Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writers (WGA):

Andrew Birkin (screenplay) &
Bernd Eichinger (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

5 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Based on the best-selling novel

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.

Plot Keywords:

Psychopath | Nude Body | Death | Shaving | Redhead

Awards:

12 wins & 11 nominations

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
Carlos Gramaje	...	Police Lieutenant - Fishmarket
Sian Thomas	...	Madame Gaillard
Michael Smiley	...	Porter

Also Known As:

Parfum - Die Geschichte eines Mörders, Das (Germany)
Parfum - Histoire d'un meurtrier, Le (France)
Perfume (International: English title) (informal short title)
Perfume - Historia de un asesino, El (Spain)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (International: English title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

147 min

Country:

Germany | France | Spain | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Malaysia:18PL | Australia:MA | Spain:18 | Czech Republic:12 | Sweden:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | USA:R | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-15 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:R21 | Germany:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | South Korea:15 | Peru:18

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Constantin Film Produktion

Trivia:

Author Patrick Süskind is known to be very skeptical and for a long time did not want to sell the movie rights to his novel. His experience with producer Bernd Eichinger and others who desperately wanted to turn "Das Parfum" into a movie was shown in the satire Rossini (1997), for which he wrote the screenplay himself. His character is the strange author Jakob Windisch, Producer Bernd Eichinger is portrayed in the character Oskar Reiter. In Rossini, the book everybody was fighting over was changed into a novel about the Loreley-legend. Other characters in this movie are caricatures of the Munich media business.

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!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-01-06)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Tarentelle

I was surprised

I just read the book last week and watched the movie yesterday. And I have to say, I liked it. For sure, it wasn't as good as the book. On the one hand it is hard to visualize smells and on the other hand not everything can be shown during the movie. But for me, it was realized pretty well. Even you can not smell the things, you can imagine how they smell which may be due to the camera work, which was well done! For me, the actors did a really good job, too. They played their roles really good and according to Grenouille, I really thought that he was the Grenouille described in the book. The only "negative" thing I can say about that, is that in the book he is described as an ugly person, but Ben Wishow is not ugly. But to me, that didn't really matter. So, all in all I have to say, that the movie isn't as good as the book (which is mostly the case), but although I think that it is a really good made movie.