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Description:
Based on the bestselling novel, 'Perfume' is a story of an obsession so overwhelming that it leads to murder. ln18th-century France lived Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), who was born with a phenomenal sense of smell. But as his gift becomes an obsession, he strives to create the most intoxicating perfume in the world by murdering young women to capture their essence.

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Based on Patrick Suskind's novel about a serial killer who hunts victims with his superhuman sense of smell, Perfume: Story of a Murderer is a florid, grisly portrayal of this historical drama set in 18th century France. Jean-Baptiste Grunuis (Ben Whishaw) is born under his mother's table at the fish market, onto a pile of muddy fish guts, establishing from the beginning his repulsion for putrid scents. A childhood of neglect and, later, a job at a tannery, encourage Jean-Baptiste to develop his olfactory sense rather than his verbal skills, so that an opportunity to prove his worth to Parisian perfumist, Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman), results in his immediate hire into a promising new career. His successes in perfume mixing are negated by a blinding obsession for capturing the sublime beauty of human soul, which in his twisted logic requires the killing of young women to reduce their body fats to essential oils for the ultimate, cannibalized eau de parfum. An omniscient narrator tells the story with much sympathy for Jean-Baptiste's perverted psychology, making it, often, too obvious that his need for love justifies his murderous desire to capture misguided sexual attractions in a vile. Continuous close-ups of Grunius's nose, countered by close-ups of the places and objects he smells, enhance the viewer's understanding of his sensitivity. Repeated comparisons are made between the killer and dogs who aid, then expose his sick experimentation. The settings are fascinating, especially Baldini's perfumery and some later scenes in enflorage factories outside Provence. Whishaw's and Hoffman's performances are both grand. But Perfume unnecessarily spells out Jean-Baptiste's psychosis, squelching any chance for metaphor. This is unfortunate, considering the story's paradoxical nature. As this crude hunter navigates his way through a world of utmost delicacy, one craves ambiguity rather than explanation. --Trinie Dalton

Stills from Perfume: The Story 0f A Murderer (click for larger image)










































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Buyer Rating: - * An lncredible Film and Story Well Told ...
German born director Tom Tykwer slows things down quite a bit in PERFUME: THE ST0RY 0F A MURDERER. Those in the know are probably aware of Tykwer's ultra-fast paced Run Lola Run(1998) in which the action never stopped. But here in Perfume we get to see a completely different Tykwer, one with an eye for beautiful camera shots, incredible vistas, and stunning cinematography.

Problems with the film became apparent, however, before the film ever got green-lit. Several directors considered the project before opting out. Among them were such notables as Ridley Scott, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Milos Forman, and even Stanley Kubrick (may he rest in peace). But fate - or karma or whatever you might believe in - intervened and plopped it in the lap of Mr. Tykwer, who quickly decided to make this feature event a spectacle beyond most imaginations. With an incredible budget of over $65 million (the largest ever from a German production company), the film was shot with an eye for artistic quality along with a flowing script. And it worked. lt worked very well.

The dark sets of 18th century France come alive (and frighteningly so) thanks to the shadowy sets and creepy main character of Jean-Baptiste Grenuille (Ben Whishaw, Layer Cake), a man with a gift for smells. Born to a careless and soon-to-be-dead mother, Jean-Baptiste's life is put under the microscope for the entire audience to see. Since being born on the streets of France (literally), Jean-Baptiste smells all of its greatness and stench. Being shuffled first to an orphanage where he fights for his infant life, to his life as a tanner, to his eventual acceptance into the business of a down-on-his-luck perfumer named Giuseppi Baldini (Dustin Hoffman, Kung Fu Panda), Jean-Baptiste demands more and more from his marvelous sense of smell. ln fact, he wants to be able to bottle the smell of glass and other intangibles. Maybe even capture the scent of ...life? Beauty? 0h yes, even that.

During a visit to the streets of France, Jean-Baptiste encounters his first truly magnificent smell, that of a lovely redhead. But her fear of him leads to her death and Jean-Baptiste worries he may never get that scent back.

His fears are side-stepped, however, when he learns how to capture the smell of beautiful women, but only after killing them. Dread grips the countryside as women of all socio-economic classes are found murdered.

A man with an acute sense of danger named Richis (Alan Rickman, Sweeney Todd) realizes the danger his only daughter Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood) is in and decides to flee with her across the country. But can distance save her when a human bloodhound is on your trail?

Jean-Baptiste needs Laura in order to finish his scent de excellence and nothing appears to be able to stop him ...except for himself. His life has been a pursuit that no other person can share, and this has made him a truly lonely figure ...if not a non-entity in terms of humanity itself.

This film came very close to being one of my top ten favorites, but fell a tad short thanks to what many call "the orgy scene." Although it was a nice twist from what l thought was going to happen, it really, really, REALLY stretched the imagination beyond any possibility of realism. Even so, it was filmed exceptionally well.

Most surprising to me was that l hadn't realized how long this sucker was. At nearly two-and-a-half hours, it whizzed by; that's how engrossing much of the production was, including the acting, the (amazing) sets and costumes, and the sumptuous cinematography (pay particular attention to the red hair, especially when Laura is fleeing on horseback with her father).

l intend to buy this film and keep it in my DVD library.

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Buyer Rating: - 0riginal-Disturbing-Hypnotic
Enjoyed this film except found it so disturbing that l knocked off 2 stars because l'm uncomfortable being disturbed; still, perhaps that was the point. Loved the scene at the end when he's on his way to face the crowd -- really interesting insight about the powerful sense of smell.

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Buyer Rating: - All l can say is Wow!
Personally, my five stars apply to all but the last half hour of the movie. That time was brilliant! The story was different and fascinating. The use of a narrator was wonderful and enhanced the movie (Whereas a lot of narrated movies flop in my opinion because they don't know how to use a narrator, especially an omnipotent one}. Visually the movie is simply stunning. They take an abstract and fanciful story and put it in a visually realistic movie, which makes it simultaneously more believable and fanciful. Now the ending had two problems for me. l am not a huge fan of nudity in movies, but up until the end the nudity was tastefully done and in context did not offend me. However toward the end was a mass orgy where l found the context of the nudity unnecessary for furthering the plot. You can understand perfectly well what is going on without the nudity or even the mass orgy. My second issue was that the ending pushed the fanciful aspect of the movie into an area where l had a hard time suspending my disbelief in order to continue enjoying the movie. But, the time preceding the last half hour was so brilliant it made up for the ending.

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Buyer Rating: - * The making of a Psychopath - nature vs. nurture. ...
Despite being jaded by the thousands of scenes of violence that you have seen in films up to now, nothing can prepare your for the heartbreaking opening scene of this poor fellow (the movie's antihero) being born and abandoned on a filthy Paris street in a pile of fish remains.

From this moment on you are aware that this human being's life will be different from the average person's. After years of suffering abuse in a harsh orphanage and being forced into slave labour as a young adult, the question of whether criminals are born or nurtured begs to be asked.

While the film reveals early on that this boy is "gifted" with a superior sense of smell, leading to olfactory obsession, it is wrong to assume that this automatically leads to criminal (murderous) proclivities. The film is thankfully vague about this.

ln this way the film, like all true art, does not beat you over the head with easy answers, nor does it pontificate an agenda, rather it lets you witness events as the proverbial fly on the wall, and encourages you to ponder whether criminals are born or nurtured by and EXTREMELY harsh and unforgiving society.

Despite his crimes, l felt that given his past, l am more empathetic to criminals and may be less prone to judge. For me, good films challenge my world-view, great films challenge my morals. This one does both.

Although this is not a "popcorn" film, or something that you would automatically sit down to watch with your family, it is powerful and provocative nontheless. Despite its bizaare perfume-fetish-theme, it is socially relevant. lt is unfair to say the film is poor because it makes you feel depressed or horrified. Not all films are meant to serve that purpose. Some films are meant to entertain, amuse or alternatively to challenge and provoke.

Although it is possible that some scenes could have been shortened, l never found myself bored but rather felt myself mesmerized by the powerful images.

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Buyer Rating: - The story of a murderer
l've read the book 'Perfume' by Patrick Suskind and was surprised at how well this adaptation was made. The visual imagery is amazing. This is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grunuis (Ben Whishaw), who has a super-human sense of smell but no natural body-odour of his own. He obsessively murders in order to capture the smell of women, whose scent he finds appealing, turning it into a perfume. The narrator, disturbingly, makes you sympathise with this cold-blooded killer and his twisted plan.