Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

by Brian Fiore

I was looking forward to this movie.  I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, which has a thriving art culture and several local cinemas which feature "art" films.  I moved to Knoxville, Tennessee three years ago, where there is a grand total of one art house.  Because of this, I often have to wait months to see first run independent and foreign films.  The best example of this I can give is having to wait until late summer to see Brick.

I am a big fan of suspense films, I studied French for four years in High School, and I love films set in this era.  I even enjoyed From Hell.  Admittedly, Perfume is not about Jack the Ripper, but there are parallels.   While I did not read Patrick Süskind's novel upon which the film is based, I had heard a great deal about it.  I knew that there have been several, "big name" directors wanting to be involved in bringing the book to the screen.  I even read that Kurt Cobain was such a big fan of the book he wrote, "Scentless Apprentice," as a tribute.

The beginning of the movie did not disappoint.  Before seeing Perfume, I didn't know it was possible to convey aroma cinematically.  However, the opening of this movie (which takes place in a dirty marketplace) is shot in a graphic close-up style that was often nauseating.  The film begins with Jean-Baptiste Grenouille's  birth and subsequent abandonment in said marketplace.  He is brought to an orphanage, and is eventually sold to slavery, all the while taking in local scents.

The movie is most effective when Ben Whishaw's Grenoulle meets perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (played by Dustin Hoffman, who I firmly was robbed of a supporting actor Oscar nod for his role in Stranger than Fiction… but I digress).  Grenoulle displays his fantastic sensory talent, and begins to train under Baldini, assisting him in his competition with a local perfumer.  There are moments of both light and ironic humor, which make the first act of the film extremely enjoyable.

My main problem with the movie begins when Grenoulle begins to kill women in an attempt to preserve their scent.  The film makers attempt to show him in a positive light, bordering on redemption while giving no real justification.  It's as if we are expected to root for him on his quest to create the greatest perfume ever out of the carcasses of his victims. 

The film loses all traces of believability at the climax.  After Grenoulle is arrested and condemned to die for his acts, he applies his perfume masterwork to a handkerchief and the result is difficult to explain without giving away the end.  Let's just say that I felt as if I were watching Caligula, and leave it at that.

If you enjoy period films set in France with steamy undertones, skip Perfume and go straight to Dangerous Liaisons.  If you enjoy films that start off well, take a sharp downward skid as act two begins, and finishes laughably bad, Perfume is the film for you.