Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

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.

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writers:

Andrew Birkin (screenplay), Bernd Eichinger (screenplay)

Stars:

Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman

15 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Whishaw	...	Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
Francesc Albiol	...	Court Official
Gonzalo Cunill	...	Guard 1 Dungeon
Roger Salvany	...	Guard 2 Dungeon
Andrés Herrera	...	Door Guard
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
Carlos Gramaje	...	Police Lieutenant Fishmarket
Sian Thomas	...	Madame Gaillard
Michael Smiley	...	Porter

Storyline

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille came into the world unwanted, expected to die, yet born with an unnerving sense of smell that created alienation as well as talent. Of all the smells around him, Grenouille is beckoned to the scent of a woman's soul, and spends the rest of his life attempting to smell her essence again by becoming a perfumer, and creating the essence of an innocence lost.

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Plot Keywords:

18th century | smell | scent | perfume | sense of smell | 

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Taglines:

Obsession can cause the unthinkable.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for aberrant behavior involving nudity, violence, sexuality, and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [France] Official site [Russia]

Country:

Germany France Spain USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

El perfume

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Catalonia

Box Office

Budget:

€50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$55,527, 31 December 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,223,293

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$135,039,943

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film,VIP 4 Medienfonds,Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

147 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Other directors interested in making this film were Martin Scorsese, Milos Forman, and Stanley Kubrick. In 1990, Roman Polanski gave an interview, in which he said Producer Claude Berri wanted him to direct.

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Goofs

The lavender fields are clearly Lavendula intermedia, natural hybrid of Lavendula angustifolia (the true lavender used in perfumery) and Lavendula latifolia. Lavendula intermedia was discovered only at the end of 19th century and cultivated from the 1930's. Its flower is bigger (and the visual aspect more suitable for a movie) than Lavendula angustifolia but its natural essence is less fine.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Brows Held High: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2011)

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Soundtracks

Tarentelle
(Traditional)
Performed by Saboï and its Members
Asta Coulomb, Christian Coulomb, Sebastien Coulomb, François Hecquet, Bertrand Mercier, Nicolas Pillard,
Edo Pols, Jocelyn Raulet, Simon Staelens, Remi Tran-No
By arrangement: Christian Coulomb

User Reviews

Unusual. That's why it's great.

wow, a serial-killer movie WITHOUT blood and action and wild chase sequences and stuff like this.

People who are used to fast Hollywood Movies certainly won't be satisfied with this movie. It's really unusual, as the novel is. It's generally difficult to convey something like a SMELL in a book or a movie, and it's also difficult to create a satisfying adaption of a novel. So my personal opinion is that The Parfume Movie is one of the few good adaptations, because it eagerly tries to convey the complicated world of smells and the world of Grenouille and also achieves it in many ways. There are of course some parts missing or changed if you compare novel and movie, but that is always the case with adaptations.

I saw the movie one hour ago and have just read some comments. Some of them are "disappointed" or "boooring", but most of these opinions are really not well founded, so I couldn't make out what EXACTLY was so boring and disappointing... However, I'll keep on dwelling in the magic of the movie, looking forward to other more positive comments...