Giantrobo

This looks really interesting. But who knows....

Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman

http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/perfume/

whynotsmile

This looks great.

run lola run and princess and the warrior were fantastic. Looking forward to this big time.

Hiro11

I read the book several years ago and thought it was excellent. Also, the story is fairly linear and simple so the translation to film should be clean. It's one of those books that on finishing, you say to yourself "they really should make a movie out of this." The book was originally published back in the early eighties, no idea why it took so long (maybe because it's German?)

Really looking forward to this one.

Giantrobo

According to the "trivia" page on IMDB

# Ridley Scott was attached to the project years before production finally began. Tim Burton was also considered as director.

# Other directors interested in making this film were Martin Scorsese and Milos Forman. Stanley Kubrick also considered adapting the novel, but ultimately decided it was unfilmable.

# Bernd Eichinger wanted to make this movie for years but Patrick Süskind refused to sell the movie rights. Only in 2001 he did so and received approx. 10 Million Euros.

starseed1981

Loved the book. But I never thought they could get away with a R rating for the climax of the film (pun intended ).

The Bus

I went into this movie knowing next to nothing: expecting a serial killer story. I had known that Tykwer was involved but had forgotten it by the time I went.

This was one of those movies where my head was spinning because of how deftly the movie was handling the material: it sprung so easily from Dickensian coming-of-age fable to master-and-apprentice tale to perfumer / criminal procedural to the ending (which was

that I couldn't help but enjoy it. The story was pretty straightforward, but it had such an interesting aura and theme about it that I couldn't help being entranced. Ben Whishaw did a great job as the protagonist considering for a lot of the movie he doesn't even have any dialogue to work with.

It seems to be sold as a crime thriller but I think it's much more of a very black comedy, a la American Psycho. In fact, if you liked that movie you might like this one as well, although for different reasons. (I was never a huge fan of it, I merely enjoyed it).

It's not going wide, so if you have it playing at a theatre near you, go see it. (Unless you haven't seen The Queen or Last King of Scotland). I never read the book, so I don't know how it compares to it, but I thought it was entertaining and tried new things artistically and honestly I don't ask for much more than that.

RichC2

I saw this tonight, and agree it is a black comedy.

It's a tad corny in spots and the ending is absolutely ludacris (and yet, it sort of earns it.), but I laughed along and enjoyed the hell out of it.

It's for a specific group of people, so I can't give it a universal recommendation, but if you are in that group that can laugh along with a serious yet self-aware movie, see this movie at once. There were many times where I was the only person laughing in the theater, but similar in a way to Hannibal, it was intentional though dry humor. It's a high quality trashy classic, and I loved every minute of it (though there were a few too many sniff shots at the beginning, only real complaint).

Ben Whishaw's performance is perfect in the movie, the walk, the obsessive traits, everything was pretty spoton. Dustin Hoffman adds some quality - more obvious - comic relief.

The Bus

RichC2

Yup, it becomes his character from Crash through and through.

Patman

This was a weird, but fascinating to watch film as it unfolded with a leisurely pace. Viewers are treated to a lead character whose obsession knew no societal bounds, and he would go to unimaginable lengths to capture a person's unique smell.

Can't say it'll appeal to a lot of folks, but Tykwer's directorial flourishes do nothing to undercut this look into such a character like Grenouille who was blessed with a highly honed sense of smell, while suffering from deficiencies to handle lust, attraction of the opposite sex, but has no qualms about murdering for the sake of creating the odorific essense of people. The guy was simply born with no gag reflex to murder, and could sense people's activities with a simple sniff in the air.

The story does have a fairy tale angle to it, and it's best to treat it as such, but one for adults. I wonder what Grenouille would have thought about Calvin Klein's Obsession.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

Daytripper

Haven't read the book, but I have to say the movie worked for me right up until Jean-Baptiste is brought to justice. When he waves the perfumed handkerchief in front of the crowd. That was just ridiculous IMO. And drew laughter from the audience. Was that scene supposed to be funny? Didn't seem like it to me. It was just so odd. I also didn't care for the ending. Story aside, Tykwer did a great job directing. I loved his other films.

dpz301

saw this today. it was an interesting and different film for sure, but i agree with daytripper, the whole handkerchief scene was a little out there for me. other than that, it was really a lot different than i expected it to be. from the trailer and the talk here, i expected it to be a little darker and funnier. granted there were some funny scenes, when i read black comedy, i expected a little more death and a little more laughes.

overall i liked, but guess i expected a little something different. glad i didn't go with my brother
on a side note, i got interviewed when i left the theatre about norbit. haha.

Matthew Chmiel

I finally got around to seeing the film. It's a good film, but it also happens to be Twyker's weakest for the fact it lacks the heart and emotional punch that he was able to deliver with Winer Sleepers, Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior, and Heaven.

However, the visuals, were top notch. The best parts of the film involved Twyker's directing and Griebe's cinematography.

The Bus

Agreed. Although I've only seen Lola Rennt, I have to say this movie is good. Not a classic, not "unmissable", but good. Definitely worth at least a rental.

Matthew Chmiel

If I had to make a list of the top ten best films made so far in this decade, both Princess and the Warrior and Heaven would be on it.

sauce07

so did anyody else realize that this movie has grossed over $100 million worldwide?

was kinda shocked when i saw that

Matthew Chmiel

No.

It was more of an "event" film in Europe due to the popularity of the book whereas here in the States it was completely put under the radar due to DreamWorks. Even if DreamWorks gave it a wider release and more publicity, the film is too "European" for the mainstream and it probably wouldn't have made more than $30 million domestically. The girl I was with last night, who happens to be a film major, thought the film's last twenty minutes were "weird" (whereas I thought that's where Twyker brought everything home).

chris_sc77

I am sad to see this film not making any top 10 lists...
I for one would put this in my top 3 films of the year and I consider it so much better than the overhyped films such as Pan's Labyrinth, Letters From Iwo Jima, Blood Diamond, and espescially Little Miss Sunshine...
None of these films wowed me like Perfume did...More than 2 weeks after having seen Perfume i am still thinking about it and regret not being able to see it in theatres a second time...
Also can anyone tell me why this didnt get a nomination for best cinematography???

RichC2

Dreamworks didn't put much of a push behind it is one of my many guesses.

Though I do agree w/ the 5 films that were nominated.

Matthew Chmiel

If I have never seen a Twyker film before, I probably would've put Perfume in my top ten. However, as I mentioned before, the things that have made his past outings so amazing are nowhere to be found. It's definately a beautiful film to look at and it's a fun and interesting ride, but it lacks the heart and soul his previous films have had in spades.

I would argue that Pan's Labryinth, Little Miss Sunshine (which did make my top ten list), and Blood Diamond are definitately better films than Perfume, but I would rather see Twyker win an award for another film he has done than this.

Daytripper

No way is "Perfume" better than "Pan's Labyrinth", "Letters From Iwo Jima", "Blood Diamond" or "Little Miss Sunshine" (IMO). Hell, even "The Painted Veil" was better. And that didn't get any nominations either. "Perfume" was good, not great. "Heaven" was far superior. As was "The Princess and the Warrior". And I agree "Perfume" is a beautiful film technically, but way too slow and (like I said above), just fell a part the last 20 minutes.

Fincher Fan

I thought the concept was great but the execution of this film was woeful. The protagonist certainly reminded me a lot of Karloff's Frankenstein monster, however.

movielib

Amazing that this film has made $110 million worldwide yet not even $2 million in North America. It played for just one week in our local "art" theater and I'm glad I was able to catch it.

I liked it but it's a little short of the best films of the year. Not up with Pan's Labyrinth or Letters From Iwo Jima but much better than Blood Diamond or Little Miss Sunshine and better than The Queen or The Last King of Scotland. The only other Twyker film I had seen was Lola. I must check out the others.

d2cheer

Really? That part really "did it" for me. I actually said wow out loud, different strokes... I liked how that scene went but agree with you about the ending.

Dr Mabuse

i really liked this movie...

wasn't aware of it, or the director of RLR at the helm, till i watched it...

great film...