PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER [2006 / 2021] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
Intoxicating! Mesmerizing! Sensuous!
Director Tom Tykwer [‘Run Lola Run’] has turned this best-selling novel into “a visceral thriller” that’s “deeply, lushly, delightfully sinister” [Christy Lemire of Associated Press].
With Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman headlining an all-star cast, ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ tells the story of a French peasant blessed and cursed with a sense of smell so keen it his primary experience of the world. But when first aroused by a young woman’s scent his desire is to forever capture her essence quickly mutates into a dark and deadly erotic compulsion.
The terror and tension mount with each beautiful victim in this spellbinding tale that culminates in a finale as unexpected as it is unforgettable. Narrated by John Hurt.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 2006 Bambi Awards: Win: Film [National] for Ben Whishaw (actor), Bernd Eichinger (producer) and Tom Tykwer (director). 2006 Ghent International Film Festival: Nominated: Grand Prix for Tom Tykwer. 2006 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards: Nominated: Sierra Award for Best Picture [8th place]. 2007 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film. Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rachel Hurd-Wood. Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Director for Tom Tykwer. Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Writing for Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger and Tom Tykwer. Nominated: Saturn Award for Best Music for Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer. 2007 Bavarian Film Awards: Win: Best Director (Regiepreis) for Tom Tykwer. Win: Best Production Design (Beste Ausstattung) for Uli Hanisch. 2007 European Film Awards: Win: European Film Award for European Cinematographer for Frank Griebe. Win: Prix d'Excellence for Uli Hanisch for production design. Nominated: Audience Award for Best European Film for Tom Tykwer. Nominated: European Film Award for European Actor for Ben Whishaw. Nominated: European Film Award for European Composer for Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer. 2007 German Film Awards: Win: Film Award in Gold for Best Cinematography (Beste Kamera/Bildgestaltung) for Frank Griebe. Win: Film Award in Gold for Best Editing (Bester Schnitt) for Alexander Berner. Win: Film Award in Gold for Best Production Design (Bestes Szenenbild) for Uli Hanisch. Win: Film Award in Gold for Best Costume Design (Bestes Kostümbild) for Pierre-Yves Gayraud. Win: Film Award in Gold for Best Sound (Beste Tongestaltung) for Dirk Jacob, Frank Kruse, Hanse Warns, Matthias Lempert, Michael Kranz, Roland Winke and Stefan Busch. Win: Film Award in Silver for Outstanding Feature Film (Programmfüllende Spielfilme) for Bernd Eichinger. Nominated: Film Award in Gold for Best Direction (Beste Regie) for Tom Tykwer. Nominated: Film Award in Gold for Best Film Score (Beste Filmmusik) for Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer. 2007 Gran Premio Internazionale del Doppiaggio: Nominated: Audience Award for Best Voice Actor for Emiliano Coltorti for the dubbing of Ben Whishaw. 2007 International Film Music Critics Award: Nominated: Film Score of the Year for Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer. 2007 Jupiter Award: Win: Best German Film. Win: Best German Director for Tom Tykwer. 2007 New Faces Awards, Germany: Nominated: Actress Karoline Herfurth fFor Eine andere Ligaand Deutschmänner. 2007 Undine Awards, Austria: Win: Best Young Supporting Actress in a Film (Beste jugendliche Nebendarstellerin in einem Kinospielfilm) for Karoline Herfurth. 2008 Gopo Awards, Romania: Nominated: Best European Film for Tom Tykwer. 2010 CinEuphoria Awards: Win: Top Films of the Decade for International Competition for Tom Tykwer.
FILM FACT No.2: Producer Bernd Eichinger bought the film rights to Patrick Süskind's novel in 2000 and began writing the screenplay together with Andrew Birkin. Tom Tykwer was selected as the director and joined the two in developing the screenplay in 2003. Principal photography began on the 12th July, 2005 and concluded on the 16th October, 2005; filming took place in Spain, Germany, and France. The film was made on a budget of €50 million an estimated $60 million, making it one of the most expensive German films. Critics' reviews of the film were mixed; the consensus was that the film had strong cinematography and acting but suffered from an uneven screenplay.
Cast: John Hurt [Narrator], Ben Whishaw, Francesc Albiol, Gonzalo Cunill, Roger Salvany, Andrés Herrera, Simon Chandler, David Calder, Richard Felix, Birgit Minichmayr, Reg Wilson, Catherine Boisgontier, Núria Casas, Carlos Gramaje, Sian Thomas, Michael Smiley, Walter Cots Wangüemert, Perry Millward, Jan Cortés, Berta Ros, Alvaro Roque, Franck Lefeuvre, Sam Douglas, Joan Serrats, Jaume Montané, Bridget McConnell, Duna Jové, Karoline Herfurth, Timothy Davies, Dustin Hoffman, Dora Romano, Carolina Vera, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Alan Rickman, Sara Forestier, Ramon Pujol, Corinna Harfouch, Paul Berrondo, Joanna Griffiths, Jessica Schwarz, Harris Gordon, Anna Gelman, Laura Gelman, Guillermo Ayesa, Anna Diogene, Montserrat Masó, Toby Harper, Jerome Willis, Fermí Reixach, Derek Smee, Albert Pérez, Artur Sala, Thomas Lenox, Richard Collins-Moore, Francesca Piñón, Nico Baixas, Enric Arquimbau, Oriol Tramvia, Cristina Solà, Laura Vidal Traver, Carmela Lloret, Menina Arroutada Menina Arroutada, Miquel Bordoy (uncredited), Òscar Bosch (uncredited), Carme Capdet (uncredited), Carme Contreras (uncredited), Robert Forcadell (uncredited), Susana Goulart (uncredited), Pedro Gutiérrez (uncredited), Aina Huguet (uncredited), Pere Koniec (uncredited), Jordi Manuel (uncredited), Jordi Manuel (uncredited), Maribel Martin Julian (uncredited), Ricardo Mestres (uncredited), Edgar Moreno (uncredited), Jaume Najarro (uncredited), Alberto Quintana (uncredited), Carlos Serna (uncredited), Sergi Atencia Sánchez (uncredited), Cristian Valencia (uncredited), Marc Velasco (uncredited) and Abril Zamora (uncredited)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Producers: Andreas Grosch, Andreas Schmid, Bernd Eichinger, Edmon Roch, Gigi Oeri, Julio Fernández, Manuel Cuotemoc Malle, Martin Moszkowicz, Samuel Hadida, Silvia Tollmann and Teresa Gefaell
Screenplay: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger, Tom Tykwer and Patrick Süskind [novel “Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders”]
Composers: Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer
Music Performance: Berliner Philharmoniker
Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle
Costume Design: Pierre-Yves Gayraud
Make-up and Hair Designer: Waldemar Pokromski
Cinematography: Frank Griebe (Director of Photography)
Visual Effects: UPP [Universal Production Partners] Prague
Visual Effects Supervisor: Dennis Lowe
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD
French: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English, English SDH and French
Running Time: 147 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Paramount Pictures / DreamWorks Pictures / Constantin Film
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: The film ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ [2006] was adapted by the German writer Patrick Süskind and the novel is classed as a clammy, and high-toned international best seller literary historical fantasy 1985 novel “Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders” and is of interest mainly as an example of what might be called the sensory imperialism of cinema. Quite a few films, not content to stimulate the eyes and ears, try to conquer the other senses as well. Touch and taste are the favourites; hence the ubiquity of scenes that take place in bed or at a table, but an intrepid researcher could probably identify, amid the sighing caresses and laden forkfuls [the amount of food that can be held on a fork], an authentically old factory film tradition.
Director Tom Tykwer of the film ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ is also most memorably for the 1998 film ‘Run Lola Run,’ and the film tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille [Ben Whishaw], a very skinny, sallow young fellow who grows up in the pungent atmosphere of 18th-century France and is burdened with a preternaturally sensitive nose. Every stone and blade of grass, every young woman’s cheekbone and belly button, every piece of fruit and hunk of rotting fish sends its essence straight to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s nostrils, sometimes from a very great distance.
Novelist Tom Süskind goes full tilt in exploiting these totally lush, lurid tones in getting the very best from the brilliant Frank Griebe’s cinematography; where he rubs our noses in Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s world by assaulting our eyes with what he smells. Thus the camera lingers on rotting fish, on animal skins at the tannery where Jean-Baptiste Grenouille serves an early apprenticeship, and then on the lissom ladies who become his victims.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s episodic adventures are propelled along by John Hurt’s amazing and brilliant third-person narration. John Hurt has also performed a similar service for other European filmmakers like Lars von Trier, in his English-language theatrical films like ‘Dogville’ [2003] and ‘Manderlay’ [2005]. Ben Whishaw is a very skinny, bedraggled and jug-eared, and does not quite manage to make Jean-Baptiste Grenouille either a victim worthy of pity or a fascinating monster. The fellow’s sensory endowment is meant to make him both an artist and an amoral killer, a social outcast who nonetheless gives the society what it really wants, but in the film Jean-Baptiste Grenouille comes across as a person with no feeling towards his victims or his consequences.
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille himself, in the unwashed streets of Paris and the fragrant lanes of Grasse, France’s perfume capital, this condition is a kind of invisibility to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who is consumed with the project of concocting a transcendental scent. After receiving some technical training from a master perfume-maker named Giuseppe Baldini [Dustin Hoffman], who sets out to perfect his own special scent formula, a recipe that calls for the extracted essences of 12 virgins and a prostitute, who all must be killed before the materials can be rendered. The women are thus bonked on the head, covered in animal fat and then left naked and carefully posed, in the streets and squares of Grasse.
The town authorities panic, in particular Antoine Richis [Alan Rickman], a local notable whose red-haired daughter, Laura Richis [Rachel Hurd-Wood], conveniently possesses a natural smell that is one of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s coveted ingredients. So intent is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille on finding her that he pursues her over hill and dale, using his powerful nose to track her as Antoine Richis and Laura Richis flees to the countryside. The camera dutifully speeds across the countryside, and when it lights upon Laura Richis, who is fleeing in disguise on horseback, and Laura Richis turns around in the saddle, as if suddenly aware that Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is sniffing her body scent.
‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ is a connection between sexual desire and the impulse to kill without realising he has done nothing wrong. When Dustin Hoffman, who looks marvellous in velvety face powders, departs the scene in a very hilarious way, he does not take any inkling of being camp or whimsy with his character, leaving behind an atmosphere that becomes increasingly arid even as it strains toward sensory saturation.
‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ is a very dark film, focusing on an obsession that is so complete, it totally shuts out all other human experiences. You may not savour it, but you will not stop watching it, and in horror and total fascination. The brilliant actor Ben Whishaw succeeds in giving us no hint of his character saves for a real deep savage need for that ultimate perfume smell. Dustin Hoffman produces a quirky old master whose life is also governed by the ultimate perfume aroma. Dustin Hoffman reminds us here again, what a detailed and fascinating character actor he is, who is able to bring to the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille precisely what humour and humanity it needs, and then tactfully leaving it at that. Even his exit is nicely timed in a very hilarious way.
Keeping in mind that this isn’t the type of film we are used to seeing, some of these scenes can come off very quirky. For example, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille sniffing the air and following his nose like some sort of psychopathic bloodhound does indeed look ridiculous, but if you allow yourself to buy into the film’s central premise, it’s easily forgivable. What’s more unconventional, though, is that it’s nearly impossible to like and let alone relate to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He’s a selfish, unflinching murderer, and all his means are carried out for narcissistic ends. This isn’t a case of a charming killer like Hannibal Lecter or Patrick Batemen; but instead Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is so totally detached.
I really loved this film because it is all totally uniquely character driven, beautifully acted and the cinematography is out of this world. Of course there is nothing fun about the story, except the way it ventures so fearlessly down one limited, terrifying, seductive dead end, and finds there is a solution both sublime and horrifying. It took imagination to tell this story, and of course the courage to film it, thought to act it, and from the audience perspective it requires a brave curiosity about the peculiarity of the obsession of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.
It’s as dark of a story as it sounds on paper and while some may praise director Tom Tykwer for sticking to his guns and delivering an uncompromising and very un-Hollywood treatment, there will be other’s like me who find ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ a totally eye-capturing in a production sense but resent the story within it and it’s not hard to see why many critics were less than enamoured with ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ upon its initial cinematic run. This unique film is bizarre and nefarious little tale that features one of the modern era’s most eye-popping finales, ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ is a film that some might find hard to enjoy despite its fine craftsmanship, due to the very nature of its slightly depressive and sinister central concept and its total ultimate finale.
Finally, at around chapter 16 at around 2:16:40 near the end of the film, we get to hear the brilliant narrator John Hurt sum up the whole poignant aspect of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille life, where he says, “Within no time, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille had disappeared from the face of the earth, when they had finished, they left with a virginal glow of happiness and for the first time in their lives, they believed that they had done something purely out of love.”
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER MUSIC TRACK LIST
TARENTELLE (Traditional) (By arrangement of Christian Coulomb) [Performed by Saboï and its Members: Asta Coulomb, Christian Coulomb, Sebastien Coulomb, François Hecquet, Bertrand Mercier, Nicolas Pillard, Edo Pols, Jocelyn Raulet, Simon Staelens and Remi Tran-No]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Constantin Film present us the film ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ with a totally striking and stunning 1080p image and equally enhanced 2.35:1 (Anamorphic) aspect ratio that will both thrill and engaged your eyes, boasting vivid colours, strong reds and blues, and a stable, well saturated palette, especially the roses in the perfumer's shop looks like a 18th century painting. Fine object detail is equally remarkable, just look at the crowd in the opening scene and the long shots of the cities. Every individual in the streets is clearly distinguishable and sharp. The black levels are deep and add a nice amount of dimension to what could have been a very flat, shadowy picture. Most impressive of all is the texture detail, especially facial close-ups, each actor's pores, and every strand of hair is crystal clear and the colours of all the fruit we get to see. Shots that follow the trail of a scent are also rendered wonderfully, in fact, they're so detailed at times that you almost feel as if you've been put within the mind-set of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille himself. When we get the close-up of the child's finger in the orphanage, this is now in sharp focus. The random shots of darkness, especially watching the night sky when Jean-Baptiste Grenouille stares across the water at the city is an equally impressive gorgeous transfer that is enhanced with the amazing professional cinematography of Frank Griebe. All things considered, this brand new remastered Blu-ray release of ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ will definitely not let you down by the impressive visuals and of course the bonus is that it is an All Regions Blu-ray release. So all in all, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Constantin Film have given us a five star rating visual experience.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Constantin Film bring us the film ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ which features an awesome 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track. While the film's stellar image transfer enabled me to further immerse myself in 18th century France, this audio package did not let me down and the John Hurt's narration and the film's musical score is totally brilliant and a very clean audio experience. The surround channels aren't used to their potential, dynamics are not so strong at times, and the soundscape is relatively quiet. On the even brighter side, the film’s composed music score is wonderfully enhanced by Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil and Tom Tykwer and especially their instrumentation is warm and well prioritised, even the dialogue is very crisp, even during soft whispers parts of the film, as well as the channel movement is subtle. The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track delivers a very immersive overall audio experience than expected. Once again, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and Constantin Film have given us a five star rating audio experience.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: THE STORY OF PERFUME [2007] [1080p] [1.73:1] [13:54] Here we are introduced to Tom Tykwer who informs us the first time he read the novel by Patrick Süskind was in 1986 and 16 years later Tom Tykwer get this phone call from Bernd Eichinger who wanted to meet Tom Tykwer and so finally they get to meet and people said to Tom Tykwer that the novel “Das Parfum: Die Geschichte eines Mörders” was really great, but no way can it be turned into a movie and why should this be a movie, because it was far too literate, but when Tom Tykwer read the novel, he defied his critics and thought the novel was certainly idea for movie concept and has everything in the novel to turn it into a movie. Bernd Eichinger says about the movie, they were initially searching for the right outline, which at the time was a major problem, because everything was subjective from the point of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and consequently, if you miscast the character, then you have no movie and at the end of the day we eventually had a lucky break and secured Ben Whishaw, who at the time was around 21 or 22 years of age, and was at the time on the London stage playing Hamlet and they found something really specially in the actor Ben Whishaw who the team felt was indescribable and especially beyond his intelligence as an actor and also felt he had a strong range of emotional understanding of his character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and Ben Whishaw felt his character was really difficult to judge and there is something really unsettling about Jean-Baptiste Grenouille and Ben Whishaw remembers very clearly with the first day of shooting and finally meeting the actor Dustin Hoffman on the set and especially in the scene where Dustin Hoffman opens the door and Ben Whishaw is standing there and Ben Whishaw was amazed with Dustin Hoffman’s over the top make-up and was sort of laughing to himself, and again could not believe he was working with the great actor Dustin Hoffman and of course that is why the team decided to have Ben Whishaw play the character, because the actor could portray Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as a really strong character that invites you to go along with his plan of action. Here at this point we get to hear comments by the actor Ben Whishaw on his thoughts on his character he plays, who he feels is very fanatical, in a very grandiose was, and Ben Whishaw also says that he has never worked with Tom Tykwer before, but working on the film realised the director had a very cinematic vision, in making the film very big and epic, and extremely visual and that is why Ben Whishaw really loves that idea about the director’s grandiose vision and style and Ben Whishaw really loves that idea with a director who has a very unique and different style of directing. Then Tom Tykwer gets round to talking about the other two main actors who was keen to be in the movie, and felt very lucky to get Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman and Tom Tykwer always imagine from the start of the project to secure these two very professional actors in the movie and also imagined having these two great actors while writing the screenplay and funny enough, Dustin Hoffman was the first actor to come to the movie set to start filming, because Tom Tykwer actually knew the actor a very long time ago, and when they initially approached Dustin Hoffman to ask if he wanted to appear in the movie, he really jumped at the chance to be in the movie. Then we get to hear from the actor Dustin Hoffman who comments on the director Tom Tykwer who he feels is very fanatical, in a grandiose way, and Dustin Hoffman says he has never worked with a director who had a very cinematic vision before, especially with a film that is very big, very epic, very visual and also found the director to be very organised in knowing what he wanted out of the actor’s performance. Once again we meet the director Tom Tykwer and gets round to talking about the other two main actors that feature in the film and he felt very lucky to get Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman and he always imagined from the start of the process to have these two professional actors in his movie, especially while writing the screenplay and funny enough, Dustin Hoffman was again the first actor to arrive for the filming, but on top of all that, Tom Tykwer knew this American actor a very long time ago, and when they approached Dustin Hoffman to ask if he wanted to be in the movie, really excepted the challenge to appear in the movie without any hesitation and again recalls that he had worked on the outline of the film for two years and was also very involved in being one of the composers for the beautiful and very evocative film score, in wanting to respect the author’s novel. Bernd Eichinger was so very pleased to secure the actor Alan Rickman and feels he was one of the best actors around in the world of his calibre, because you need an actor with a very strong presence, and someone with gravitas and at the same time, someone with a bit of sensibility and warmness, that brings both of these elements together and again felt that actor was Alan Rickman. At that point we get some comments by Alan Rickman and finding out that Tom Tykwer was directing the movie and he felt this was a great attraction for being in the movie and was very eager to work with the director, who he also felt that was someone who likes to take control and to capture every image in the movie, and also in charge of every milliseconds of the frame, and feels always very exciting as an actor to be directed by Tom Tykwer who handles the situation so professional. Alan Rickman also comments on the girl Laure Richis played by Rachel Hurd-Wood who is described in the novel as utterly undoubtedly very beautiful and that everyone is completely entranced by her and you easily falls in love with her at first glance and you accidently run into Rachel Hurd-Wood and what can you do, there she is. Alan Rickman also comments that the look of the movie of especially showing the poor parts of Paris in the 18th century, looks very realistic in showing how bad it was in those days and also talks about the scene arriving at the big house with Rachel Hurd-Wood on horseback and felt the house was totally incredible beautiful. Alan Rickman also comments on that approaching the part of the film that is very atmospheric and very abstract and by taking some of the crazy aspects from the novel and you can create something totally surreal, because the novel was very easy to transfer to make the movie very visual. At this point we get some input with the actress Rachel Hurd-Wood, who informs us that she had read the novel by Patrick Süskind beforehand and thought it was a really fantastic story and to finally read the script, she thought it was brilliantly written and could not believe to be invited to appear in the film and was really keen to work on the project. Bernd Eichinger feels you cannot make smell visible for sure, and reading passages from the novel, really makes to believe you are smelling all of the different the smells, because the words in the novel are so powerful, but with the movie you have a different language with music, sound and of course pictures and with the movie you have the voice of the narrator to inform you what the people are smelling, especially the aroma of the scent. Dustin Hoffman really praises the make-up and costume people, who he felt did a very professional job, in making you feel you were actually in the 18th century France and it makes you want to totally compliment all their hard work when being filmed. As we get to the end of this really special feature, we get very insightful summing up of the film, where they say that the character Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is not a hero in terms of a movie hero, who is fighting against evil or something like that and who is struggling with his personality and at the end of the day normally succeeds and there is no bad or evil in this movie, and it is also not immoral, bit amoral and it is beyond moral standards if there is such a thing. We get a plethora of clips from the film to emphasise why Tom Tykwer felt it was 100% ideal to turn the novel into a grandiose movie. We also get a plethora of lots of clips of behind-the-scene filming, especially with the maim actors and showing us what it was like in the 18th century France, especially with all the dirt and ghastly squalor. We also get comments from the costume department in wanting to get the 18th century costumes 100% accurate to give the movie a very authentic look and especially what the poor French people use to wear in that period in France and especially in Paris. So to sum up this really extra rare special feature, it is without doubt a very intelligent look behind-the-scene of the movie ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ and to hear the comments from all of the contributors involved with the movie and this special feature is well worth viewing and I definitely without any doubt give it a very top five star rating. Contributors include: Tom Tykwer [Director/Screenplay/Composer], Bernd Eichinger [Producer], Ben Whishaw [Jean-Baptiste Grenouille], Dustin Hoffman [Giuseppe Baldini], Alan Rickman [Antoine Richis], Rachel Hurd-Wood [Laure Richis], Andrew Birkin [Screenwriter], Uli Hanisch [Production Designer], Pierre-Yves Gayraud [Costume Designer] and Frank Griebe [Director of Photography].
Finally, ‘PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER’ is a fascinating and surreal exploration of a demented mind of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille who of course has an alpha and omega character for his sinister plots and the last half hour of the film was truly the strangest and most unbelievable thing you will ever witness is this totally unique film. We are whisked back to the gathering at the town square shown in the beginning. Again, I don’t want to give away this portion either, but it’s just as unbelievable as the first viewing experience. For the most part, I really did enjoy this film, strictly because the concept is definitely totally unique and totally unusual. The most shocking scenes could be construed as not being very realistic, but I still enjoyed what I viewed. I was slightly confused by the ending, so I had to conduct further research before I understood it. Ben Whishaw’s performance as a disturbed individual with a seemingly placid demeanour was totally wonderful, who to my mind is a very accomplished and professional actor. Those into abnormal psychology will have a field day with this film. Interestingly enough, I came out of viewing this film with a much more appreciated knowledge of how perfume is made. Basically, go into this film with an open mind and prepare to see some behaviour that might shock you, but does not detract from the brilliant storyline. Fans, like me of this film are sure to be entranced by the outstanding visuals and brilliant audio experiences on this awesome Paramount Pictures Blu-ray disc. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
