Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2007)

Jaw droppingly great film. Where to begin. It's well written, gripping and the most unpredictable film I have ever seen. The acting is out of this world and the cast is riddled with A list actors, who couldn't be more understated if they tried. For me the clincher is the music, captivating, chilling and riddled with the ability to convey emotion and smell. This film is a saviour of films. An instant ability to restore my faith in film making. Thank you.

The story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (John Whishaw) takes us on a journey from the squalor of Paris's fish markets, to the city's most established perfume houses, to the quietude of the countryside and finally to the attention of society's elite. Grenouille has the best nose in Paris, and a compulsion to continue expanding his library of olfactory experiences. He progresses from Madame Gaillard's orphanage to Grimal's tannery, and from here coaxes his way into an apprenticeship with the once-respected Perfumier, Baldini. Here he learns vocabulary for the aromas, how to write formulae and how to present himself in society if he is to become a great artisan one day. Without Grenouille's knowledge, the people who've had any influence in his disadvantaged life are doomed soon after he moves on from them.Having kept his promise of 100 written perfume formulae for Baldini, Grenouille is encouraged to travel to Grasse to further expand his skills. Here he perfects the art of "enfleurage", a process by which odorless fats, solid at room temperature, are used to capture the fragrant compounds exuded by plants. Without a scent of his own, the young man's ultimate goal is to apply this methodology in a manner which will change his status forever, from reviled and feared to adored by mankind. German Director, Tom Tykwer, applies a mostly sepia / monochromatic colour scheme throughout the movie, with occasional bright splashes to focus the viewer on certain details: yellow plums, lavendar fields, flora and the red hair of the mesmerising young women Grenouille encounters. John Hurt's narration perfectly captures the author's original writing style, evokes the smells of the locale and slowly articulates the main character's disturbing thoughts.Whilst the movie is set in France, Grenouille's London accent eliminates the need for sub-titles and instead enables the viewer to keep pace as the story unfolds. The eerie choir music draws us deeply into this dark, extraordinary film. Our empathy for Grenouille's introversion and tenacity may begin to waver during the story. However, towards the end of the movie we are reminded of the struggles he's endured - his reasoning, sensuality and brilliance once again merit our respect. Grenouille's self-transformation from invisible to invincible is compelling. Patrick Suskind's best-selling novel which I first came across 30 years ago has been beautifully adapted to film. 10/10 Score in my opinion. This movie will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed Peter Greenaway's "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover".

After recently watching films like personal shopper and the clouds of sils Maria I wanted a film that would ignight the thought process by reading other reviews I thought this would be a brilliant film but perfume just left me feeling uninspired and bored. How disappointing waste of Friday night. I completely got the concept of the film I just thought it was terrible. If you haven't seen the first two films I mentioned above watch them instead and save yourself 2 hours and 27 minuets of boredom. Awful.

The man had a fascination with morphine. He watched his own mother dying of cancer, helped by morphine. He developed a morphine habit of his own, and killed his victims using morphine, a particularly stupid method, seeing as morphine is so easily traceable. "Stupid", was favorite word of his. He considered himself above mere mortals and loved to belittle "stupid" underlings. That says a lot about the man. He avoided detection whenever possible by having the bodies cremated. For years no one thought to challenge him. You just don't think badly of the hard working family doctor, do you? At least people didn't, back then.https://goo.gl/GsrdNZ