Perfume is the long awaited adaption of Patrick Suskind's best selling novel Perfume, about a murder with an obsession to bottle the scent of young women. The film stays remarkably faithful to the author's vision and words. Perfectly visualising the brooding ominousness of a small town life in 18th century Paris, and the casting of the central character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille played by Ben Whishaw, exactly right.
Grenouille is an orphan whose sense of smell is extraordinarily acute. He impresses master perfumer Baldini played by Dustin Hoffman, enough to work for him, and this sets Grenouille off on an epic quest to find the perfect scent. When he discovers that killing young women and bottling their essence is the only way he can achieve his dream, Grenouille is soon a wanted man with multiple murders to his name. However, when it comes to making one last kill--namely the attractive redhead Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood)--the young perfumer may have met his match in her overprotective father, Richis (Alan Rickman).
Wasn't expecting much from this film, as with other book to film transitions, the plot and characteristics are lost in the midst of making.
Tom Tykwer showed us again and again that he is a huge talent, be it winter sleeper, Lola runs or the warrior and the empress. the perfume is a visual feast. all roles are perfectly cast, the music, the camera, everything fits together like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. And the film isn't Hollywood-like mainstream like e.g. the Da Vinci Code at all. thank god. it has lots of black humor without getting cynic, it is quite amoral and at other times just immersed in beauty.
Would definately reccommend this to viewers, with an 8 out of 10 rating from me.
There are a few extra features on this DVD, which include the following:
Making of documentary Location scouting featurette Odour conversation featurette Behind the scenes featurette Photo gallery Theatrical trailer
most of which are very good insights into the movie. The photo gallery is very interesting.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Soho_Black 27.02.2008 21:12
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 Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer [DVD] [2006]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78097360.jpg "Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer [DVD] [2006]")
Feb 27th, 2008
(Mar 17th, 2008)
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