Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

Of course, (mercifully) we cannot smell what the Perfumer smells. In compensation we have hyper-real imagery, using stunning macro shots that are extreme close-ups in startling detail - the tiny hairs on a nose, the explosive splash of a single drop of essence falling into a pool. But more than the classic beauty was also the revolting beauty - maggots in a rat, the filth of the fishmonger, bad teeth, dirty hands - all in amazing, sometimes squeamish detail.

This film could not have been made in Hollywood - it has a unmistakeably European flavor and is unflinching in the details of early 18th century France. The story of single-minded obsession and remorseless killing in the name of love by a nearly mute actor is mesmerising. And Dustin Hoffman's merry turn as a foppish Italian perfumer provides welcome comic relief!

Fmovies: People who know the book tend to expect an exact illustration. This c a n work, but serves in any case to prove the book as untouchable "original" of which the movie manages or not to find appropriate images. The film has its flaws, I admit. I won't repeat the points others found. But the book has flaws as well. Art is always flawed. So Süskind fails to make his main character real. Through narration we understand smell to be deeply connected to our emotions, but we have no soul in the book to identify with. Therefore everything is left to our imagination.

Did anyone really wish to accompany an ugly, demented Grenouille two and a half hours long, and smile about the satirical and philosophical subtleness of the story? Film is a completely different art and requires the freedom to develop its own language. Imho Tom Tykwer made such a strong and overwhelming intro, the first 30 minutes are so good, that the rest of the movie, though good too, can't top it.

Compared to last years big budget movies the film is the most interesting since many years. Count "Aviator", but please leave out "Pirates" and "Superman"

I didn't expect too much of the film as the producer, Bernd Eichinger, didn't succeed in my point of view with other book to film transitions like the name of the rose, the house of spirits or Smilla's sense of snow. they were all far too corny and even though each film had its moment, the films just weren't very good. I suspected the same to happen with the perfume. the teaser trailer was excellent, but the regular trailer spoilt a lot as it just showed too much and didn't capture the film's quality at all. so i entered the film with trepidation and was convinced otherwise. 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 - and every penny of its 50 Mio euro budget shows. how much better to spend 50 Mio in the perfume than 150 Mio in crap movies like Wolfgang Petersen's latest. i am already very much looking forward to Mr Tykwer's next film. he plays in another league now.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer fmovies. I just read the book last week and watched the movie yesterday. And I have to say, I liked it. For sure, it wasn't as good as the book. On the one hand it is hard to visualize smells and on the other hand not everything can be shown during the movie. But for me, it was realized pretty well. Even you can not smell the things, you can imagine how they smell which may be due to the camera work, which was well done! For me, the actors did a really good job, too. They played their roles really good and according to Grenouille, I really thought that he was the Grenouille described in the book. The only "negative" thing I can say about that, is that in the book he is described as an ugly person, but Ben Wishow is not ugly. But to me, that didn't really matter. So, all in all I have to say, that the movie isn't as good as the book (which is mostly the case), but although I think that it is a really good made movie.

I'd only heard bad things about this movie in advance and I hadn't been too impressed with the trailer - I thought the actor playing Grenouille was too pretty, giving his behavior an almost sensual feel, which it definitely shouldn't have. However, when I had the chance to see a press showing of it, I knew I had to see it because Süskind's book was one of the highlights of my school career. I was pleasantly surprised - the movie is well done, beautifully filmed (I especially enjoyed the period details that always felt very down-to-earth and alive), and the main character was never attractive and actually quite creepy (although in my mind, Grenouille will probably always more resemble a Gollum-like creature).

Putting scent into images, however, is even more difficult than putting them into words, in my opinion, and this is where the movie lacked. It just did not grip me the way the book had, did not pull me into this world of smells, and after 2 hours I started getting impatient for the story to finally move on and wrap up. All in all I think the movie could have been better, but it was definitely better than I'd feared and is well worth a look.

I don't understand people who say this movie is dull, boring or bad. I guess these people are only into mindless action-movies with simple dialog where people get slaughtered in a brutal and visually gory way. If you have a mind and you are able to think, this movie maybe something for you. The characters in the movie are strong, you sympathize with them easily. It is upsetting why the main character is killing the girls, as it is actually unnecessary. The sceneries and costumes look great. I felt like I was there. The movie shows moderate violence, which is all just suggestive, you don't see any blood. I give this movie 8 points. It is a good movie, which I'd recommend to my friends.