Based on the story Il buio e il miele by Giovanni Arpino, Profumo di donna (Scent of a Woman) is the story of a blind army captain who is accompanied by a young man on a road trip from Turin to Naples to meet an old friend. Directed by Dino Risi and screenplay by Risi and Ruggero Maccari, the film is a road movie of sorts that follows a blind captain and his young aide as they go on a journey with the latter getting some life lessons. Starring Vittorio Gassman, Alessandro Momo, and Agostina Belli. Profumu di donna is a majestic and haunting film from Dino Risi.
A military cadet is tasked to accompany a blind army captain from Turin to Naples for a trip through Italy as the captain wants to meet an old friend to fulfill a pact while the young cadet gets life lessons along the way. It’s a film with a simple premise though it is more of a study of a young man accompanying a blind man who has lived a fascinating life yet is also cruel at times as well as selfish. However, his greatest gift is capturing the scent of a woman as he is always fascinated by them. The film’s screenplay by Dino Risi and Ruggero Maccari follows Giovanni Bertazzi (Alessandro Momo) who is tasked to accompany Captain Fausto Consolo (Vittorio Gassman) for this trip as Captain Consolo is a man that is trying to have some fun as well as women as he can smell them where Giovanni is baffled by this Cpt. Consolo’s way with women but also how he treats others where he can be cruel or indifferent. The film’s third act set in Naples does reveal why he’s there but also some complications in the form of a young woman Cpt. Consolo knew in Sara (Agostina Belli).
Risi’s direction is definitely full of energy as it play into the journey that these two men take via train and stopping from town to town as it is shot on many locations in Italy such as Turin, Rome, Genoa, and Naples. While Risi would use a lot of wide shots of the locations, much of Risi’s direction is intimate as it play into the relationship between Giovanni and Cpt. Consolo as he uses close-ups and medium shots to play into their companionship. Especially as Giovanni is eager to go to Rome to meet his girlfriend yet is often dragged into other things in Cpt. Consolo as he finds himself in situations that are comical as well as filled with some drama. By the time the film reaches its third act in Naples, Risi does play into some of the tension of Cpt. Consolo’s intention for going to Naples as it relates to another blind officer in Vincenzo (Torindo Bernardi) as they reminisce and have dinner while the presence of Sara complicates things as she knew him when she was a young woman.
Risi also play into Giovanni’s reaction as he becomes smitten by Sara whom Cpt. Consolo was fond of as he was hoping to be the love of his life. There is a flashback scene told by Sara as it play to how youthful Cpt. Consolo was but the accident did leave him a mental scar that he doesn’t want Sara to see. Yet, he would treat her cruelly during his time in Naples while focusing his attention on other women prompting Sara to go to Giovanni just to talk. A party happens in Cpt. Consolo’s honor as it really brings up a lot of things as well as his true intentions for his trip to Naples that is later followed by a troubled aftermath about who he is and how Giovanni sees him. Overall, Risi crafts a mesmerizing yet somber film about a young man’s journey in accompanying a troubled and blind army captain through Italy.
Cinematographer Claudio Cirillo does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography in capturing the daytime beauty of the exterior locations with all of its vibrant colors as well as capturing some of the low-key yet naturalistic look for a few scenes set at night including a stylish dream sequence that Giovanni has. Editor Alberto Gallitti does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with a few sequences presented as montage including the flashback scenes. Production designer Lorenzo Baraldi does fantastic work with the home that Cpt. Consolo lives in early in the film as well as the hotel rooms he and Giovanni go to and the home of Vincenzo.
Costume designer Benito Persico does nice work with the costumes from the stylish suits that Cpt. Consolo and Giovanni wears to the summer dresses Sara and her friends wear. The sound work of Vittorio Massi is terrific for its natural sound as well as the atmosphere of the locations and a nightclub that Cpt. Consolo and Giovanni go to. The film’s music by Armando Trovajoli is incredible for its rich and lush orchestral score with heavy piano and string arrangements that soar throughout the film as it also include some somber and plaintive pieces that play into the melodrama while its music soundtrack also include an array of classical and pop music pieces of the time.
The film’s wonderful cast feature some notable small roles from the trio of Elena Veronese, Stefania Spugnini, and Marisa Volonnino as Sara’s friends who enjoy Cpt. Consolo’s flirtations, Alvaro Vitali as a soldier who helps Vincenzo, Moira Orfei as a prostitute that Cpt. Consolo and Giovanni meet in Genoa, and Torindo Bernardi as Cpt. Consolo’s old military friend Vincenzo who is also blind due to an accident that also blinded Cpt. Consolo. Agostina Belli is amazing as Sara as a woman who was the object of affection for Cpt. Consolo years ago before he became blind as she is troubled by his behavior as well as the way he treats her prompting her to tell Giovanni about what happened. Alessandro Momo is brilliant as Giovanni Bertazzi aka Ciccio (kiddo) as this young military cadet who is tasked to accompany Cpt. Consolo as he deals with the task at hand but also getting some life lessons along the way where he also understands what he has to do as a man. Finally, there’s Vittorio Gassman in a phenomenal performance as Captain Fausto Consolo as this man who has a great sense of smell for women as he charms and flirts with them as well as be cruel to people as it is a performance for the ages as Gassman provides that mixture of cruelty and wit as it also hides the great pain that his character is carrying about what happened to him.
Profumo di donna is an incredible film from Dino Risi that features a tremendous performance from Vittorio Gassman. Along with its ensemble cast, gorgeous settings, compelling story of life and loss, and a riveting score by Armando Trovajoli. It’s a film that explores two men on a journey through Italy as they both embark on some life lessons and other things as well as learn about themselves. In the end, Profumo di donna is a sensational film from Dino Risi.
Related: Il sorpasso - (Scent of a Woman (1992 film))
© thevoid99 2020
Based on the non-fiction novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra, Sleepers is the story of four young boys from the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City whose lives were changed when they were sent to a brutal juvenile hall as they endured sexual abuse by guards only to get revenge on them many years later as adults. Written for the screen and directed by Barry Levinson, the film is an exploration of men who deal with the abuse that had changed them as two of them go on trial for the murder of one with two of the men trying to find ways to mess the trial up as one of them is a prosecutor trying against them. Starring Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon, Minnie Driver, Billy Crudup, Ron Eldard, Brad Renfro, Joe Perrino, Jonathan Tucker, Geoffrey Wigdor, Bruno Kirby, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert de Niro. Sleepers is a chilling yet evocative film from Barry Levinson.
Told in the span of nearly 20 years, the film revolves around four boys living in the Hell Kitchen’s section of New York City where an act of theft just to eat hot dogs led to an accident that nearly killed a man. In response to what happened, the boys are sent to the Wilkinson Home for Boys where they would be abused physically and sexually by guards as the experience would haunt them as adults where two of them would finally get revenge on one of the guards as they’re tried for murder by one of the men who would mastermind everything to make sure he loses and his friends go free. It’s a film that is part of a revenge film but it’s also about abuse and what drove these men into trying to free themselves from this horrific experience. All of which is told by one of the men who is a journalist as he reflects on his childhood as well as what he wants to do where he even gets a local priest involved in the trial.
Barry Levinson’s script has a unique structure as much of the first half is set in the mid-to-late 1960s as it revolves around these four boys who were just regular kids that go to church, do small yet non-violent jobs for a local Mafia kingpin, and play stickball. Due to a prank where everything went wrong and be sent to this juvenile hall, their lives change thanks in part to this guard named Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon) who would abuse them in the worst way with three other guards. The abuse becomes intense to the point that they couldn’t even tell their parents nor their priest in Father Bobby Carillo (Robert de Niro). The film’s second half takes place fourteen years later where the boys become adults as Tommy Marcano (Billy Crudup) and John Reilly (Ron Eldard) have become career criminals and discover Nokes eating a restaurant where they confront and later kill him. With the aid of assistant district attorney Michael Sullivan (Brad Pitt) being their prosecutor who wants to lose the case against them with help from the washed-up alcoholic attorney Danny Snyder (Dustin Hoffman) to represent Marcano and Reilly.
Yet, Sullivan and Lorenzo “Shakes” Carcatetta (Jason Patric) are aware that it’s not enough to help Marcano and Reilly be found not guilty as they would also mastermind revenge on the three other guards with the aid of the local Mafia boss King Benny (Vittorio Gassman) as well as longtime childhood friend Carol (Minnie Driver) as the latter would later learn about the abuse Carcatetta, Marcano, Reilly, and Sullivan endured as Father Bobby would also learn what happened. Yet, the film’s third act is about what Father Bobby is being asked to do by Carcatetta to help Marcano and Reilly as it does become not just a moral issue but also in seeing if Father Bobby could help these men he knew as boys.
Levinson’s direction does have an air of style in the way he presents 1960s Hell’s Kitchen as a place where things were innocent despite some of the dark aspects that surrounds the boys such as Carcatetta seeing his mother be beaten by his father or some of the things that King Benny does to keep his neighborhood clean. It’s as if Levinson recreates 1960s New York City as a time where things were enjoyable and had a bit of danger to it that still made it fun with the usage of the wide and medium shots. By the time the film moves upstate at the juvenile hall, it becomes a much tighter and more unsettling film as Levinson’s direction really maintains that haunting atmosphere. The scenes of abuse are never shown as Levinson is more concerned about what will happen before and its aftermath which just adds that sense of terror.
Once the film reaches its second half, it is set in a more modern world but one that is very dark in terms of its imagery but also in the impact of the violence. Notably the scene where Marcano and Reilly see Nokes and confront him as it is quite eerie as well as being very violent. Levinson’s direction would become stylish in the way Carcatetta and Sullivan would set things up as it includes a meeting between King Benny and another crime lord in Little Caesar (Wendell Pierce) as it relates to the latter whose brother was in the same juvenile hall the four boys were in. It’s a small scene but one that showcases an air of respect in the world of crime but also in the fact that some debts just can’t be paid with money as King Benny would learn the truth about what happened to boys he had cared about despite what he does for a living. The trial scenes are just as intense emotionally as well as in the climax as it involves Father Bobby’s testimony as it is one of the most chilling moments in the film. Overall, Levinson creates a mesmerizing film about four men getting revenge on those that had abused them at a juvenile hall.
Cinematographer Michael Ballhaus does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from the sunny and lively look of the film‘s first act in Hell‘s Kitchen to the eerie look at the juvenile hall that includes some de-colored film stock for a football sequence between the kids and the guards. Editor Stu Linder does nice work with the editing as it has bits of style in a few montages while also being straightforward in its drama and some light-hearted moments. Production designer Kristi Zea, with set decorator Beth A. Rubino and art director Tim Galvin, does fantastic work with the look of the juvenile hall as well as some of the places in Hell‘s Kitchen and the restaurant where Marcano and Reilly see Nokes.
Costume designer Gloria Gresham does terrific work with clothes from the look of the kids in the 1960s to the clothes the characters would wear as adults in the 1980s. Sound designer Richard Beggs and sound editor Tim Holland do superb work with the sound in capturing the vibrant energy of Hell‘s Kitchen to the tense and scary world of the juvenile hall. The film’s music by John Williams is amazing for its low-key yet heavy orchestral score that plays into the drama with its string arrangements as it carries a lot of weight into the story while the soundtrack features an array of music of the 60s like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, the Beach Boys, Donovan, Spencer Davis Group, Love, Dusty Springfield, and Doris Day to music from the Gap Band, Soft Cell, and Everything is Everything.
The casting by Louis DiGiaimo is incredible as it feature some notable small roles from James Pickens Jr. as an African-American guard who doesn’t take shit from Nokes and protects the boys on their first day, Frank Medrano as a Hell’s Kitchen hood in Fat Mancho, Monica Potillo as the young Carol, Aida Turturro as a woman who witnessed Marcano and Reilly at the restaurant, Eugene Byrd as a tough African-American kid named Rizzo the boys befriend at the juvenile hall, Dash Mihok as a juvie who gets into a fight with Sullivan at the juvenile hall, Angela Rago as Shakes’ mother, and John Slattery as a kind English teacher at the juvenile hall. Other noteworthy small roles include Bruno Kirby as Shakes’ father who is strict but fair towards him and Wendell Pierce as the crime lord Little Caesar who is also Rizzo’s older brother as he learns the truth about what happened to him. In the roles of the three guards who abused the boys with Nokes in Jeffrey Donovan as the aspiring politician Henry Addison, Lennie Loftin as the corrupt Adam Styler, and Terry Kinney as Ralph Ferguson are superb in their roles as three men who are quite scary.
In the roles of the younger version of the boys, Joe Perrino as the young Shakes, Brad Renfro as the young Sullivan, Jonathan Tucker as the young Marcano, and Geoffrey Wigdor as the young Reilly are all amazing as they display an innocence to guys who live in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen as they’re unprepared for what they deal with as well as the abuse they’re too ashamed to unveil to their parents and Father Bobby. Vittorio Gassman is excellent as King Benny as a former bodyguard for Lucky Luciano turned local Mob king who learns about what happened to the boys as he does whatever to help them without leaning towards the world of crime. Minnie Driver is fantastic as Carol as a childhood friend who helps Shakes in trying to help Marcano and Reilly while learning about the truth about what happened to them as kids which made her very uneasy. Ron Eldard and Billy Crudup are brilliant in their respective roles as John Reilly and Tommy Marcano as two men who are haunted by their experience as they turn to crime where they finally get some vengeance upon seeing Nokes at a restaurant.
Dustin Hoffman is great as Danny Snyder as this alcoholic lawyer that is given a chance to defend Reilly and Marcano though he is largely unaware of the role he is playing other than getting a chance to become someone again. Robert de Niro is remarkable as Father Bobby Carillo as a priest who has been the one person the boys can turn to as he learns about what happens where he is put into a situation that goes against everything he’s been doing as a priest. Kevin Bacon is phenomenal as Sean Nokes as this abusive and sadistic prison guard who likes to beat up the kids as well as do things to them in his own perverse way of making them tough. Brad Pitt is marvelous as Michael Sullivan as an assistant district attorney who is masterminding the case as an act revenge as he tries whatever he can to lose convincingly while dealing with his own issues as it relates to the abuse he suffered as a kid. Finally, there’s Jason Patric in a tremendous performance as Lorenzo “Shakes” Carcaterra as a journalist who helps Sullivan in trying to get revenge but also is forced to tell Father Bobby and Carol the truth as he also reflects on his past that still haunts him.
Sleepers is an outstanding film from Barry Levinson. Featuring a great ensemble cast, a multi-layered storyline, and eerie yet compelling stories about sexual and child abuse as well as vengeance. It’s a film that is stylish but also manages to do a lot without being heavy-handed nor go too far into material that is quite intense. In the end, Sleepers is a magnificent film from Barry Levinson.
Barry Levinson Films: (Diner) - (The Natural) - (Young Sherlock Holmes) - (Tin Men) - (Good Morning Vietnam) - (Rain Man) - (Avalon (1990 film)) - (Bugsy) - (Toys) - (Jimmy Hollywood) - (Disclosure) - (Wag the Dog) - (Sphere) - (Liberty Height) - (An Everlasting Piece) - (Bandits (2001 film)) - (Envy) - (Man of the Year) - (What Just Happened) - (You Don’t Know Jack) - (The Bay) - (The Humbling) - (Rock the Kasbah) - (The Wizard of Lies)
© thevoid99 2016
Directed by Dino Risi and written by Risi, Ettore Scola, and Ruggero Maccari, Il sorpasso (The Easy Life) is the story of a bachelor and a law student who go on a road trip from Rome to Tuscany all in the course of an entire day. The film is an unusual road film that mixes humor but with characters dealing with themselves while trying to have a good time. Starring Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Catherine Spaak, Claudio Gora, and Luciana Angiolillo. Il sorpasso is a riveting and exciting film from Dino Risi.
Told in the span of just over twenty-four hours, the film revolves around an impromptu road trip involving a middle-aged bachelor and a young, introverted law student whom he had just met on that day. That’s all the film is about where it is about something that is unplanned and out of the norm where Bruno (Vittorio Gassman) is driving around Rome looking to do something as he wants to call someone where he meets this shy law student named Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant). It is a holiday for all of Italy where Bruno wants to have fun while Roberto wants to study as he has an exam in a few weeks. There, the two go on a trip from Rome to Tuscany with stops in various places in Italy where Bruno wants to show Roberto life as it is and what to expect. The film’s screenplay doesn’t play into any traditional structure as it’s more about characters and their encounters with whatever town or restaurant they stop in and such.
The script also allows moments where Bruno talks about things in his life where is able to roam around anywhere while is just experiencing everything as it is. A complete contrast to who Roberto is as he is someone that likes to plan things yet never has the courage to do anything outgoing. Especially when he is unable to talk to women where Bruno would give him a few pointers while a visit to Roberto’s relatives in the middle would show exactly some of the things Bruno is missing in his own life. Even as Bruno would later reveal to have a family of his own which he doesn’t see very often due to the fact that he is always in Rome and in other places while admits that he’s not a natural husband or father. Through the course of the story, it becomes clear how much these two very different men mean to each other even though had only met in the morning. Yet, the script allows them to evolve where Bruno becomes more responsible and concerned for his family while Robert would also loosen up a bit.
Dino Risi’s direction is very lively as it captures not just a moment in time where Italy is basking in a post-war economic and social boom but also in a world where it’s not just cities in Rome that is alive but also these small towns and beaches. Much of the direction is shot on various locations in Italy such as Rome and small towns in the Tuscan region where Risi does keep things lively as he would shoot the film on the road where the camera would be in front of the car or behind the car or driving beside it. There’s something loose that is evident in the way the scenes on the road is depicted while it also has an air of realism where it showcases something that is very alive where even the old can enjoy themselves on the road.
Risi’s approach to close-ups and medium shots not only capture the sense of intimacy and growing friendship between Bruno and Roberto but also in how different they are. One notable scene in the third act has Bruno and his family be shown through windows while Roberto is the only one seen through a door to play into how much of an outsider he is. The direction also features some unique wide shots and some gorgeous camera angles where it is clear that Risi wants to portray Italy in a state of bliss and exuberance that Bruno is in love with while Roberto is more unsure about how to react. Even as he tries to muster the courage to do something and realize that there’s more to life than just studying and planning for big steps in life. Overall, Risi creates an evocative yet exhilarating film about two men taking an impromptu road trip through Italy.
Cinematographer Alfio Contini does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white cinematography that captures not just some beautiful images for many of the film‘s daytime exteriors but also maintain something very natural and rich while the scenes at night capture that sense of exuberance in the parties with great detail to some of the lighting in some of those scenes. Editor Maurizio Lucidi does excellent work with the editing as it has this great sense of rhythm in its editing with stylish usage of jump-cuts and dissolves to capture the energy of being on the road. Production/costume designer Ugo Pericoli does superb work with the look of some of the homes that Bruno and Roberto go to while keeping the clothes very casual while playing to the style of the times.
The sound effects by Italo Cameracanna are terrific as it plays into the sound of Bruno’s car horn as well as how the tires are heard on the road due to Bruno’s speedy approach to driving. The film’s music by Riz Ortolani is fantastic as it is largely this jazz-based score that plays into the air of excitement and energy of being on the road while its music soundtrack would consist of rock n’ roll and pop tunes of the times as it plays into a sense of joy that is in these small towns.
The film’s amazing cast includes some notable small appearances from Linda Sini as Roberto’s young aunt Lidia, Claudio Gora as a middle-aged man named Bibi that is dating Bruno’s teenage daughter, Catherine Spaak as Bruno’s daughter Lilli who is quite charming with dubbing by Melina Martello, and Luciana Angiolillo as Bruno’s wife whom he is estranged with yet crashes at her place while seemingly content with Bruno’s lifestyle. Jean-Louis Trintignant is incredible as Roberto as a young law student who is in for the experience of his life as he copes with the situation he’s in as he often does voice-over narration to express his uncertainty and such though much of his voice work is dubbed by Paolo Ferrari. Finally, there’s Vittorio Gassman in a remarkable performance as Bruno as this middle-aged bachelor who invites Bruno upon their brief meeting to join him on a road trip as Gassman brings a lot of charm and energy into his role while knowing when to be someone that is actually quite caring though he is a troublemaker in his own way.
Il sorpasso is a sensational film from Dino Risi that features top-notch performances from Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Not only is the film a fascinating portrait of early 1960s Italy in its economic boom but also a look into two men taking on an adventure into an impromptu road trip. In the end, Il sorpasso is an outstanding film from Dino Risi.
Related: Scent of a Woman (1974 film)
© thevoid99 2015
