The Scent of the Night (1998) User Reviews

excellent movie

[tigerw-860-395483 · 7/10 · 2 November 2010]

The story is about a criminal gang, set in Rome in the 70's. Remo is a police man, who lives with his friends in the Roman suburbs and he fights a war against the system, against the rich part of the city.

This movie is the proof that we have excellent actors in Italy but they find just a few roles in the Italian cinema today (Emanuel Bevilacqua is great! where is him right now ??). there's also a nice cameo of Little Tony (a very popular Italian singer), he's very good. The director is also very good: he doesn't try to justify the guys, neither they show them as cool...they are just desperate, they live on the border of society and they try to have a better life. They do wrong things , by the way, and this point is very clear. Remo is a looser and he knows that, but he also knows that he can't stop.

this is an excellent movie, I hope more and more people watch it!

An italian noir

[frcata · 7/10 · 31 January 2022]

Dark atmospheres, rusty dialogues, scenes of violence...it doesn't seem an italian movie, but it is. There is a strong influence by Tarantino's first films and the reference to "Taxi Driver" in the iconic mirror-scene is evident.

Everything works very well: acting, screenplay, directing. Very good performance by Valerio Mastandrea.

I recommend it.

clockwork orange gang and roman slums

[rc615 · 21 July 2003]

Maybe the first movie exploring life in roman slums (the infamous "borgate") since well-known Pasolini's efforts, "L'Odore Della Notte" is based on a true story, and the gang it tells about was dubbed "clockwork orange gang" due to their style of robbing people in their own houses (ink was spilled on italian newspapers wheter Kubrick film had a bad influence on criminal minded youth). The film goes straight to its point: analyzing the mind of the group three main components. The boss, Remo Guerra (Valerio Mastandrea, perfect for the role) is on a war against the world: after a short stint as a policeman, he's fired from his duty and leaves the corp as he couldn't stand the dull life under narrow-minded superiors. His efficiency and kept-to-the-minimum dialogues during robberies derive from this experience. Maurizio Leggeri (superbly played by Marco Giallini) is just in for the money, so that he can afford great wheels and get out from the borgata. Roberto is maybe the only component who commits crimes to feed his family and is shadowed with the idea of going to jail, so he soon leaves the group, forcing Remo to buy a bar and get out of the crime business. When the bar is submerged with debts Remo has no choice but forming the group again, replacing the skeptical Roberto with ill-mannered hulk "Rozzo" (self-explaining nickname meaning "rough"); Maurizio soon shows back but with a slight coke trouble...the gang is up to no good. In the final showdown, the three burst into a supposedly rich house, where they find a politician from Democrazia Cristiana (political party with strong catholic influences), a priest and the members of a chic family. This group is convinced to know the reasons behind the insane acts of the gang members, who in spite, are looking for no understanding from the people they're robbing. A movie without frills, telling an interesting story of human cases, slums and how to get out of them. It's not difficult to find strong critics to italian attitude in those years, political parties and police included. Let's not forget, the film is set during the "Lead Years" (Anni di Piombo), when Italy was hardly struck by terrorism and "normal crooks" were often overlooked. Nevertheless, one can not help but think that the city of Rome and its darkest side play one of the main roles in this movie. Last, but not least, there is a remarkable and hilarious cameo by italian singer and Elvis performer Little Tony, who is forced to sing his hit "Cuore Matto" under the threat of a 9 mm.

Thumbs Up!!!

[j_crist · 9/10 · 31 August 2003]

Very, very good. Finally a new italian movie that is actually well made. Based on real events. The dialogues are great and the acting is excellent. Lots of references to classic though such as Taxi Driver but these days every movie refeer to some others...

'70s crime throwback

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 11 March 2021]

An odd little film. Almost like a throwback to the grittiness of 1970s crime cinema in Italy. This one follows a crooked cop who with a bunch of friends goes around mugging people at night; it's part of a compulsion and this low budget feature does well to focus on his mental instability. Inevitably the crime spree gets out of hand, meaning there's always some kind of violent incident going on, but it's handled in a rather unremarkable way due to the lack of money. A bit like those 'home invasion' thrillers of the 1970s, but much tamer.

Not great

[borghellom · 5/10 · 9 January 2021]

When you are asking yourself what reason moved the director to create a film, then that means you didn't enjoy it. But really what was the message he wanted to give? Was this a great plot? Not really; just a story of robbers that at the end are caught by the police. Was it about the way he intended to tell the story? In that case is it about the dialogues, the intensity of the characters or a certain Roman mood or state of mind he wanted to recreate? Again, not really succesfull. This part was a bit better than the plot, but not enough to go through all the effort to create a film. I do not recommend this.

Nothing here.

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 20 July 2021]

The Scent of the Night is juvenile stuff, void of entertainment.

Nothing happens, with empty dialogue. I did this, we did that, couldn't care less. Didn't buy him as a cop either, saying it and putting on a uniform isn't enough.