In the summer of 1992, the air in Los Angeles was filled with a suffocating heat. The Rodney King incident was escalating, becoming a globally watched political event that profoundly reflected the intricate complexity of America's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. At the same time, the summer movie season, composed of films like 'basic instinct,' 'Lethal Weapon 3,' 'Patriot Games,' 'batman returns,' and 'unforgiven,' was incredibly hot. In particular, 'basic instinct,' which dominated the top spot for five weeks around this summer and generated countless topics, lit up the entire 1992 film market.Entering the autumn, the film market had clearly settled down. A lack of blockbuster products to drive audiences made the film market in September and October seem somewhat lackluster.In fact, the Thanksgiving and Halloween release windows had never been highly regarded in North American film history, or more accurately, audiences did not have the habit of going to the cinema during these times. This situation continued until the release of 'harry potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' in 2001, which finally unlocked the box office potential of November, thereafter becoming a brand new cornucopia for the North American film market.On the other hand, in 1998, under the operation of the Weinstein Brothers, 'shakespeare in love' defeated the absolute favorite 'saving private ryan' against everyone's expectations and won best picture at The 71st Academy Awards. This result is still regarded as one of the disgraces in Oscar history, which in turn brought about the definition of the awards season. From October to December, many art films were released one after another, painstakingly managed to achieve good results in major awards ceremonies and to win the oscar statuette. This also gave the year-end film market a unique and lively scene.However, in 1992, there was neither the explosion of the Thanksgiving release window nor the bustle of the awards season. In the more than three months before Christmas, the film market was completely desolate. Therefore, for professional film magazines, any slight disturbance could become the focus of their reporting.For example, the latest work 'scent of a woman' from the current Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor winner, Hugo Lancaster, was about to be released on October 16th. Moreover, it was a collaboration with Al Pacino, whose recent situation had been leveling off, paired with director Martin Brest, who had been silent for eight long years. Such a combination was quite intriguing. Another example: a week ago, 'a river runs through it' had just been released. Insiders knew that this film was produced by Tracy Jacobs, and during the audition stage, Hugo was eliminated in favor of Brad Pitt. This matchup was also full of interest.Nicholas McLaren, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, naturally did not want to miss such a great topic. He had started planning a week in advance and was the first to predict the release situation of 'scent of a woman.''Brest once displayed his amazing comedic talent in 'Beverly Hills Cop,' but unfortunately, such talent has not lasted much as time has passed. And this time, Brest is actually challenging a drama, which leaves us quite stunned. 'scent of a woman,' adapted from the 1974 Italian work of the same name, is a heavy and profound film. Under Brest's lens, it is difficult for us to have high expectations. When looking forward to the film, we simply don't know where to place our focus: the humor of the drama or the seriousness of the comedy.'Brest is not a brilliant acting coach and must rely on the individual performance of the Actors. 'Beverly Hills Cop' benefited from the brilliant performance of Eddie Murphy, and this time, he has pinned his hopes on Pacino and Lancaster.Pacino's brilliance needs no recounting. Although 'the godfather part iii' was hard to surpass the classic, his personal acting skills remain unquestionable. The superb acting where Pacino suddenly erupts amidst his steady demeanor is still talked about to this day, and this has become the biggest selling point of this work. However, one has to wonder how much control energy Pacino can contribute on his own. Do not forget that terrible and dreadful 'Frankie and Johnny' last year. Although Michelle Pfeiffer's acting received some praise, Pacino was almost swallowed by the entire film.Therefore, what kind of performance Pacino can present—especially as a blind character—and how much energy he can erupt with, are all huge question marks. I have reason to believe that Brest and Pacino are both nervously worrying about the film's reputation, not only because they have lost control, but also because of the film's most unpredictable third party: Lancaster.It has been a long, long time since Lancaster's resume showed a work that made people's eyes light up. More accurately, after 'dead poets society,' Lancaster has been self-destructing. The Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actor was well-deserved, and his inability to control himself when receiving the award can be understood as Lancaster, having nowhere else to go, being on the verge of a breakdown.Alcoholism, car accidents, drugs, scandals... Lancaster has reasons for everyone to lose confidence. More seriously, the acting talent in Lancaster seems to have lost all its luster. Under such circumstances, he needs to act opposite Pacino, which makes it impossible to have any hope. And the film needs to rely on Lancaster and Pacino to erupt with enough energy to attract the audience. Facing Lancaster, who once contributed a restless, greasy, ridiculous, and comical performance in 'hudson hawk,' presumably, audiences will find it hard to have any emotion other than disappointment.Before 'scent of a woman,' Lancaster participated in the audition for 'a river runs through it,' but unfortunately failed. Last week, 'a river runs through it' officially held screenings in twelve theaters and won acclaim. Even more gratifyingly, Pitt, who ultimately won the role, contributed a performance that made people's eyes light up, which also proved the crew's wise choice.Compared to the rising star Pitt, apart from his handsome appearance, Lancaster falls behind in all other aspects—temperament, acting skills, reputation, conduct, etc. It is foreseeable that the prospects of these two Actors on their film paths are very likely to be opposite development routes.Returning to 'scent of a woman,' compared to Pacino's dominance, Brest and Lancaster will become the film's weak points, especially Lancaster's negative influence which will have a fatal side effect on the film.Distributed by Universal Pictures, 'scent of a woman' will have a limited release in twenty theaters in its first week, with the per-theater box office expected to be around $8,000. It will be difficult to achieve better results.'In this report, Nicholas almost completely denied 'scent of a woman.' Although Nicholas had given Hugo some positive descriptions after entering the crew for an interview previously, his lack of optimism about the film had never changed.In fact, Nicholas's viewpoint was just a drop in the bucket compared to the widespread sighing from major media outlets across the United States. Before the release of 'scent of a woman,' seven media outlets paid attention to the film and made advance predictions. However, six of them were not optimistic about the film's prospects, and even believed that the film would suffer a devastating blow; the last media outlet's wording was also very cautious, only expressing more expectations for Al.Regarding the view on Hugo, the seven media outlets consistently showed skepticism. The endless negative impact of the Golden Raspberry Awards was truly reflected at this moment. After 'hudson hawk' was released last May and suffered a devastating defeat, it not only caused Hugo to be unemployed for eight months, but also brought a series of negative consequences, including the Golden Raspberry Awards. No one was optimistic that Hugo could turn his life around, only hoping that Hugo would not destroy a film for the fourth consecutive time.The prediction from 'The Boston Globe' even joked, 'The 13th Golden Raspberry Awards nominations are not far away, pray that Al is not implicated by Hugo.'In addition, regarding the box office prediction for 'scent of a woman,' because the film was not released widely, but rather followed the art film model of limited release first, and then formulated expansion strategies based on feedback from the audience and professional film critics. Therefore, only three of the seven media outlets predicted the per-theater box office data for the limited release, and the highest was the $8,000 from the 'Los Angeles Times.' It seems that allowing Nicholas to enter the crew for an exclusive interview back then did have some effect.In short, the media was full of sighs about the release prospects of 'scent of a woman.' Even with Al's support, it was difficult for the media to give the film more trust.But the media's view is one thing; for Joseph, doing his own job well is the most important thing. Unlike the previous premiere of 'the last analysis,' this was Hugo's own work, and it was the first time in seventeen months since the disastrous failure of 'hudson hawk' last May that Hugo had a work released, which indeed made Joseph have to pay attention.As for Hugo himself, he felt everything was so magical. He transmigrated here in January, busied himself with the filming of two movies, and then gave himself a long summer vacation. After resting and adjusting, the first truly significant film work of his life was about to hit major theater chains, and it was in the North American film market, the center of global cinema. For Hugo, this was still a surreal dream. Even though he had stayed in this land and this era for over six months, when Joseph told him 'scent of a woman' was about to be released, Hugo still dazed for a moment.Compared to the premiere of 'the last analysis,' with the approach of the 'scent of a woman' premiere, the sense of tension in Hugo's heart was like a tide, appearing on time two to three times a day, leaving Hugo completely in a state of anxiety and restlessness. This was truly a torment.'It's just like a pancake,' Hugo said.
