Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Plot

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.

Release Year: 2006

Rating: 7.5/10 (83,520 voted)

Critic's Score: 56/100

Director:
Tom Tykwer

Stars: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman

Storyline
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born in the stench of eighteenth century Paris, develops a superior olfactory sense, which he uses to create the world's finest perfumes. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he tries to preserve scents in the search for the ultimate perfume.

Writers: Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger

Cast:

Ben Whishaw
–

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille

Francesc Albiol
–

Court Official

Gonzalo Cunill
–

Guard 1 Dungeon

Roger Salvany
–

Guard 2 Dungeon

Andrés Herrera
–

Door Guard

(as Andres Herrera)

Simon Chandler
–

Mayor of Grasse

David Calder
–

Bishop of Grasse

Richard Felix
–

Chief Magistrate

Birgit Minichmayr
–

Grenouille's Mother

Reg Wilson
–

Customer – Fishmarket

Catherine Boisgontier
–

Woman – Fishmarket

Núria Casas
–

Woman 2 – Fishmarket

(as Nuria Casas)

Carlos Gramaje
–

Police Lieutenant – Fishmarket

Sian Thomas
–

Madame Gaillard

Michael Smiley
–

Porter

Taglines:
Enter an intoxicating world of passion, obsession and murder

Details

Official Website:
Metropolitan Films [France] |
Official site [Germany] |

Release Date: 5 January 2007

Filming Locations: Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Box Office Details

Budget: €50,000,000

(estimated)

Opening Weekend: €154,604
(Netherlands)
(10 December 2006)
(49 Screens)

Gross: $132,180,323
(Worldwide)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

Producer/screenwriter Bernd Eichinger, had been trying to get novelist Patrick Süskind, with whom he was friends, to sell the rights to the novel from the time of its original publication in 1985, and Eichinger very much considered the film to be a dream project. In 2001, he finally managed to convince Suskind to sign over the rights, for 10 million euro.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs:
When Grenouille meets the perfumer, at his house/laboratory, he knows where all the substances are, although he has never been there before. He is able to do this due to his heightened sense of smell, he is able to work out where specific substances are by the scent they give off.

Quotes:

[first lines]

Court Official:
Quick. We can't hold them back much longer. Hurry. Come on!

User Review

The critics are wrong – Brilliant!

Rating: 8/10


With "The Perfume" it's like with any blockbuster movie: if the critics
praise it, it's horrible – if the critics hate it, it's brilliant.

I had the chance to watch a preview of "The Perfume" tonight and I was
very surprised: this movie is really good! Okay, it can't actually make
you smell all the scents and odours, but the images and the music allow
you to experience the atmosphere and the emotions Grenouille is feeling
when he takes in the scents of his environment. You couldn't have done
this much better without the use of real scents at theatres.

Although much of the story is told by a narrative voice (mostly quotes
from the novel), the movie is still thrilling and exciting all the way.
It's a very good adaption of Süskind's novel, sticking to the original
plot concerning the major events, leaving away unnecessary subplots
(although it's a pity that funny "lethal gas"-plot was cut out!) and
shortening long passages. The result is well-constructed movie that is
worth seeing.

The actors, especially Whishaw who plays Grenouille, have done a very
good job. Like in the novel, Grenouille is an ambivalent character and
you never know whether to love him for his genius talent or to hate him
for his cruel murders. Whishaw's half-crazy, scary gaze made me shiver.
Dustin Hoffman as old and unsuccessful parfumeur Baldini was very
convincing… I loved the way he talks to Grenouille arrogantly
although he recognizes how much more talent the young man has. Baldini
is always good for a laugh.

The only thing to criticize is that the movie is not as brutal as the
novel. I think they wanted to avoid the FSK 16 rating and so didn't
show much violence, which in my opinion would have been necessary if
you wanted the movie to have the same shocking impact on the audience
as the novel. For example I was really shocked by the end of the novel
– in the movie you hardly see what happens.

However, it's really a thrilling story visualized excellently – go to
the movies and watch "The Perfume"! You won't be disappointed.