The book is truly phenomenal, in part due to an exquisite translation into Russian, breaking the pattern of truly dismal translations over the past decade.  And, while reading it, I could not get rid of two contradicting thoughts:  “this could be a fabulous movie” and “this can never be made into a movie.”  On one hand, the plot is enthralling (it is, after all, as the subtitle indicates, “a story of a murderer”), the characters are intriguing, and the historic settings of the 18^th century France always provide lush visuals.  On the other hand, how do you make a movie about scent?  By the way, I was not the only person who thought this book was unfilmable:  Stanley Kubric entertained an idea of making a movie based on this book but rejected it.  Then I learned that the director is none other than Tom Tykwer and said to myself:  “If anybody can pull this off, he can.”  One of my favorite directors, the creator of such atmospheric masterpieces as “Run Lola Run” and “Heaven” (if you haven’t seen the latter, do yourself a favor: featuring Kate Blanchett, this fable is nothing short of superb), Herr Tykwer has all the needed credentials to make me watch the film.  The names of Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman in the cast speak for themselves as well.
 

So on the opening night, December 27, I went to Angelica and saw it.  After being on the edge of my seat for the duration of the picture, I walked out and muttered to myself (but in a way that everybody near me could hear):  “This is one fantastic movie!”  And it sure is.  Tykwer indeed creates the needed sense of smell using cinematographic means.  Everything in the movie is forced to indicate and illustrate odors:  colors and sounds, landscapes and close-up shots, special effects and music.  Much like unpleasant stenches, there are plenty of unpleasant and at times revolting screenshots:  rotting fish, maggots, and murders.  Much like beautiful aromas, there are plenty of delightful moments:  flowers, landscapes, and enticing music.  Tykwer takes on this directorial challenge and conquers it brilliantly.  I think in a few places the illustrations could be a little more subtle (the moment when Master Baldini smells the newly-prepared concoction would have been just fine with the garden and the woman’s kiss, without the “I love you” overkill), but that’s just in the eye (and the nose) of the beholder.  But in the pinnacle moments – Grenouille’s “invisible” entry into Laura’s house and the uber-controversial execution scene – he comes across as a true master.  This is genuine apotheosis, akin to the “disappearing helicopter” grand finale in “Heaven” (a real counterpart of that scene would, of course, be the final moment of “Perfume,” but it’s just too ugly and depressing to make a comparison).

The cast is sensational.  I was worried that, much like in many English-language movies about French history, terrible fake accents a-la “Le Skunk” would run amok, but “Perfume” manages to circumvent this snag.  I did find Dustin Hoffman’s “Basta!” funny, though.  Hoffman, playing the ailing master of scents, Baldini, is at his best, providing the needed comic relief.  Alan Rickman, known mostly for playing scornful arrogant Englishmen, does a very good job as a loving father.  Tykwer clearly knows how to work with actors to get what he wants from them (hell, he made his own wife, Franka Potente, run around in circles!).  The score, composed by Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, and Tom Tykwer himself, is spectacular, performing for the subconscious in the movie what the smell obviously should in the story.  But the spotlight belongs to Jean-Baptist Grenouille.  His quest for beauty, his obsession, and his despair are perfectly portrayed by an unknown from England, Ben Whishaw.  His part is very difficult:  his character says very few words and communicates with the world on the level of scents.  Yet he is very convincing indeed, especially in his plasticity.  In everyday life Grenouille may seem awkward or even clumsy, but when given a purpose, his body acquires fluid, insect-like swiftness and agility, with facial expression to match.  I hope he is going to be recognized after this movie in the same way that Adrien Brody became a household name after “The Pianist” (I just hope he does not sell out in the same ugly “King Kong” way).

The story about Jean-Baptist Grenouille, the man with no smell of his own, intent on capturing beauty through odors and odors through murders, is followed from his birth to his tragic end.  A true survivor, brought up in filth and blood, a human cockroach, a man who never knew love and never heard a single kind word, he is nevertheless obsessed with beauty which he alone can sense.  In a world where brutality is the norm, death is common (virtually every person he comes in contact with ends up dead, and not by his fault), and confessions are obtained by torture, he values human life no more than people around him.  He can no more be blamed for his actions than a rattlesnake or a wolf, except he is driven not by hunger but by beauty.  His murders are nothing but an attempt to acquire and preserve beauty and love, but in the end he fails in his pursuit.  He finally concocts the ultimate “love potion” and becomes, the narrator informs us, “the most powerful man in the world,” as demonstrated in a very convincing way in the climax scene.  Its exact interpretation is up to a viewer, but Grenouille’s power is supreme and undisputed.  He can control people through their “collective subconscious,” but he does not want to control anybody, he just wants to be normal.  And, through a superb memory sequence in the end (not in the book per se, but a perfect illustration created by Tykwer), the realization of the futility of this desire is final.

Some may feel that the movie takes a few minutes to get going and even more time to truly develop, but I find it compelling from start to finish.  The fact that morbid visions have little effect on me helps.  This movie is a feast of passion and power.  If at the end of the film you aren’t left breathless, your nose must be stuffed.  Just don’t let the popcorn smell fool you, like it did many critics.  

A-.