Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

4 August 2007 | Stage & screen | 6291 viewshot

Certainly, Tom Tykwer, the same guy who directed Lola Rennt, directed a visually extremely attractive movie, resembling, at times, classics like Delicatessen, La Cite des enfants perdus and Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain.
However, the script is a bit of a struggle. Besides the basic premise that this guy has the olfactory powers of a coke-hunting dog on crack, the story just doesn't hold up. Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the central character, acts more like a psychic than anything else. And, really, why did he hide the clothes of the women he murdered in his own room, while bringing the dead women to some other location. Couldn't he just have thrown away their clothes?
And why do his employers, except for the couple in Grasse, have to die after he leaves their service?

It's pleasant to hear John Hurt's voice again, as the narrator, although having the film without one could have been better. I was very impressed by Ben Whishaw's acting, the lead character, and Alan Rickman also did a very good job, but Dustin Hoffman was quite a downer. His impersonation of an Italian perfumer was unacceptable from the first time he said 'basta'.

Enjoyable to watch, but its faults can only be forgiving up to a certain extent.

Comments| What Babak thought