Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
4 August 2007
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Stage & screen -
page 37 |
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Certainly, Tom Tykwer, the same guy who directed Lola Rennt, directed a visually extremely attractive movie, resembling, at times, classics like Delicatessen, La Cité des enfants perdus and Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie 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.
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.
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After obtaining an M. Sc in maths, Babak Fakhamzadeh started with an office job at a major blue chip company but soon realised he'd do better on his own. Babak is a traveling web guru with a penchant for doing good and a love for visual and experimental art. Together with Ismail Farouk, he won the prestigious Highway Africa new media award in 2007 for 
9 June 2008
Wow perfume, did I step on your toes? It sure seems like it.
You seem to have a tendency to infer quite a bit from my review which isn't there. A bit sad that, then, you also react like you've been bitten by a series of rabid dogs.
My guess is that you've read the book and judge the story based on your augmented knowledge of the plot. However, the film has to be judged on its own merits.
Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps next time you would be so kind as to behave like a grown up.
9 June 2008
Sorry, but please refrain from commenting on a film that you do not even understand.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was not psychic, he had an extra-ordinary sense of smell. It was not his different personality that lead him to commit such crimes, which just for reference he was completely unaware of. This is a perfect example of a lack of education leading to a person''''s imperfect judgement of what is right or wrong. His crimes that he commited were not due to a murderous intent or psychotic persona. more due to the fact that he was raised without being taught the morals of life. As well, as your complete misguidance to the true meaning of the film, your utter ignorance to plot also surprises me. The owners of the land aka Grenouilles employer, were killed because after Jean- Baptiste''''s departure the "police" had to put the blame on someone to calm the nerves of the locals. Therefore, the blame was put on the employers since the clothes of the dead women were found on their property.
Please refrain from making unreasonable comments on award-winning movies just beacuse your puny brain does not comphrehend the beauty of this film.
Thank you, and please watch it again until you do understand and change your narrowed minded comment.
31 December 2007
Thanks for the remarks, MarauderX, but it seems your remark was cut off.
I'm fully aware of the history of this film's movie adaptation. However, a film should work on its own merit.
Of course the central character wasn't planning on evading some CSI team, but he didn't have to. But still his actions resulted in him being caught, meaning he could have avoided capture if he simply would have hidden the clothes somewhere else.
The fact that we don't get an explanation as to why he kept the close is a simple plot hole, nothing more, nothing less.
31 December 2007
Decent film, but the review here is caught up in the logistics of being a better murderer. That's not the correct assumption of the movie, as it is a different time, not how to avoid CSI. To call the script a bit of a struggle is admittance that the reviewer knows nothing of why the film was made or where it was generated from.
The film is really a shot at capturing a book that is difficult to adapt to screen. It does a number of incredible shots, some that seem to defy even a modern budget without the use of computer generation. Though it may not be a perfect masterpiece, the tempo