orangerful | movie thoughts: Perfume... (Reply)

jimithingy had read this book awhile back, on the reccommendation of a friend. I had meant to read the book...but I am lame. So, last night, I Netflixed the movie version. We were a bit concerned, since there was pretty much no advertising for this film. But after seeing it, I understand why. The full title of the movie, and the book, is "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer".

jimithingy tells me the movie was very close to the book - lots of sniffing things and then describing them. But, he says, the book had more time to go into the craft of perfume making in the time period. The movie sort of glosses over it all, focusing on Jean-Baptiste's obsession with "preserving scent".

There is no hero in this movie. There is only a villian. And one that is so deeply disturbed that he doesn't really realize what he is doing. It is like some twisted fairy tale, with a "moral" at the end that is just creepy. I can't deny that the film was well done, well acted, well shot, but it wasn't really enjoyable. Not something I'd ever watch again. And I'm sure the story worked better in the realm of printed fiction as opposed to the restraints of what you can do on film (no matter how good John Hurt's voiceover is).

If you've read the book, you might enjoy seeing the movie, if only for the interpretation. I can't really recommend the movie. I suppose there are worse movies that hit the 2 1/2 hour mark. And it wasn't bad or unwatchable. Just not really fun.

(Oh, and for those of you, like me, who have seen Sweeney Todd and assume this will be similar. It's not. Completely different angle. :\ Here I was hoping he would have a chance to sell the perfume!)