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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer



Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
(2006)

Director: Tom Tykwer
Writers: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom Tykwer (screenplay) Patrick Süskind (novel)
Cast: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman
Genre: Fantasy Drama


"Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent."

I thought this was pretty great, very stylish and very unique. It reminded me of a Grimm's fairy tale, I love those...This was done with more flair than graphic violence...and that's why I warmed up to it. Hell I even liked Jean-Baptiste Grenouillem, the man with a nose that could discern all the scents in the world. I actually was rooting for him, at times.

I thought it was fascinating how his world was so different than other peoples, and how he too was very different. I liked the actor Ben Winshaw, in this, he was properly different to be the man with no scent, a man who could not love or feel. He seemed almost alien in his behavior and that worked wonders for building the mystery of scent and it's power over humans.



I was captive by the original story line, I've never seen anything quite like this, and the 2.5 hour run time, flew by. And for me that means I was into the movie. There might be a few minor things I wasn't into, but overall say 99% of the movie worked for me. I think the key to enjoying this is to remember it's genre is mystical-fantasy...or just do as I did and think of it as an unpublished Brothers Grimm fairy tale brought to vivid life.



I liked that Grenouille, the lead character...was shown to be almost divine in his scent ability, which then plays out in one of the last scenes in the city square where he's surrounded by 1000's of people. It was like he was a prophet or mythical.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
is not a thriller film, not a horror film. It's like a classic Grimm's Fairy Tale, for adults.