I am a college lecturer and teach Mass Communication. I love traveling and reading. I am also passi...
I am a college lecturer and teach Mass Communication. I love traveling and reading. I am also passionate about writing. My blog is
http://simplecraft.blogspot. com. I also write on various sites like helium.com, associatedcontent.com etc.
Member since:13.07.2007
Reviews:8
Members who trust:1
This movie is directed by the talented German filmmaker Tom Tykwerof Run Lola Run fame. It is adapted from the bestselling German novel Das Parfum by Patrick Süskind. It's an annoyingly wasteful film. The movie squanders many chances to bond with the viewers, and tossing away over 65 million dollars to achieve what's best described as perverse whimsy. I got to read the book 7 years ago. The book was bad, but I kept reading it, in the hope that it would get better. It didn't. Like the movie, there was no real character development. I didn't care about the main character or any of his victims... I didn't even care about the little dog, and I love pets. The plot: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is abandoned after birth and grows up in penury.He has no scent but his own sense of smell is almost magical.He can identify things by their scent.His search of ultimate perfume turns nasty, when he realizes that women have special scents.He begins killing girls so as to extract perfume from their dead bodies. It seems to me that Tykwer intended to make Perfume into an epic, focusing on one man's journey, with expansive cinematography, and legions of extras, but the story is unable to support the lavishness of the film making. And the plot follows no logic. When the murders begin, no one right away suspects the strange new guy who lives on the same farm as the first victim. Everybody else is immediately suspected. No one points a finger towards Grenouille's brazenly suspicious actions. Dustin Hoffman as perfumer Giuseppe Baldini, and Alan Rickman as Antoine Richis the overprotective father are totally wasted in the movie. Their roles are thoroughly underwritten and pointless. British actor Ben Whishaw is handsome, but that's all. The only strong point of the movie is its visual style. The camera of cinematographer Frank Griebe is creatively and accurately observant.. It perceives colour and detail with compassion and enjoyment. In the end all I want to add is that Grenouille is cast as a tragic figure, a victim of his circumstances and his unique gift, but we don't buy it. The character is never sympathetic enough for us to care about his predicament and too dense to be truly frightening and his victims are no more characterized than the busty blonds.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Sophie-Kaia 18.02.2008 00:12
Interesting review
Soho_Black 13.02.2008 20:26
I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD features. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
Based on Patrick Suskind's novel about a serial killer who hunts victims with his ... more
superhuman sense of smell,Perfume: Story of a Murdereris a florid, grisly portrayal of this historical drama set in 18th century France. Jean-Baptiste Grunuis (Ben Whisha...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Based on Patrick Suskind's novel about a serial killer who hunts victims with his ... more
superhuman sense of smell,Perfume: Story of a Murdereris a florid, grisly portrayal of this historical drama set in 18th century France. Jean-Baptiste Grunuis (Ben Whisha...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Advantages: It looks wonderful and Whishaw's central performance is remarkable. Disadvantages: You can't capture the essence of smell on screen, so the film doesn't work.
![Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78097360.jpg "Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer [DVD] [2006]")
Feb 13th, 2008
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