A colorful and beautifully filmed fantasy about a man whose sense of smell drives him in his search for creating the perfect perfume. The story traces his life from birth in a Parisian fish market to public orphanage to being sold to a tannery and subsequently sold to Dustin Hoffman a perfumer past his prime.
Grenouille (Wishaw) is cursed with olfactory powers that supersede all his other senses and controls his life. He labors for Hoffman in search of a way to capture the essence of all things. Hoffman tells him a legend of an Egyptian perfume that makes the world "see paradise" for just a moment only to launch Grenouille off to create such a scent. Unfortunately, Grenouille finds this scent requires the essence of women which can only be collected under extreme circumstances.
The cinematography, set design, and art direction are spot-on with an international cast giving excellent performances. Hoffman (in Bonus Features) said this was "the biggest" film yet done by Germany. (Tykwer spent four years on the project before filming commenced.)
This is a visually beautiful film with a very unlikely storyline is kept on-track and made compelling by John Hurt's illuminating narration. This is one nice flight of fantasy. Enjoy.
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Complicit Constapo Talibangelical since MMIII
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Topic - Perfume/The Story of a Murderer: Being nosy will get you in trouble everytime.... - mr grits 20:35:37 11/24/07 (11)
- RE: Perfume/The Story of a Murderer: Being nosy will get you in trouble everytime.... - Chris C 09:15:46 11/28/07 (0)
- RE The book was all fuckted-up... - patrickU 12:42:14 11/25/07 (3)
- I disagree about the quality of the book: it is good. While I agree with you on the impossibility ... - orejones 11:31:05 11/26/07 (1)
- RE: We had this already, I think the first third or so... - patrickU 00:02:29 11/27/07 (0)
- Being Franco-Kraut you should "get it"......give it a try. * - mr grits 16:00:50 11/25/07 (0)
- I assume you like earlier Tykwer efforts, such as Run Lola Run? nt - tinear 08:53:26 11/25/07 (2)
- Wasn't crazy a bout Lola, no. This is totally diff...costume period piece... - mr grits 10:12:43 11/25/07 (1)
- More than the faux Kubrick, "Eyes Wide Shut?" That had to be the most - tinear 11:25:36 11/25/07 (0)
- nice review - PhilJ 06:47:33 11/25/07 (2)
- I label it a fantasy...... - mr grits 10:16:06 11/25/07 (1)
- long time since I saw it but... - dave c 12:30:07 11/25/07 (0)