes Frank amazed. When you can't do both things, at least make sure that you don't sacrifice others for yourself. This is the basic condition of being a leader.

What Charlie chose was a hard, difficult, and terrifying path, and a right path that was difficult to adhere to. He had the courage that countless others did not have.

Al Pacino's performance is the guarantee of the success of the film, whether it's called Frank Slade or Fausto, this man is hard to describe in words, he is a spirit, an indescribable passion and pain. mix. He would laugh out of nowhere, as if it was an announcement and a mockery, and the smile just disappeared into the air before you got back to your senses. Those who like him will love him very much, and those who hate him will disdain him.

Frank's charisma in Al's performance almost overshadows the character's pain, or, in other words, this charisma makes the pain sweet. His attraction to women is like Don Juan, except that he doesn't need to foolishly sing a serenade under other people's windows, just use his sense of smell, and women will fly over like moths to a flame.

Al also gave the character his signature roar, 'Whoo! ’ This is the bullet he fired at life, and the cry has different meanings at different times. It can be a mockery, a whining, a cheer, or a loneliness. The simple words are richly and touchingly interpreted by Al. As for that splendid tango dance, it is the magic touch of the movie, and it also makes the movie a dream that everyone yearns for. Although it weakens the reality of the story, it will not weaken the inspiration and shock that the movie brings to people, because we What you see is not just a story, but also a spirit conveyed by the film.

In front of Al's performance that was recorded in the annals of history, Hugo, who was not inferior, contributed another wonderful performance in his acting career, and it can even be said to surpass the stunning performance of the Dead Poets Society. Shy, kind, gentle, humble, and refined Charlie, under Hugo's interpretation, is personable and charming. Even in front of Frank's glass of red wine, his personality charm is still mellow and charming, but in the extreme depression and passivity Even though his vulnerability has turned into tears and echoed in those amber eyes, his steadfastness is still like a ray of light in the dark night, illuminating Frank's life, the whole story, and all the audience. Cold heart.

Such a Hugo, it has been a long time, and people have to give him a standing ovation.

Giovanni wrote at the end of the original book: Although there was darkness around him, in the years to come he had to light a lighter in this darkness, and he had to stretch out a bamboo pole to explore the way, and he laughed at people in such darkness. , offended, he still drinks in such darkness, then, even the most difficult life is still life, still his life, mine, all of us, all those who can admit to life , the lives of those who accept and manage life.

Whether life is docile or ferocious, we all need to work hard for our choices, the paths we want to take, and the goals we want to pursue. And death can never be an excuse and a way to escape, or you need to have greater courage than choosing death, the courage to take responsibility.

Tribute to such a wonderful film. "

Nicholas, the reporter who sang badly about "Scent of a Woman" and who didn't have a lot of positive impressions of Hugo Lancaster, turned his back after the movie was released.