Movie: Scent of a woman
Al Pacino plays a salty wounded veteran who has the gift of charm. Much as many lawyers do. This movie is a masterpiece on so many levels.
Warning - This film does portray contemplated suicide (in DVD chapter 11), although his chaperone does detect and prevent it in a very dramatic scene. It shows how quickly things can erode, from the elation of driving the Ferrari to the realization that "I'm not drivin anymore". The well meaning chaperone, nearly triggered the death of his charge.
The Ferrari scene (in DVD chapter 10) is very funny until Al Pacino stops driving. Press chapter advance twice (to chapter 12) after Al Pacino gets out of the car if you'd like to avoid the disturbing sequence.
Scene - Near the end (watch DVD Chapters 12-14 for the fullest effect) Al Pacino defends his charge at his disciplinary hearing with his impassioned lines. From DVD Chapter 13 "The Colonel Speaks Out"
"If I were the man I was ... I'd take a flamethrower to this place"
"I've been around ... I have seen, Boys like these ... their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there is nothing like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that."
"You think you are ... but I say you are executing his soul, and why"
"I don't know if [he] is right or wrong... [but he] won't sell anybody out to buy his future! And that my friends is called integrity, that's called courage"
"I always knew what the right path was, ... but I never took it, you know why? It was too damn hard! Now here's Charlie, ... he has chosen a path, it's the right path made of principle, that leads to character"
Copyright 1998 Universal Home Video from Scent of a Woman
Remaining section is Draft Status - More updates later...
There are so many great scenes in this move...
Discussion
You see so many parallels in this movie. Al Pacino's careful use of words that are misleading without being an outright lie. The drama of the disciplinary hearing, how the unprincipled party line player Mr. Willis was to be rewarded while the Mr. Simms was to be ruined. Both did not want to betray their classmates, but Mr. Simms did it with honesty.
When watching the beginning of chapter 12 and seeing just how pathetic and cowardly Mr. Willis is, you can't help but see the terrible irony in how he could be a "worthy Baird man", a future leader. And when the Colonel calls into question the types of leaders that are being formed, how the dean attempts to quash him to maintain the hypocrisy.
But in the end, it is the Colonel's carefully chosen, strongly presented advocacy that wins the case. The outcome had absolutely nothing to do with the facts. You can see, that just as in Divorce Court, truth, justice, and principles are absent. This is what leads to disappointing or surprising outcomes. We all learned the propaganda in school, our system falls far short.
Moral of the story
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