Scent of a Woman (1974 film)

Scent of a Woman (Profumo di donna) is a 1974 Commedia all'italiana film directed by Dino Risi, based on Il buio e il miele, a story by Giovanni Arpino. Both Risi and the leading actor Vittorio Gassman won important Italian and French awards.

An American remake, Scent of a Woman, was released in 1992.

Plot
A blind Italian Captain (Fausto Consolo), accompanied by his aide Ciccio (Giovanni Bertazzi), who has been assigned to him by the army, is on his way from Turin to Naples to meet with an old comrade. He was disfigured in the same military incident that blinded the captain. Unknown to his aide, the Captain means to fulfill a suicide pact with his old comrade.

While they journey, the Captain asks Ciccio to help him spot beautiful women. Unsatisfied with the boy's descriptions, he uses his nose instead, claiming that he can smell a beautiful woman. During their journey, he carries with him a picture of his beloved Sara, whom he could not bear to have see him disfigured and helpless. The suicide pact is thwarted once Sara enters the picture, and the boy Ciccio does some much-needed growing up.

Cast

 * Vittorio Gassman: Fausto Consolo
 * Alessandro Momo: Giovanni Bertazzi
 * Agostina Belli: Sara
 * Moira Orfei: Mirka
 * Torindo Bernardi: Vincenzo
 * Alvaro Vitali: Vittorio

Awards and nominations

 * Profumo di donna was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1976 as Best Foreign Film and as Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material.
 * David di Donatello, Best Actor (Vittorio Gassman), 1975
 * David di Donatello, Best Director (Dino Risi), 1975
 * Nastro d'Argento, Best Actor (Vittorio Gassman), 1975
 * 1975 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor (Vittorio Gassman)
 * César Award for Best Foreign Film, 1976