Summary - Really Great 4.5

An amazing film, but definitely for the art-house crowd. There are long expanses without dialogue in this movie and a lot of imagery. Think ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, that amount of dialogue, and with an intensely different story. Not a happy story, this film tells of an obsession so consuming that it blots out anything else. You may not love it, but I doubt you’ll be able to turn away from it in a twisted fascination for this story that quickly grabs the viewer. Based on the famed novel by Patrick Suskind, it’s an amazing achievement to have captured so elegantly the soul of the book in film format.

Acting - Really Great 4.5

Ben Wishaw give a commendable performance as the main character, ‘Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’. A man with an extraordinary gift for smell. So extraordinary infact, that he becomes obsessed with finding the perfect scent.
Dustin Hoffman also puts in an appearance as the lovable perfume maker under which Jean-Baptiste takes an apprenticeship and steals the scene in his over-the-top attire and compelling performance.

Film - Perfect 5.0

The imagery and panning shots are gorgeously executed here. It leaves little, if anything, to be desired.

Edge - Sordid 3.3

Numerous naked women are shown throughout the show (though note in an objectifying way, they just happen to be nude.) There is also a few minor sex scenes and at one point a mass orgy is shown (I will not post the reason, it would spoil the film.) The killing and scalping of numerous women. A scene of what could be described as cannabalism (though the context is very important to this scene)

Reality - Surreal 3.0

Surreal in that, it’s not entirely believable, but it will make you think twice about how real it could be.

More reviews on Perfume: The Story of a Murderer More reviews by Snoodle

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