Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 123
Fresh: 71 | Rotten: 52
Perfume is what you'd expect from a Tom Twyker-directed movie glamorizing a serial killer: a kinetic visual feast, with a dark antihero that's impossible to feel sympathy for.
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 20
Perfume is what you'd expect from a Tom Twyker-directed movie glamorizing a serial killer: a kinetic visual feast, with a dark antihero that's impossible to feel sympathy for.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 249,787
My Rating
Movie Info
An obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his unrepentant quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe in director Tom Tykwer's adaptation of author Patrick Suskind's best-selling 1985 novel. Born in a fetid fish market and raised in a dilapidated orphanage, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) toiled his childhood away in a rank tannery run by the thuggish Grimal (Sam
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Cast
-
Ben Whishaw
Jean-Baptiste Grenouill... -
Alan Rickman
Antoine Richis -
Rachel Hurd-Wood
Laura -
Dustin Hoffman
Baldini Giuseppe -
Karoline Herfurth
The Plum Girl -
David Calder
Bishop of Grasse -
Simon Chandler
Mayor of Grasse -
Sian Thomas
Madame Gaillard -
Jessica Schwarz
Natalie -
Corinna Harfouch
Madame Arnulfi -
Paul Berrondo
Dominique Druot -
-
Timothy Davies
Chenier -
Sam Douglas
Grimal -
Gordon Harris
Marquis de Montesquieu -
Sara Forestier
Jeanne -
Joanna Griffiths
Marianne -
Birgit Minichmayr
Grenouille's Mother -
Alvaro Roque
Grenouille 5 Years -
Franck Lefeuvre
Grenouille 12 Years -
Michael Smiley
Porter -
Richard Felix
Chief Magistrate -
Francesc Albiol
Court Official -
Gonzalo Cunill
Guard 1 Dungeon -
Roger Salvany
Guard 2 Dungeon -
Andres Herrera
Door Guard -
Reginald Wilson
Customer Fishmarket -
Catherine Boisgontier
Woman Fishmarket -
Núria Casas
Woman 2 Fishmarket -
Carlos Gramaje
Police Lieutenant Fishm... -
Walter Cots Wangüemert
Driver -
Perry Millward
Marcel -
Jan Cortes
Boy Boarding House -
Berta Ros
Girl Boarding House -
Joan Serrats
Upholsterer -
Jaume Montane
Pelissier -
Bridget McConnel
Aunt -
Duna Jove
Young Woman -
Dora Romano
Baldini's Wife -
Carolina Vera
Neapolitan Girl -
Ramon Pujol
Lucien -
Anna Gelman
Albine -
Laura Gelman
Françoise, Françoise, ... -
Guillermo Ayesa
Tallien -
Anna Diogene
Tallien's Wife -
Montserrat Maso
Housekeeper -
Toby Harper
Police Lieutenant -
Jerome Willis
Councillor -
Fermí Reixach
Councillor -
Derek Smee
Councillor -
Albert Pérez
Councillor -
Artur Sala
Gatekeeper -
John Thomas Lenox
Messenger -
Richard Collins-Moore
Innkeeper's Wife -
Nico Baixas
Guard Torture Chamber -
Enric Arquimbau
Executioner -
Oriol Tramvia
Land Priest -
Cristina Sola
Woman With Bishop -
Laura Vidal Traver
Hangover Girl -
Ariadna Cabrol
Beggar Woman -
Maia Jenkinson
Beggar Woman -
John Hurt
Narrator
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All Critics (128) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (75) | Rotten (52) | DVD (11)
Tykwer loses his cinematic grip when he tries to blend murder and piety. In his hands, the two don't emulsify.
Top CriticPerfume: The Story of a Murderer is another nauseous example of style over content: a toxic tale of serial homicide set in 18th-century France that creeps you out faster than it makes you think.
Hated this movie. Hated it.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer never tries to make Jean-Baptiste sympathetic but he's not rendered monstrous, either: He just is a victim of a passion larger and more powerful than any one man can handle.
[The filmmakers] render a portrait of Paris that both delights and overwhelms the senses. This is a movie where eyes turn into noses, which may run at the many ghastly sights presented.
Tykwer, best known for the ultramodern chase movie Run Lola Run, would seem an unusual choice for a period film, but he infuses the sometimes stately story with vigor; though well past two and a half hours, it never feels long.
It's a hard film to like, but it's even harder to dismiss, simply because it's never less than absolutely fascinating.
[Its] off-the-charts screwiness obscures virtually all shortcomings.
The film's DVD extras are limited to a 'making of' featurette and a set of movie trailers.
While you might not come away from a viewing feeling entirely satisfied, you will almost certainly have lots to talk about.
The film scarcely inspires awe, but the image and sound transfer do.
Tykwer squeezes every possible drop of melodramatic beauty out of this material. ...But the gorgeous visuals aren't enough to keep the drama from occasionally degenerating into beautifully produced hokum.
Una estupenda reconstrucción histórica y un atractivo tratamiento visual son los principales valores de esta interesante aunque irregular adaptación.
Plenty of high profile movies are about the tormented lives of artists. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer takes it up a notch: It's a legitimate artwork.
Agree or disagree, this is a work so bold and provocative and distinctive that it demands to be seen.
In a time when the serial killer subgenre is practically the definition of derivative, Perfume is %u2013 for better or for worse %u2013 a whiff of something uniquely fresh.
Audience Reviews for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Narrator: He still had enough perfume left to enslave the whole world if he so chose. He could walk to Versailles and have the king kiss his feet. He could write the pope a perfumed letter and reveal himself as the new Messiah. He could do all this, and more, if he wanted to. He possessed a power stronger than the power of money, or terror, or death - the invincible power to command the love of man kind. There was only one thing the perfume could not do. It could not turn him into a person who could love and be loved like everyone else. So, to hell with it he thought. To hell with the world. With the perfume. With himself.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| I loved this movie. | 5 months ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Das Parfum (DE)
- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (CA)
I like artsy films, I do. But man, even with a potentially intriguing and involving concept, this is just a plodding, overlong bore. That, and it gets really absurd and hard to take seriously at times, especially the over the top ending. Yeah, there are some moments that are really creppy, atmospheric, thrilling and well done, but overall this is a lackluster thriller that doesn't deliver the goods often enough.
The production values are great, the film looks spectacular, and the music is quite good, but there's not a whole lot here that's really all that stunning. The cast is good, but their performances seem off, distant, and like they're jsut going through the motions. Plus, as I keep saying, the concept is potentially itneresting, but let's think about it: a sense of smell is the main driving force here. That's not an easy thing to make work, and I think they could have done a better job with the concept.
There's no shortage of talent here, but I just think that everyone went about it the wrong way a lot of times, hence why the film is the way it is. It's not a total failure, but man, this is a tough one to sit through.