Directed by:
Tom TykwerCinematography:
Frank GriebeCast:
Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Dustin Hoffman, Karoline Herfurth, David Calder, Simon Chandler, Sian Thomas, Jessica Schwarz, Corinna Harfouch (more)VOD (4)
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Based on the bestselling novel, "Perfume" is a story of an obsession so overwhelming that it leads to murder. In18th-century France lived Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), who was born with a phenomenal sense of smell. But as his gift becomes an obsession, he strives to create the most intoxicating perfume in the world by murdering young women to capture their essence. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
Tom Tykwer was not intimidated by the task of making a feature film with an idea, and the script of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was not afraid of the attractive genre lure of a thriller. If you go watch this film and expect to see a classic bloody story about a murderer, you will probably go home annoyed and semi-suffocated by the descriptive and accentuated visual uniqueness of Perfume. But if you go see Tykwer's work as a film that intoxicates your senses, engages your mind, and, yes, like a fragrant candy on top, sometimes stirs your adrenaline with a little action, then there is no way you will be disappointed. My expectations of the proclaimed attack on the new sense, and a sense hitherto unexplored by film were not high, and that is good. In order evoke olfactory sensations, Tykwer uses well-proven visual (detail and expressive color) and auditory (amplification of certain sensations) means. It works commendably, but after the protracted introduction, the director shifts to a more usual style of storytelling, which is not a bad thing, especially when he works quite well with proven means (for all examples, worth mentioning is the short description of a series of murders that is fast, yet impressive). I really liked the central idea of the frantic pursuit of an ideal, after whose materialization Jean-Baptiste learns that there is only one scent that cannot be obtained: the scent of experience itself. And so Perfume is carried by this universal metaphor of an artistic act, it is carried by excellent actors led by the demonic Ben Whishaw and the sympathetically relaxed Dustin Hoffman. I would not hesitate to call parts of the story about the killer captivating, but on the other hand, it also has unnecessary shots. But his gradation and main idea are excellent, as are its... scents? Let's call it atmosphere. [I never read Süskind's book, so I only evaluate the film as it affected me without intertext overlap.]
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Tom Tykwer is very inventive and has a head full of ideas, which he throws at the viewer with an unprecedented force, and he managed to adapt “Perfume” to the movie screen as well as possible. If we add great actors and the truly beautiful visuals, the occasional plot gaps and excessive running time can be forgiven. A truly unique story, a truly unique film.
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A film where even the closing credits have their specific scent. A scent both intoxicatingly sweet and desperately bitter. Perfume is a masterful and complex work, in which Tom Tykwer shocked me with his precision and, above all, his rawness. It is rare for me to be hit by such a rough film that matches my taste, but here a pleasantly exceptional success was achieved. It is not difficult to succumb to the magic of the film, with such fascinating editing and perfect musical accompaniment, few can resist. Another key advantage is the main character, who, despite his perversity, is strangely believable and induces almost guilty sympathy.
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Four stars, but a weaker four stars. If it weren't for Hoffman and Rickman, I'd give it a three, especially for the cinematography, which gives you a really unreal feeling of being "right there". I haven't read the book, so I don't know why, but I was bothered by the ending, which was so very bland. Moreover, films in which the viewer is supposed to root for the real asshole (whatever his motives for doing what he does) are always harder for me.
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If anyone should have adapted the book "Perfume", it was probably only Tykwer, because a book with such a reputation requires a director of his caliber. It's a slight mindfuck in places, but I think it sufficiently rehabilitates the good aspects of modern German culture. Ben Whishaw is properly disgusting, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman ensured the general public's attention and Corinna Harfouch and Karoline Herfurth added their inimitable faces to the whole.
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