If you've seen either the teaser or full trailer (available HERE) for Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer's latest film, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer then I would like to offer a warning. Perfume, based on the novel by Patrick Süskind, is not a horror film, nor a psychological thriller, nor a mystery, nor a profile of a serial killer, as the marketing may lead one to believe. What it is rather is a fairytale, a legend, much like Frankenstein, but nearer to Edward Scissorhands.
From the start of the film, the viewer is shown a young man being beaten and dragged from a jail cell, in chains, to be displayed in front of a large mob in an 18th century French town. The young man is accused of murder, and is sentenced to a gruesome and merciless execution.
The narration begins very quickly and we are informed that we will be following the life of the young man, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), who was born into poverty and neglect with a superhuman sense of smell. I think it would be very interesting to watch Perfume without much knowledge of its plot or story, so I will not go into much detail here. The first half of the film deals with Grenouille's development from a child into a young man in Paris. Though he has a formidable talent, it is a raw and unfettered talent, and he is without direction, lost. He then meets a beautiful red-haired woman, and this encounter begins to haunt him, and inspires some sense of direction and purpose to his otherwise lowly life.
Essentially there are several elements to the story. Among these is the most interesting element, which is the exploration of Grenouille's fascinating world of scents. Clearly Tykwer was working with very rich and original source material, and he created a world of odors through visual imagery that cannot be surpassed, in my opinion, unless of course someone invents a new kind of movie theater where the audience is sprayed with different smells.
The quality of acting throughout the film is usually very good unless a character does not have anything interesting to do or say, as happens during a few moments in Perfume. Nevertheless, I would like to call attention to the true highlight of the film, which is the character of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, but particularly on relative unknown British actor Ben Whishaw.
Ben Whishaw achieved with Grenouille what Johnny Depp had achieved with Edward Scissorhands. Grenouille is a quiet character, living in his inward world of smells, but Whishaw exuded a powerful presence, and with nuance in his expressions, conveyed the meek and nearly mute character magnificently. I will stop the comparison to Edward Scissorhands here, since Grenouille is not as easily likeable, but the performance of this character demanded the same kind of acting skills in order for it to work. This is one of Tykwer's biggest risks with Perfume, but it works wonderfully. The young, unknown, oddly good-looking Whishaw carried the film on his narrow shoulders, and though he may appear as physically frail as the character of Grenouille, he seems to bear the weight quite easily. He has very few lines of dialogue, and when he speaks them he is not trying to "act," but rather takes a minimalist, self-effacing approach to the character. The result is extremely effective, and Whishaw/Grenouille still haunts me as I write this review. He is certainly an actor to keep an eye on, and hopefully we will see more of this quality of work from him.
Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman (Snape from the Harry Potter films), and Rachel Hurd-Wood (Peter Pan) are perhaps the most recognizable names from the cast. Hoffman does not give a career-defining, or career-changing performance in Perfume, but it was quite clear to me that he was having fun with his role, and for his character of Baldini, this was very suitable, and he is a joy to watch. Young Rachel Hurd-Wood and Alan Rickman only appear after the first half of the film, and neither of them is given a very interesting character. Hurd-Wood does what she can with her material, but Alan Rickman seemed to be miscast in his role. He appeared too subdued in this fairly slow film, and in the few instances when his character was "emoting," he seemed awkward and unsure of what to do.
Overall, I enjoyed the film very much, particularly the richness of the story, protagonist, as well as how everything ends. The ending is spectacular and unforgettable, so if Whishaw's performance alone isn't enough reason to watch Perfume, then you should also watch it for its ending. Unfortunately, there are a few things which could have been improved, or done differently, and keep Perfume from becoming a classic. The narration is prevalent throughout the movie and largely it's giving the viewer no new information. The narration may have been nice only at the beginning, as a way to begin the fairytale, but otherwise I found it unnecessary.
Some people may also have problems with the pacing of the film. The first half is slow, even though Grenouille's story is compelling. I was fairly tired when I went to watch this film, which perhaps explains why it felt a little slow, but this is a minor remark. My bigger problem with the pacing was when the second half began and several events are inter-cut in a montage in order to fast forward through the story, which seemed a little bit sloppy and almost absurd in some instances. Luckily, this doesn't last very long, but it was a distraction in the middle of the film and made things feel uneven for a few minutes. Since the source material was crafted for a novel, I'm sure it was quite a large challenge for a filmmaker to adapt a story with such a strange concept. Tom Tykwer did a fine job, and I think the whole film is a good length. If it had been longer, in an attempt to stretch out the events of the middle, the movie would have certainly felt too slow.
The art production, cinematography, and shot composition are superb. It's very clear that a lot of effort was made to ensure the film's visual beauty, with 18th century locations presented sometimes breathtakingly, sometimes even comically. The music was also lovely throughout the film, particularly in the second half when the story's pace was increased. The theme may seem quite simple, but it has a memorable tune that stays in the mind, which I usually appreciate very much from film scores.
Maybe some reviewers will also compare Perfume to Edward Scissorhands, but I think an easier comparison would be to The Da Vinci Code. I enjoyed the latter film, though I thought that it was slow and had some other flaws. Most people seem to have hated Da Vinci, but I think Perfume will have much larger appeal, especially with such an original concept and more compelling protagonist. Perfume is a refreshing and yet dark fairytale, and certainly its main character's mind is worth a visit.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer will be released on December 27 in North America, and on December 8 in the UK.
