“Scent of a Woman” Al Pacino embodies life lessons

Acting that closely matches the “mental” and “physical” aspects of the role

Lt. Col. Frank Slade, played by Al Pacino, is a retired military officer. He has two major characteristics. One is that he is very particular, inflexible, and has a very foul mouth. Another characteristic is that the lieutenant colonel is blind.

The story begins when Charlie (Chris O'Donnell), a struggling student, visits him, and the lieutenant colonel showers the young man with sarcastic and derogatory words. Here, the character of this young man is reflected in the way he manages to hold on despite being beaten down. This opening scene, which clearly shows the personalities and relationships of each character, is excellent.

The lieutenant colonel has a difficult personality and is blind. Acting involves manipulating the performer's own mental and physical abilities in a complex manner to create ``someone other than themselves = a character in the story.'' It can be seen that playing the role of a lieutenant colonel requires a high level of control, both mentally and physically.

"Scent of Woman/Scent of Dreams" (C) 1992 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

In the end, the lieutenant colonel becomes an irreplaceable presence for Charlie, but his difficult personality and his acting expressions show how he changes from there. The value of the role of the lieutenant colonel could be diminished to the point that he was just a character who changed his mind for the sake of the story. And when it comes to his physical appearance, it goes without saying that his performance shows that he is visually impaired. Depending on how you do it, it could end up being a lie.

It is widely known that Al Pacino studied method acting at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio. However, many great actors like him who rose to fame during the ``American New Cinema period'' came from here, so this in itself is nothing special.

Simply put, this ``method acting'' is ``digging into the inner world of the role.'' However, no matter how much you delve into the inner life of the lieutenant colonel, it will not necessarily be reflected in the physical aspect of being ``blind.'' Although it is generally called a visual impairment, the symptoms vary depending on the person who suffers from it. Al Pacino's physical performance with fixed eyes and the mental performance of the lieutenant colonel who causes an accident that causes blindness, which is talked about in the movie, are combined at a high level. His performance deserves an Oscar win.

“Keep dancing even if your legs get tangled.”