Husband got this DVD( perfume- the story of a murderer for me.The movie released in 2006. It is directed by the talented German filmmaker Tom Tykwerof Run Lola Run fame. It is adapted from the bestselling German novel Das Parfum by Patrick Suskind. It's an annoyingly wasteful film. The movie squanders many chances to bond with the viewers, and tossing away over 65 million dollars to achieve what's best described as perverse whimsy.
I got to read the book 7 years ago. The book was bad, but I kept reading it, in the hope that it would get better. It didn't. Like the movie, there was no real character development. I didn't care about the main character or any of his victims... I didn't even care about the little dog, and I love pets.
The plot:
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is abandoned after birth and grows up in penury.He has no scent but his own sense of smell is almost magical.He can identify things by their scent.His search of ultimate perfume turns nasty, when he realizes that women have special scents.He begins killing girls so as to extract perfume from their dead bodies.
It seems to me that Tykwer intended to make Perfume into an epic, focusing on one man's journey, with expansive cinematography, and legions of extras, but the story is unable to support the lavishness of the film making. And the plot follows no logic. When the murders begin, no one right away suspects the strange new guy who lives on the same farm as the first victim. Everybody else is immediately suspected. No one points a finger towards Grenouille's brazenly suspicious actions.
Dustin Hoffman as perfumer Giuseppe Baldini, and Alan Rickman as Antoine Richis the overprotective father are totally wasted in the movie. Their roles are thoroughly underwritten and pointless. British actor Ben Whishaw is handsome, but that's all.
The only strong point of the movie is its visual style. The camera of cinematographer Frank Griebe is creatively and accurately observant.. It perceives color and detail with compassion and enjoyment.
In the end all I want to add is that Grenouille is cast as a tragic figure, a victim of his circumstances and his unique gift, but we don't buy it. The character is never sympathetic enough for us to care about his predicament and too dense to be truly frightening and his victims are no more characterized than the busty blonds.
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3 comments:
saw Perfume recently... the film expresses a lot about human nature.
LOL! It just shows how ignorant you are!
This is one gem of a movie.
The movie is full of pathos, unexpressed longing, pain and desire for redemption.
You should consider taking a film theory course concentrating on symbolism, imagery and irony.
Your comments are clear example of the what Not to Publish on the internet.
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