User reviews

With "The Perfume" it's like with any blockbuster movie: if the critics praise it, it's horrible - if the critics hate it, it's brilliant.

I had the chance to watch a preview of "The Perfume" tonight and I was very surprised: this movie is really good! Okay, it can't actually make you smell all the scents and odours, but the images and the music allow you to experience the atmosphere and the emotions Grenouille is feeling when he takes in the scents of his environment. You couldn't have done this much better without the use of real scents at theatres.

Although much of the story is told by a narrative voice (mostly quotes from the novel), the movie is still thrilling and exciting all the way. It's a very good adaption of Süskind's novel, sticking to the original plot concerning the major events, leaving away unnecessary subplots (although it's a pity that funny "lethal gas"-plot was cut out!) and shortening long passages. The result is well-constructed movie that is worth seeing.

The actors, especially Whishaw who plays Grenouille, have done a very good job. Like in the novel, Grenouille is an ambivalent character and you never know whether to love him for his genius talent or to hate him for his cruel murders. Whishaw's half-crazy, scary gaze made me shiver. Dustin Hoffman as old and unsuccessful parfumeur Baldini was very convincing... I loved the way he talks to Grenouille arrogantly although he recognizes how much more talent the young man has. Baldini is always good for a laugh.

The only thing to criticize is that the movie is not as brutal as the novel. I think they wanted to avoid the FSK 16 rating and so didn't show much violence, which in my opinion would have been necessary if you wanted the movie to have the same shocking impact on the audience as the novel. For example I was really shocked by the end of the novel - in the movie you hardly see what happens.

However, it's really a thrilling story visualized excellently - go to the movies and watch "The Perfume"! You won't be disappointed.

I don't know if Kubrick really said, that the Novel, on which the movie is based, was not screen-able, because it was based on the smell sense of humans! But Tom Tykwer shows us here, that there is more there than the smell!

I haven't read the novel, so I don't know how accurate the depictions are, but it seems like Tom T. is not afraid to pull punches. That's not to say, that this overly violent in the explicit sense. But one would argue that the real horror, always plays in ones mind. Seems like you will be able to judge if you're backing this theory or if you're against it. And although we never really get the man behind all this madness, it's a great work of art (the movie that is ... if you want you can call something else also a "work of art" ... You'll get it, after watching the movie, if you don't already know the novel!)

wow, a serial-killer movie WITHOUT blood and action and wild chase sequences and stuff like this.

People who are used to fast Hollywood Movies certainly won't be satisfied with this movie. It's really unusual, as the novel is. It's generally difficult to convey something like a SMELL in a book or a movie, and it's also difficult to create a satisfying adaption of a novel. So my personal opinion is that The Parfume Movie is one of the few good adaptations, because it eagerly tries to convey the complicated world of smells and the world of Grenouille and also achieves it in many ways. There are of course some parts missing or changed if you compare novel and movie, but that is always the case with adaptations.

I saw the movie one hour ago and have just read some comments. Some of them are "disappointed" or "boooring", but most of these opinions are really not well founded, so I couldn't make out what EXACTLY was so boring and disappointing... However, I'll keep on dwelling in the magic of the movie, looking forward to other more positive comments...

To my dismay this movie has been accused of dealing with the addressed subjects only on the surface and just trying to shock the audience with extreme imagery. I strongly have to disagree with that. "Das Parfum" may be a lot of things but shocking sure isn't one of them. Of course it is visually overwhelming and not only with pictures of pretty flowers and sounds of the wind softly shaking the trees on a warm summer night but what is this movie, if not a piece about the sensuality of the human being? Yes, it is about smells but smelling is just simply not one of the things you can experience while sitting in a movie theatre. This motion picture however comes very close to it. We see close-ups on maggots crawling around and fish getting their heads chopped of but also human bodies in all their perfection and people declaring their honest love for one another. It might be impossible to make the audience fully understand the world in which Jean-Baptiste Grenouille lives but it does manage to create a similar vibe that brings us close to what Grenouille "feels" when he smells. Tom Tykwer beautifully achieves to always put the audience in the right mood, with the help of an amazing soundtrack and great camera work.

One could criticize that Ben Wishaw is too good looking for the part but we have to keep in mind that this story is supposed to be about the character of Grenouille and the way he himself sees his live. Since to him, the smell is the soul of every being, his appearance does not matter to him. So we might as well thank Tom Tykwer for casting an actor who is pretty decent to look at for two and half hours.

Please watch this movie without any prejudices. Open your mind to images and sounds and try to imagine what your feeling could "smell" like. And even if that does not work you can still just enjoy a beautifully told story. Either way, you will be touched.

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.

In this colourful and gripping film, you can literally "smell" the pictures. Sometimes they are captivating, sometimes awful, but they are always fascinating. A great, great movie about sensuality, desire, greed... and the quest for love. Wonderful cast (even Hoffman is excellent!), wonderful music (and the score is not "too" present, which is a good thing), wonderful direction. 2 and a half hours may seem a long time for some, but not for the real sensualists. The story and the film may have their flaws, but they also have outstanding qualities and in a perfect world Tom Tykwer should receive an award for his superb adaptation of the splendid book by Patrick Süsskind.

A must see. Or, should I say, a must "smell"!

The idea of the movie is interesting but also a dilemma. How to bring a movie about smell to the screen? The movie does this well, by creating an unique atmosphere, that is visually focused on the smells in the movie, to help and tell the story and make it understandable.

You can say what you want about this movie but you have to admit that it's pure eye-candy to look at. Every sequences is unique on its own, with its fantastic visual looks. Big kudos to the cinematography, make-up, sets and costumes of the movie. Also the musical score is suiting for the movie its feeling.

By watching this movie it becomes very obvious that it was based on a book. The movie does not really have one clear main plot line, in terms of having a beginning, middle and ending that all fit in with each other. It makes the movie a bit frustrating and overlong to watch at times, since it just isn't clear were the movie is trying to head to. It doesn't make "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" the most easy movie to watch, although it definitely more accessible than the marketing and whole hype surrounding the movie suggest it is. Though I don't think I want to watch this movie again any time soon.

It's a well directed movie and Tom Tykwer does a good job at keeping the story as 'down to Earth' as possible, with the exception of 2 or 3 sequences, that were too significant and complicated to bring it to the screen in a simple way. Nevertheless, it in essence is a pretty unusual and inaccessible story, that is made perfectly understandable and accessible, due to the movie its directing. Seems like Tom Tykwer has a great future ahead of him.

Can't say that I was always too happy about Ben Whishaw as the main lead of the movie. No, I don't think Ben Whishaw will grow into become a great well known actor. The supporting cast is significantly better with actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman, with John Hurt as the movie its narrator.

All in all an unique viewing experience, that isn't among the best movies of the year but nevertheless is a real recommendable one.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

It was a masterful achievement bringing the concepts of scent in to a book, bringing it to the large screen has even more challenges, which I believe was superbly overcome in this film. The film is narrated to ensure the audience understands some of the concepts and some parts of the plot were "dumbed-down" to make sure the audience got the point.

Unfortunately, much of the book had to be skipped in the interest of time – much of Grenouille's childhood is glossed over and the bit after the cave visit is completely omitted.

Despite this, the atmospheric sets and brilliant acting (with the exception of a disappointing Mr. Hoffman, who really does not have the stature of a master Parisian perfumer) kept me completely enthralled.

As in the original book, there is quite a bit of nudity, which is tastefully done, but I will be interested to see how this is swallowed in America – it will probably get an 18 rating or be cut down, which is a shame, it was given a 12 rating in Germany.

In summary, a really great film, but probably best if you have read the book beforehand..

Movie is such a wild concept from the start it's easy to stay interested. The ending just, idk it just hits different. Loved the ending. I really movie was good ending was a 10/10 though.

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.

Excellent movie from all aspects, performance, music, production, etc. My only conservation is unrealistic last thirty minutes. Also, I didn't absorbs the idea of soaking human body in animal fats and then distill it will produce any thing except terrible smell. Overall, good movie.

Wow, this is really a bizarre story with an ending that probably will turn off 98 percent of viewers who stick with this two hours, 147-minute film. I'm not sure what to make of it, other than totally understanding if people are left unsatisfied after watching this movie. As I said, I'm not sure how to interpret it as I just finished it minutes ago. It leaves you almost stunned.

Rather than judging that finale and having to use spoilers, let me just comment on the first two hours of the film, which I found utterly fascinating. If I wasn't such an admirer of photography, art and special-effects, I doubt I would have found the movie so appealing because the story is "not for everyone." However, thanks to stunning French city and countryside scenery, 18th century period and beautiful women it enhanced the story to me. Yet, regardless of the visual treats, the story was so unusual it still would have held my attention.

There are enough reviews here so that to go into the story in detail isn't needed except to say this is an "original." I'm not familiar with any other story about a man who has such an extraordinary sense of smell that he can perform olfactory miracles and then, because of it, uses it to turn into a mass murderer. This is weird, really weird, but captivating to say the least.

Ben Wishaw, who plays the lead character "Jean-Baptist Grenouille, has a face that is perfect for this role. His emaciated body, which survived a brutal childhood existence from the moment he was born also makes his character all the more credible. The looks of shock and awe on this man's face throughout the picture also add to his believability. He was mesmerizing with his haunting expressions. Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman provide "name" actors the film but it's Wishaw's movie, all the way.

I can only recommend this movie to those who share similar interests in cinematography and who like a "different" story but there are so many things in here - especially the ending - that could offend so many people, I would be hesitant to recommend this to the general viewer.

I'm going to go look for the book at our local library. I'm curious how that version compared to the screenplay.

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.

Movies are seldom as good as the books. The same is true here, but the producers did their best to portray the story as true to the book as was feasible. It's a worthwhile story. I won't spoil the plot, just suggest that it's worth seeing.

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.

The book impressed me by the choices made.

Writers are confronted with special challenges, how to balance a connection with reality with adventurous imagination — reality in the sense of visceral experience and emotional relevance; imagination in terms of insight, novelty, even growth. Its got to be one of the most daunting challenges in life because there are few excuses for limiting scope and ambition as you have in most other arts.

Susskind's solution worked. So while I wandered through the book, being engaged and teased, I also was able to look at it as the hero looks at the world, dissecting its components and understanding its miraculous composition. It is in a growing trend of stories that are cast in a deviant, savant or psychic consciousness. Ten years or so earlier we had "Smilla's Sense of Snow," which cast the world (Iceland) first in terms of the character of the snow and ice in it, and everything against that metaphoric ontology. This follows in that path, more pure and direct in smell, and yet less abstract because we all do have this sense.

When you do this, you have to have a crescendo of the effect. So for the books where character is insane in some way, the insanity needs to increase, but in unexpected ways. Each ratchet has to engage, each pearl in the string being novel enough from the last that we have to leave. What Perfume does is slowly ratchet towards a more magical world. As the perfume and the skills increase in our character, the world changes from deliberately brutal to accidentally motivated with apparent magic.

So the book was magical. Tom Twyker knows all about this. He channelled Kieslowski in "Heaven" which was one of the best films ever: he delicately managed much the same balance as Susskind, including the relationship to the land you get in his novel. So I was prepared for a transcendental movie experience. Oh, and redheads, something that has become a universal cinematic shorthand.

Alas, Twyker must have had too many backers with too much money at risk to allow him to make a real film. Instead we get a filmed staging of the events in the book, as if they mattered. As if they were the soul of the thing.

We do get some wonderful images: a few wonderful images with two redheads as the bookends of murders. Two of these will live long in my dreameye. The first is the exploration of the newly expired but still effluent plum-girl. The second is the focused recognition of fate in Laura, the source of ultimate innocence in the scent around which the world is spun.

In the book these girls are on the cusp of pubescence. No such notion here.

In general, the film is a grind. Tom, come back. Smell.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

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!

This Spanish/German/French co-production turns out to be an interesting and exciting film based on Patrick Suskind (he is known to be very skeptical and for a long time did not want to sell the movie rights to his books) novel well adapted by Andrew Birkin and being developed during eighteen century , Paris . It deals with Jean Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), an unfortunate young but born with an extreme olfactory sense who seeks the definitive scent . For that , he doesn't doubt to kill in cold blood . Jean becomes a psychopathic series killer , but he tries to preserve the vital essence for an ultimate perfume . Firstly , Jean falls enamored a beautiful girl (Karoline Herfurth) who finds in the streets and posteriorly he stalks numerous victims . After that , he serves for the most famous perfume maker named Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) . Later on , Baptiste pursues a gorgeous young girl (Rachel Hurd-Wood: Wendy in Peter Pan), daughter of a rich man named Antoine Richis (Alan Rickman) who engages her to the marquis of Montesquieu (Harris Gordon) and attempts to track down the heinous murderer . Meanwhile , the vicious killer displays a criminal rampage and goes on his objective , the creating the world's rapturing perfume .

The picture is a co-production among various countries as Germany (Constantine Films) , France (Nouvelles editions) and Spain (Castelao , Julio Fernandez) realized in big budget and great production values . The film contains suspense , explicit and grisly violence , involving sexuality and disturbing images . Although sometimes is slow moving and overlong for a runtime about 147 minutes ; however resulting to be entertaining for the continued suspense . While the look is suitable atmospheric and colorful , the plot stretches plausibility to the breaking point , a fantastic final at the town square . During preproduction, director/screenwriter Tom Tykwer, Director of Photography Frank Griebe , Production Designer Uli Hanisch, and Costumer Designer Pierre-Yves Gayraud studied the complete works of Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Joseph Wright in order to ensure the film's aesthetic correctly captured 18th century France . Sensational outdoors are marvellously filmed on location in Figueras , Gerona , Tortosa and Alps locations . Glimmer and evocative cinematography by Frank Griebe and sensitive , appropriate musical score , including a feeling leitmotif .

Taut and suspenseful direction by Tom Tykwer . This is Tom Tykwer's international breakthrough and was a hit with both audiences and critics alike . Tom's energetic style helps push this elegant and brilliant flick . The movie garnered many awards and was one of the most successful European films of the year . Former and subsequent projects filmed in creative manner and technically developed by Tykwer include the followings : the successful Run Lola run (1998) ,The princess and the warrior (2000) ,Heaven (2002) , The International (2009) and the ambitious epic Cloud Atlas (2012). Rating : Better than average , it's a good rendition of the famous best seller.

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"

Two hours and twenty-seven minutes of boredom. You just know that when a movie has to rely on a tedious voice-over (John Hurt) to constantly explain everything to you (the movie must be at least half-way through before the narration finally disappears) that it has failed. I too am surprised at the number of extremely high ratings in these reviews. There are, inevitably with a movie of this calibre, things to admire about the technical arts of film-making, photography, acting and so on but on the entertainment front it completely failed for me. I really just didn't care about the fate of any of the protagonists. I felt so uninvolved it was almost difficult to feel sorry for the girls who are murdered. Stay away and do something useful with the two hours instead.