Scent of a Woman (1992)

My Rating 7/10

[Work of Art 3/5, Sense of Life 4/5]

A retired colonel (Al Pacino) takes a young college boy (Chris O'Donnell) on a ‘tour of pleasures’ – and in the process offers him an insight into what it takes to be a man. One of the numerous such insights is when the colonel, quite boldly, strikes a conversation with an extremely beautiful girl (Gabrielle Anwar) and dances the tango with her, much to the delight of the young man. She feels afraid of making a mistake, but the colonel reassures her, “No mistakes in the tango . . . not like life. Simple. That makes tango so great! If you make a mistake, you get all tangled up – you just tango on.” That sort of boldness and heroism is on display again towards the end when the colonel explains to a packed auditorium – how to ‘prepare minnows for manhood’.

Al Pacino claimed the Oscar for Best Actor for his heroic portrayal of how to seek pleasures in life.