"Scent of a Woman"-The Narrow Door to Heaven

Jevon 2021-10-20 17:24:14

1. Darkness and bees***

***Blind Canary***

Most people who are busy with survival do not believe in miracles. It is a strange flower that only exists in books or distant dreams. When the innocent children grew up, they no longer dreamed. If people cannot see miracles, they will no longer have dreams. It's like a blind canary stops singing.

In the movie "Scent of a Woman", the adaptation of the script weakened the shortcomings, depression and dark side of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade. Although he almost lost to life, he is still a brave fighter. His love for women and his superior judgment on smells make him more like a magician, a man of miracles. His hatred and love for the world are with him. And his prototype, Captain Fausto described by Italian writer Giovanni Alpino, is more real and ordinary. He is not sensitive to smells, hiding under heavy sunglasses all day, his greatest interest is to make himself happy in a vicious way. He used acrimonious language to make the pain of those around him clear. This is his attitude towards life: storm is better than sunlight, because sunlight can only create the illusion of silence and tranquility, while rainstorms let you know where you are.

The university students who followed Fausto to Rome and Napoli are typical lost young people. He doesn't drink, he doesn't play with women, he never has any thoughts, and he never makes any decisions. Instead, he was more like a blind man groping and hesitating in the dark. He, like most people, never thinks too much about life, and suffers from the pain submissively, but doesn't know how to get rid of it.

An accident in a military exercise nine years ago caused Fausto to lose his sight and a hand. This makes his injury without any heroism, and there is no medal of honor. It seemed that he was still walking on the sunny street, but suddenly fell into a bottomless abyss in the next second. However, he is still different from ordinary blind people, different from Lieutenant Vincenzo who is in a similar situation with him (they are comrades in arms, and Lieutenant Vincenzo is also blind), because he is like "an image on a negative, which stands out from the world. In addition to all things, ridicule all things in the world to make them more mediocre and more distant." Under the defensive shell, the world in his heart was constantly being destroyed, leaving broken walls. However, he still fired at everything in the world. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that he is daunting.

Fausto's fierce, mean curse often makes people grit their teeth, thinking that he is simply the embodiment of the devil. In this regard, he has his own set of views to fight back-miracles are accompanied by the devil. The world is divided into good and bad, good and evil because it is afraid of the devil, and miracles exist because of suffering. Without the devil who causes suffering, there will naturally be no miracles. Some people think that Judas betrayed Jesus because he couldn't wait for the miracle to appear, so as to help Jesus speed up the pace of miracles. Of course, few people are willing to trade hardship for miracles, but many people pursue hardships and practice penance because of their inner disabilities and pain. Like Fausto’s cousins, he did not choose to stay in a school with good conditions, but became a priest of the church. He regards it as his own Africa, a habitat for comforting uneasy souls. He even envied Fausto becoming blind, because the pain was always with him, urging him to move forward. This has become what Fausto called a "demonic advantage." Yes, he occasionally experiences a little happiness from blindness, although this happiness is extremely weak and fleeting.

He is a blind canary. Unlike others, he still insists on singing. Maybe his voice is hoarse and can't find the tune, but it is better than most people's singing voice.

***Darkness and bees***

"Our task is to penetrate so deeply, so painfully, and so passionately with this unstable and unstable earth so that his true essence can be regenerated invisibly in us. We are the invisible bees. We keep picking visible honey and accumulate it in the invisible golden hive." — [Austria] Rilke's

name "Darkness and Bees" is more suitable for this book, pervasive With the bitterness and pain of the world, the name of the movie is too romantic and poetic.

Fausto scolded others and never let go of himself. He never let go of a satirical life and took the opportunity to make fun of his own body's imperfections. The little stories he popped up abruptly always made people think about it for a long time after a belly laugh. He proposed to play a game of blind and catch people with the girls, and tell the silly young college student about anecdotes about the lieutenant. The little lieutenant in the war had to take part in some meaningless but dangerous actions in order to repay the money he lost in playing cards, even if he was terrified to death, for which he was awarded a medal and promotion. Between playing cards and taking risks with his life, he chose to play cards. This is an incredible answer for ordinary people. This seemingly absurd choice may happen to everyone. It seems that as long as we are alive, we have the desire to pursue, and there are more demands than just living.

For Fausto, you can't judge him by the standards of good people and bad people. This is not as simple as a math problem. There are ready-made answers. He has many shortcomings. It seems that he has received a lot of care and love but never pays attention to it or gives back, but this does not hinder the fact that he is an angel. An angel full of alcohol and swear words. He would suddenly buy all the lottery tickets sold by the old man on the street, but he would never be full of compassion, but would be impatient and curse. As if to say to God, you must not think that I have helped anyone. I'm a badass! Once he has done something good or cares about someone, he will be like an annoyed bird, desperately pulling his feathers to cover it up. This was the case when he struggled to write to his aunt with one hand, and when he called his kitten. It must be mad, with a serious face as the end. You see, his logic is actually as simple as a child.

As for love, it did not become the ultimate medicine to save Fausto, but it gradually became a part of his life. Sarah does not even admit that her feelings for Fausto are love, which she calls "loyalty, trust and dependence". What if he is 21 years older than her? She loved him when she was a little girl and decided to spend her life with him, even if it wasn't in the name of a wife or girlfriend. She wanted to walk into the darkness with him, picking up those so-called truths and piling up in her own life. Sarah is different from other women. She hates that people use popular adjectives when they talk about her, and use usual experience to evaluate her. She desperately wanted to see the world with her eyes like Fausto, and she tried to give love in order to get love.

Fausto tried to use death to find the exit of the dark world, trying to use death to find the miracle of his life. In the end, he discovered that if you want to get light, you have to light up your own lights, if you want miracles, you have to endure pain, and those unknown miracles will come naturally. The places he cannot reach, the unacceptable love, will slowly blend into his life.

During the few days with Fausto, the confused college student saw and understood a lot of things. But this does not make him a good person immediately, or immediately become strong and brave. The changes that follow are invisible and slow, like bees collecting nectar, only a little at a time.

"Today, whether I am an ant or a cicada, a hare or a dog, whether the world is a punishment that conforms to the teachings of the Bible or a daily despicable trap, it does not matter, as long as the example from Sarah can give My courage is enough. This is my courage, the courage I need, the courage I need to seek a shelter. I should dig such a shelter in my life and make it warm and comfortable.”

2 , Smell

the fragrance

to know a woman****** The narrow door to heaven*** The truth that the movie tells us is also related to life, but it is not the same as the original. The same Fausto (Frank Schrader), in different cultures and environments, will inevitably have different stories.

The setting of the characters in the film injects a distinctive American value-family into the film. Whether it is Frank Slade, or college student Charlie Simon, or George Willis, everyone here has their own family, and their personalities and concepts are deeply influenced by the family. Although George Willis looks good on the surface, he actually relies on his wealthy father. Things happen like a puppy with a tail clipped. The previous anger is completely gone, and he will only hide in his father's pocket for begging. Self-preservation; Charlie Simon’s broken and poor family made him aware of the hardships of life, so he would work harder than ordinary people. He is stronger and more valuable than he looks. He is an unpolished gem. Frank Slade has a lot more family members than the characters in the novel. Those who care about him and hate him, their love and condemnation affect him more or less. On Halloween, the scene where Frank broke into his elder brother's house created a typical family conflict. Communication barriers and poor expression of feelings were all the culprits for the unhappy ending. This is also the crux of the contradictions in most families.

The film simplifies the original work’s penetration of life’s pain into a choice of life. This is just a simplification, not to make the problem simple. Frank said that there are two kinds of people in this world, one is the person who takes responsibility when encountering things, and the other is the person who is looking for backers. Charlie Simon encountered this choice, whether he betrayed his friends to get a bright future, or bear the secretive consequences.

Many people are puzzled that Charlie Simon would rather sacrifice his future to protect a few people who are not his friends at all. In fact, no matter what choice he makes, there is a reason. This is the contradiction between "right" and "right", and from another angle, he has done everything wrong. The world shown in "The Tragedy of Aeschylus", "There are not only'right' and'wrong', or'good' and'evil' struggles, but also'right' and'right' (also'wrong' 'And'wrong')" conflict. In order to protect the interests of the whole army, Agamemnon killed his daughter to sacrifice to the gods; his mother Krutaimestravel, in order to avenge her daughter, let her husband pay with blood; Orestes was willing to avenge his father. Hunted down by the nemesis (because of mother-killing). These people all have the reason for revenge, and they all insist on their own justice and truth, but they all violate the moral concepts of mankind. This conflict between "right" and "right" is the most painful choice in reality. It was also the choice that Charlie Simon had to face. However, there is a subtle difference between these two choices, that is, whether his choice is to protect his own interests and whether he adheres to his principles. It is understandable that George Willis faced the pressure of his father to confess his friends, but his choice was to protect his own interests, which made him unable to lift his head in front of Charlie. Because although Charlie Simon’s choice seemed too stubborn and meaningless, he was not to protect his own interests. To a certain extent, he would rather sacrifice his own interests to protect others than self-protection. This is why he is commendable, and it is also the reason for Frank's generous speech. This spirit of sacrificing one's own interests and safeguarding others is what Frank calls the "right way", which is Charlie's "the way of principle, the way to personality." When you can't do everything right, at least make sure you don't sacrifice others for yourself. This is the basic condition of being a leader.

The Bible: New Testament Matthew Chapter 7 verses 13-14 writes: "You must enter the narrow gate. Because the gate is wide to lead to destruction, the road is large, and many people enter; For eternal life, the gate is narrow, and the road is small, and few people find it.” Charlie Simon chose the narrow gate that many people didn't want to walk through. It was a hard way to stick to.

***Smell the fragrance to know a woman***

Al Pacino's performance is the guarantee of the film's success. Whether it's Frank Slade or Fautos, this man is hard to describe with pen and ink. He is a spirit, a mixture of indescribable passion and pain. He would laugh suddenly, as if it were a declaration and a mockery, and the smile disappeared into the air immediately before you recovered. People who like him will love him very much, and those who hate him will also dismiss him.

Frank's charm is compelling under Al Pacino's interpretation. This charm almost overshadows the pain of the characters, and this charm makes the pain sweet. His attraction to women is like Don Juan, but he doesn't need to sing a serenade stupidly under people's windows, he just needs to move his nose, and they will fly over like butterflies. He also gave the character the iconic shout: "Hu-Ah!" This is the bullet he shot at life. At different moments, this shout has different meanings. It can be a mockery, it can be a whine, it can be a cheer. Simple vocabulary is interpreted richly and touchingly by Pacino. As for the tango dance in the hotel lobby, it is a magical touch of the movie, and it also makes the movie more like a dream that everyone yearns for. Although this weakens the realism of the story, it does not weaken the enlightenment and shock that the movie brings to people. Because what we see is not just a story, but a spirit conveyed by the film.

Giovanni Alpino wrote at the end of the book: "Although there is darkness around him, in the years to come he will have to light up a lighter in this darkness, and he will have to stretch out a bamboo pole to find the way. He laughs at people and offends people in the darkness. He still drinks in such darkness. Then, even the most difficult life is still life. It is still his life, my life, and the life of all of us. The lives of all those who can recognize life, accept life, and manage life."

Regardless of whether life is docile or hideous, we all need to make efforts for our choices, the road to be taken, and the goals we want to pursue. And death can never be an excuse and a way to escape. To live requires greater courage than to choose death and the courage to assume responsibility.

Please indicate the author: Nine-tailed Black Cat
http://www.mtime.com/my/LadyInSatin/blog/864379/

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Extended Reading
  • Neva 2021-10-20 19:02:54

    Godfather teaches you how to be a man every minute.

  • Mitchell 2021-10-20 19:02:54

    Pacino made this film, and every time he appeared, the film exudes a dazzling light. That shocking speech, that charming tango, and a blind man unscrupulously driving a Ferrari in an empty street... When you look in the mirror to cherish youth and sigh that the years are like water, Al makes people believe that time comes to him Said it is just a kind of more sophisticated makeup, wrinkles can also be a kind of sexy.

Scent of a Woman quotes

  • [Headmaster Trask drives into the Baird School driveway in his brand-new Jaguar. He gets out, to hear a voice on a loudspeaker]

    Jimmy Jameson: [on loudspeaker, but unidentified] Mister Trask is our fearless leader.

    [students hear this and gather, looking on at Trask]

    Jimmy Jameson: A man of learning, a voracious reader. He can recite "The Iliad" in ancient Greek, while fishing for trout in a rippling creek.

    Trent Potter: [Trask grins slightly, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from] Endowed with wisdom, of judgement sound, nevertheless about him, the questions abound.

    [We now see the same three Baird guys who set up this prank the night before; Harry opens the valve to an oxygen tank connected to a large balloon on a lamppost as Trent passes the microphone to him]

    Harry Havemeyer: How does Mister Trask make such wonderful deals? Why did the trustees buy him Jaguar wheels? He wasn't conniving, he wasn't crass... he merely puckered his lips... and kissed their ass!

    [balloon spins around to reveal a cartoon bearing the words being spoken; the students laugh and mock Trask]

    Harry Havemeyer: [Trask pulls out his car keys and opens the Jaguar door, then jumps up to try to pop the balloon with the key. He misses on the first try. On the second try, he succeeds, and a flood of white paint splashes down onto him and all over the car. The students applaud loudly and shout obscenities at him as this catastrophe concludes with Trask kicking the car door closed and attempting to dry his face with handkerchief]

  • Lt. Col. Frank Slade: [Lt. Col. Frank Slade is speaking in defense of Charlie Simms at meeting at the Baird School] Now I have come to the cross-roads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew, but I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the cross-roads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey.