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MOVIES / ON DVD / PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

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Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

56%
50%
76%
N/A
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56 %
Reviews Counted: 119 Fresh: 67  Rotten:52 Average Rating: 6.1/10
 
Consensus: 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.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for aberrant behavior involving nudity, violence, sexuality, and disturbing images.

Runtime: 2 hrs 27 mins

Theatrical Release: 26-12-2006

Synopsis: Author Patrick Suskind enjoys a career shrouded in Salinger-esque mystery. Suskind's best-selling novel PERFUME was coveted by Hollywood for many years, and finally makes it to the screen in this production helmed by Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN). The film stays remarkably faithful to the... Author Patrick Suskind enjoys a career shrouded in Salinger-esque mystery. Suskind's best-selling novel PERFUME was coveted by Hollywood for many years, and finally makes it to the screen in this production helmed by Tom Tykwer (RUN LOLA RUN). The film stays remarkably faithful to the author's vision, perfectly summoning up the brooding ominousness of small-town life in 18th-century France, and getting the casting of its central character, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), exactly right. Grenouille is an orphan whose sense of smell is extraordinarily acute. He impresses master perfumer Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) enough to work for him, and this sets Grenouille off on an epic quest to find the perfect scent. When he discovers that killing young women and bottling their essence is the only way he can achieve his dream, Grenouille is soon a wanted man with multiple murders to his name. However, when it comes to making one last kill--namely the attractive redhead Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood)--the young perfumer may have met his match in her overprotective father, Richis (Alan Rickman). Tykwer's film is an impressive achievement, not least because the subject of scent and the cinematic medium were always going to make uneasy bedfellows. Couple that with the weight of expectation caused by the millions of readers who have delighted in Suskind's words, and it needed a brave director to take on such a project. Whishaw is a revelation in his first major screen appearance, and Tykwer made a wise choice in bringing in some older heads (Rickman, Hoffman) to support the younger actor. Visually, the film is stunning, and cinematographer Frank Griebe clearly worked hard to bring Suskind and Tykwer's visions to life. But ultimately this is an ensemble piece, with cast and crew all pulling together to create a film that simmers with a hushed menace throughout. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood

Producer: Bernd Eichinger
Composer: Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek
Director: Tom Tykwer

Reviews

 
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01/06/07
Philip French
Guardian [UK]
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5/5

This is a thoroughly enjoyable, brilliantly directed thriller with a great script and a terrific central performance from Ben Whishaw. One of the best films of the year. Unmissable.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/04/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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N/A

It’s a film so sumptuous that afterwards you’ll feel you’ve consumed a very, very rich meal indeed.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
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N/R

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Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
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3/5

Scratch 'n' sniff cinema.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/30/06
Jamie Russell
BBC
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4/5

The odd conclusion renders it somewhat oblique, but Perfume is a feast for the senses. Smell it with your eyes...

Full Review | comment Comment
11/29/06
Dan Jolin
Empire Magazine
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4/5

This tale of a brilliant sociopath is disturbing and often uncomfortable to watch. And it's also magical filmmaking.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/29/06
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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B+

[Its] off-the-charts screwiness obscures virtually all shortcomings.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/21/07
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
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74/100

While you might not come away from a viewing feeling entirely satisfied, you will almost certainly have lots to talk about.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/20/07
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
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2/4

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/15/07
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette
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3/5

Una estupenda reconstrucción histórica y un atractivo tratamiento visual son los principales valores de esta interesante aunque irregular adaptación.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/06/07
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
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N/A

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/15/07
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
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N/A

Agree or disagree, this is a work so bold and provocative and distinctive that it demands to be seen.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/12/07
George Wu
culturevulture.net
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C

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Full Review | comment Comment
03/02/07
Christian Science Monitor
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5/10

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.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/12/07
Rod Gudino
Rue Morgue Magazine
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4/6

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02/03/07
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York
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B+

Ghastly and horrific, entertaining and mesmerizing, and it smells fantastic.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/30/07
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
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N/A

An intoxicating fable about a man whose phenomenal sense of smell sets him on an irrevocable course, Perfume is a captivating, if overlong adaptation.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/25/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
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2.5/4

We want to root for him, but he is more of a villain. The dichotomy is savory.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/25/07
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit
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5/5

Stanley Kubrick e Martin Scorsese chegaram a declarar que [Perfume], livro do alemão Patrick Süskind, seria "infilmável". Pois até os gênios erram.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/25/07
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
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Related Forums

A self-indulgent, masturbatory waste of 147 minutes
by: Snoutbuster 7/15


Perfume: The Story of Murderer
by: battison 3/11


sos10
Best film of the year.. by far
by: sos10 2/25


Fine film, difficult message
by: Teebaxter 2/10


noir62
James Whale would be proud
by: noir62 1/1
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