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Title: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Ben Whishaw | ... | Jean-Baptiste Grenouille | |
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Francesc Albiol | ... | Court Official |
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Gonzalo Cunill | ... | Guard 1 Dungeon |
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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 | |
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Catherine Boisgontier | ... | Woman Fishmarket |
| Núria Casas | ... | Woman 2 Fishmarket | |
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Carlos Gramaje | ... | Police Lieutenant Fishmarket |
| Sian Thomas | ... | Madame Gaillard | |
| Michael Smiley | ... | Porter | |
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.
I'd only heard bad things about this movie in advance and I hadn't been too impressed with the trailer - I thought the actor playing Grenouille was too pretty, giving his behavior an almost sensual feel, which it definitely shouldn't have. However, when I had the chance to see a press showing of it, I knew I had to see it because Süskind's book was one of the highlights of my school career. I was pleasantly surprised - the movie is well done, beautifully filmed (I especially enjoyed the period details that always felt very down-to-earth and alive), and the main character was never attractive and actually quite creepy (although in my mind, Grenouille will probably always more resemble a Gollum-like creature).
Putting scent into images, however, is even more difficult than putting them into words, in my opinion, and this is where the movie lacked. It just did not grip me the way the book had, did not pull me into this world of smells, and after 2 hours I started getting impatient for the story to finally move on and wrap up. All in all I think the movie could have been better, but it was definitely better than I'd feared and is well worth a look.