“Scent of a
Woman”
By Joe
Donato, all rights reserved, © 2008
This movie is hailed as one of Pacino’s
best. He gives a strong performance throughout, with believable supporting
cast and well written dialogue. But that's not what makes this film stand
out for me. You’ve probably already guessed it. It’s the Tango scene. If you
haven’t seen it, Pacino’s character propositions a
younger woman, totally inexperienced on the dance floor, to Tango with him. It
is the only dance scene in the entire movie. There is nothing exceptional about
his Tango routine or his styling, but it steals the show for another reason.
Now, for all you Argentine Tango purists out there,
you will be pleased. They are genuine quality Argentine Tango moves to an
authentic, classic Tango song, being played with live authentic Tango
orchestra, and Pacino does a competent job at the
dance. But that's not what I love about this scene. What I love is that
for the first time in Motion Picture and television history as far as I
know, a BLIND man, leads a woman on a dance floor. I
know what you’re saying. “C’mon Joe, that's
What Pacino’s character does
in this scene is a metaphor for the life lessons he is trying to teach his
young protégé throughout the rest of the film. Yes, ballroom dancing provides
plenty of eye candy and visual satisfaction to the rest of the world. But
if, while we are dancing, we focus on what we look like, we become
self-conscious. If we focus on our surroundings and the potential obstacles
coming into our peripheral view as we travel around the floor, we become
anxious and our lead becomes weak, withdrawn and half-hearted. If we try to
look at our feet, our posture is compromised and we lose our sense of balance.
You see, in many ways, our sense of sight does more to hinder the dancing
experience than it does to encourage it. It prevents our brains from
getting in touch with, well, our sense of touch. I should know, I'm a
visual thinker, and society is obsessed with the visual. But great
Ballroom Dancing is about the leader’s body telling the follower’s body what to
do. In that sense, it offers a true escape from the visual.
Blind people are naturally free from that distraction.
They are free to feel with no reservation or self-consciousness. When a leader
feels that connection to their follower, their lead becomes strong. As a
follower, once your body feels where it is supposed to go, you lose all
self-consciousness and fear. New dancers are just discovering this new realm of
opportunities on the dance floor, but blind people have already been feeling
their way around the real world for years.
It’s true. Dancers are in a constant state
of discovering new realities in their life. They find themselves
doing things they "never thought they could do". A few seasons back
on Dancing with the Stars, we watched as Heather Mills held her own with a
prosthetic leg. A season later, we saw Marlee Matlin, a deaf woman, move to the beat and rhythm of music
she could not hear. In addition, we've been seeing a new generation of
children embrace these disciplines for some time now through Pierre Dulane’s Programs. (see “Take the
Lead” and “Mad Hot Ballroom” reviews). Pacino’s
character knows this very well, and it is what keeps him alive and seemingly in
control of his own fate. It is what allows him to continue to embrace life with
a passion that nobody can take away from him.
Now, as far as the part of the movie where Pacino
drives a Ferrari up and down the streets of
Or is it?
And if you know of any other scenes in movies of
disabled people dancing, please email me.
learn more about this film
at the internet movie database
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