tvlnow

(2013-05-21 00:33:03)

Preposterous Ending Worst Since Chris Elliot in the Abyss

I really, really wanted to love this movie. The locations, acting, 18thcentury machinery and enfluerage factory in Grasse were all veryinteresting and appealing. The plum girl (or was it apricots?) that setGrenoille on his cursed quest was enchanting. However, for me, theending was flat and ridiculous, and only a good excuse for the largestfilmed orgy ever.How could the scrapings and distillations of murdered wives anddaughters percolated into "spirits" be anything but evil? I fullyexpected a parade of demons or the undead or something to pay divineretribution to Grenouille for his murderous gluttony when he uncorkedthe small bottle somehow hidden on his person through days or weeks oftrial and torture. What I didn't expect was the world's mosttranscendent, mind-altering perfume d'amor being produced from thewicked acts of an idiot savante.Up through Act 2 of this film, I almost couldn't wait to tell myfriends about it. Act 3 pulled the rug out from under me. I give it a 5for sets and location.

Raymond Pley

(2013-05-20 10:37:03)

Good movie, but the book is better.

I've red the book 2 years ago. And when I heard the rumor there wassomeone who was trying to make a movie out of it, I questioned myself"How in Gods name would they do that?".Well, after watching the movie I understood. Just leave everything whatthe main character is thinking out. I suggest, that if you liked themovie, you should read the book. The main characters aren't written outcompletely in the movie. The motive is not clear, and in the book youcan actually read every scent he smells. This is not achieved in themovie.Considering this, the movie is still good. Quality camera work and goodacting.

kunwartouseef_94

(2013-05-20 10:01:36)

Brilliant movie...A must watch

Perfume is an awesome movie...it takes u in the world of scent...Iwatched this movie after its positive word of mouth and i completelyfell in love with this movie...i recommend this movie to all of u...dowatch this movie...it is not content to stimulate the eyes and ear..ittry to conquer the other senses as well...Ben Whishaw played the roleof Jean Baptice Grenouille perfectly...he fits in for therole...despite some faults the movie maintains its queasy grip..its amovie without any action,blood and wild chase scenes...people who likefast pace action movies will also like this movie too in myopinion...because this movie has its own charm and charisma... i givethis movie 9/10. so all people reading this review do watch this movieand enjoy the world of scent for two and a half hours.

Ty Burr

(2013-05-20 08:53:01)

The director stays true to the source novel even when it lifts into a magical realism that works only on the page, and his faithfulness betrays him. Perfume is a thriller that Hobbes might have envied.

Jurgen Fauth

(2013-05-18 15:46:07)

It's surprising that the director of Run Lola Run didn't make a movie that's lighter on its feet.

Homer-Jay

(2013-05-18 07:30:24)

All I have to say: please read the book!

I am sorry to say but this film means hardly anything to me. Theoriginal book by SГѓВјskind is a unique masterpiece, very unusual in styleand topic - and what I admired the most: There are no compromises.I had the impression that the movie missed the point and most of thetime it just bored me. When I first heard about the making of the film I still had hopes thatTom Tykwer might be able to make it although I was convinced that thisstory is somehow "unfilmable", it cannot be put in pictures. Now I ameven more convinced that it cannot be done. This really just works in ones imagination. For example: It is pointed out in the book that Grenouille is dislikedand avoided by most of the people. They have a strange feeling abouthim but they do not know why. They cannot make out that the reason isthe absence of a individual smell on him. This is impossible to put inpictures because people do not dislike him for something which can beseen on screen: It is not in the way he looks nor in his behaviour.What I also liked about the book: that it is quite impossible for thereader to identify with the hero, with the main character. But in thefilm he looks somehow handsome and in the beginning he is nothing but apoor strange orphan. Some people might start to like him.I also had high hopes because great actors like Dustin Hoffman and AlanRickman are in it. I thought the part of Baldini to be perfect forHoffman because of his monologue but the monologue never came!Sorry, I could give some more examples but it all comes down to thesame point: The movie remains on the surface of the story. In case youare interested in more - just pay a visit to your next library orbookshop.

zafer pur

(2013-05-17 23:13:24)

an interesting and wonderful film

I have seen that film yesterday.I have fond more good what I expectedit.there are a lot of scene surprising me. End of the film orgy sceneis amazing.I have never seen surprisingly a scene since terminator two. I cant understand some of people who are saying "bad film,boringfilm,etch.." it must give that people like dump and dumpermovies.please stay away from Europe movies my dear friends who likesAmerican movies. Don't misunderstand please. Hoollywood is capital ofmovie world .I like American Movies too .But it isn't respect againstEurope movies enough. That film is a best example of Europe movies. Dntforget that Hoolywood feed from others culture anymore.

(2013-05-17 04:00:46)

Waaaay too dark for me...I mean, WAY too dark.

This film should be released with a sternly worded warning about the graphic nature of the violence, particularly against women. It's a disturbing and overly long look inside the mind of an amoral young man with no guidance to develop any empathy.Bone-chilling with no relief for its entire length.I see no redeeming characteristics. I'm certain there will be those who disagree with this assessment but whoever does...well, I don't want to know them.

StreetLine

(2013-05-17 11:15:16)

Brilliant film for a long time

First I read the book in August 2006, one month before the film startsin the German cinemas. The book really enthralled me...the story, thediction, the action and many more. I commend everybody first read thenovel and then watch the film. Then in October I watch the film with mybrother. It was the best film i've watch for a long time. Sometimes Iwas a little bit frightened of some scenes. I wondered if it was goodfor twelve-year-old kids. Many passages were implemented very well.Some scenes were changed a little bit, but that was okay. The film teamdid a good job and it is really worth to watch this film...also asecond time:-)

sushilord

(2013-05-17 02:08:35)

Good adaption

Contains some spoilers so be warned: I think I had a very nice eveningyesterday. I saw this movie and was really captured by the story. Ihave read the book so of course there are some things, one notices, notexactly like in the book but that really doesn't matter. I think afterhe went to Grasse the movie really picked up the pace, which in myeyes, was a bit disturbing. He kills his 12 women in 10 minutes and itlooks like he picks them very random. Of course a women's scent hasnothing to do with their social status, but still I thought that Tykwercould have focused on that part a little bit more. What I really likedwas the the scene after he discovered the "plum girl" in Paris, afterdelivering the leather with his boss, and how he sniffled her. Thewhole cinema was filled with silence at that scene because all theviewers were really focused and enjoying, really wonderful.

(2013-05-16 05:22:04)

A great movie

This movie was quite different however I found it interesting. I am not quite sure what occurred at the end but I found all of it plausible.

(2013-05-15 15:15:30)

Great Movie

This review is from: Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer (Blu-Ray) (DVD) Although the story is rather dark, this is an excellent movie. The scenes of the Paris market are so visceral that you gain a real sense of the misery and stench. The convention of showing what the main character smells is brilliant. The point is made without being cheesy or over the top. Well acted, well shot, well directed..... All of the crafts in this movie are well done, including production design and costume. I have not read the book but I've been told this was an excellent job of capturing a very difficult story, where the main character is not a sympathetic character at all.

dweston

(2013-05-15 01:16:36)

Could have been good. Disappointing, irritating, sickening instead.

I'm usually one to go for dark. I like artsy, original films. And I'mnot a prude, nor am I oversensitive. BUT, I found this to be truly,truly atrocious. I think I might have actually liked the book version -the story itself is very intriguing, like some of the Gothic novelsI've read or read about. But watching it -- well, I felt disgusted.Beautiful naked dead women and hetero male-oriented orgy scenes aside,the astoundingly terrible accents made me want to pull my own hair out.C'mon. They're supposedly in medieval Paris and Dustin Hoffman'scharacter is supposedly Italian, yet everyone spoke Englishinconsistently tinged with accents from various parts of Great Britain.Better direction and acting might have made the incredible somehowbelievable (in the manner of dark magical realism), but here it justseemed irritatingly implausible. Go ahead and watch it - you might likeit. Just have a back up on hand, just in case.

(2013-05-14 10:43:18)

Did not expect this film be about.

Wow, this man got away with murder for a long time. He was insane. A interesting story. I don't know if I would recommend this film, because of all the murders

Kim Voynar

(2013-05-13 18:39:08)

I fully expect a lot of folks to dismiss this film as violent and misogynistic, and looking at it just on the surface, it would be tempting to do so -- and it would also be completely missing the point.

gerhajdu

(2013-05-13 10:58:24)

To offer..

I should offer this movie to everyone, but especially for fans offilms, boys and girls more than group of friends, and for people whothink themselves earnest enough because deep inside i found this a veryserious and complex movie. This movie is also filled with love,despair, fear and comedy. Comedy is not so important but Hoffman reallydemands appreciation and gives much to the film. I'm absolutely aboutto rent and buy the DVD.Everyone who wants humanity, feelings and fun, this movie is just toentertain you. ...................................................... Igave it 9 because it's near perfection.

argus-10

(2013-05-13 16:04:23)

Film as an exciting synaesthetic and intermedial experience

When Patrick SГѓВјskind's novel The Perfume was first published in Germanyin 1985, I soon read it, and with great pleasure. The author succeededin rendering the universe of Grenouille, a human being with aninfallible nose. Grenouille's ability to tell what a man has eaten ordone hours before by the smell he emits is a source of surprise andamusement for the reader. Sure enough, the novel depends on the facultyof language to name and describe almost everything, odors included.When the screen adaptation was advertised, I asked myself how scent wasgoing to be rendered by this medium. The simplest means is to showthings, for example dead fish or young ladies, and then show Grenouillesniffing, so the spectator knows what Grenouille is smelling. The filmmakes indeed ample use of this means. But there is more to it. Oursenses are not as independent of each other as it may seem.Physiologists or our own experience tell us that sense of smell and oftaste are intimately connected, and poets have discovered long ago thatvowels may evoke colors and that the smell of fancy cakes dipped intotea may raise childhood memories. Simply showing a fruit or a flowercan thus evoke its smell, and the film makes use of this means also.Compared to the eye, the nose is a sense organ of short distances. Inthe film, the camera approaches its objects to such a degree that youcan discern e.g. every hair and pore of a human skin. But withGrenouille, the nose bridges also long distances. When he pursues Lauraand her father, the camera follows in acceleration the trace of scentthe two left from the bifurcation where Grenouille is sniffing aroundup to their actual position miles ahead.Odors can provoke visions. The film shows us the flowers and maidensBaldini sees when he smells the perfume Grenouille has mixed. Baldiniteaches Grenouille that a good perfume is composed of twelve singleessences, grouped into three chords of four which become discernible inthe course of time. Now this combination of simultaneity and successionis also a characteristic of music (harmony and melody), and in fact,the harmony-centered film music causes feelings of well-being whichmight stem also from a well-prepared scent.In one scene towards the end of the film, Grenouille's perfume actslike a drug. A whole crowd falls into a love-delirium. People strip offtheir clothes and embrace each other. The screen fills up with massesof human flesh similar to a Rubens canvas.Apart from these intermedial features, the film offers also a livelyillustration of 18th-century France. Highly recommended!

(2013-05-12 18:47:45)

ok

This review is from: Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer (DVD) recibido antes de tiempo,muy buen servicio y excelentes condiciones,el empaque y las condiciones del producto excelente,contento con todo y relamente lo que pedi

(2013-05-12 19:56:01)

Terrible

OMG two hours I've forever lost. Should have read the reviews first, won't make that mistake again. SLOW, SLOW AND SLOW, which then turns into slower aggravation.

(2013-05-12 08:30:56)

Lack of subtlety...

I don't really know why there is so much fascination in adapting famousbooks to the cinema language, for both filmmakers and film-viewers,specially if the book is a famous best seller one. Comparisons willtake place, no doubt. 'Das ParfГѓВјrm' is almost a collective part of alot of people's memory and wakes curiosity the film itself. So, thecommon 'comment' after watching the film goes like "in the book itwas..." or "it's not as good as the book...". Will the commonfilm-viewer ever understand that cinema language is absolutelydifferent than literature language (in all genres)? Anyhow,expectations are served. Jean-Baptiste is someone special since he isborn, in the middle of a fish market, where the smelling was everywhereexcept in him. As he grows, the scents and smelling become his path forpleasure, for recognizing, for commitments. In his memories he keepsall kind of scents, even without knowing where they come from, and hetries to bring them back to reality, as perfumes. When he achieves it,he attempts to create his best perfume, moral apart, regardless of theway he does it. 'Das Parfurm', is a great manufactured film, no doubt,great scenarios, great cinematography, create custom design. The film,although basically a German production, was filmed in English, notbeing the first time (perhaps for an international appeal?), and not soimportant for the German audience (as it's common to see dubbedversions). I didn't actually mention 'good editing' among the virtuesof 'Das ParfГѓВјm'. Some of the most exciting moments of the film, arewhen some scents call the attention of some characters (the plum girl,Baldini, Dominique, the orgy, etc), and the way the film 'tries' toshow us the effect on them is with fast and short cuts,'a-la-Hollywood', which I am not saying is bad, but it is just toorapid in the visual way, and not as subtle as a scent actually wouldwork. A resource which is over-used lately in a lot of films is theclose-up. And I guess that happens when a director finds kind ofnon-easy to portray a character, so, let us see at least a close-up ofthe actor. Again, lack of subtlety. So, I wouldn't even praise theachievement in make up in this film, only for showing us closely thenoses and faces of some actors. I am not the greatest fan of TomTykwer, yet I think he's a good director (I liked 'Der Krieger Und DieKaiserin' and 'TГѓВ¶dliche Maria'), but as a stage-director, he may losesome control on his actors, that lead us to see Alan Rickman as a flatcharacter and Dustin Hoffman as mis-casted, Ben Whishaw is fantasticfor creating and developing his own Jean-Baptiste (watch his tics) andit's hard to avoid to see him a bit overacted in some scenes. JessicaSchwartz in her short role is great, she has what is called presence,one keeps an eye on her. And the orgy's scene made me laugh formoments, I would rather have felt embarrassed. Another resource whichis sometimes unnecessarily used is the voice-off. Again, lack ofsubtlety in 'Das ParfГѓВјrm'. A couple of gags would have been enough forstating some facts (in the book a woman says that the child "doesn'tsmell", for instance), but trying to explain or just to state afeeling, it's just as annoying as it was in the 'Blade Runner' firstversion. I like voice-off in films like Wong Kar-Wai's, where the factsare stated, but the rest, is a work of the viewer... one again, lack ofsubtlety (perhaps Hollywood influence? in Hollywood films basicallyeverything has to be clarified!) I am not disappointed with 'DasParfГѓВјrm', I was entertained, I enjoyed the experience, but I have to behonest by saying the typical phrase "it could've been better...". Andmore expectations are served, I heard someone will adapt 'El Amor EnLos Tiempos De CГѓВіlera (Love In Times Of Cholera)' by GarcГѓВ­a MГѓВЎrquez.Those are books quite different than those by Chrichton (while readingthem the reader can only imagine "for this character Chrichton wantsTom Cruise, for this one he wants Nicholson...").