Perfume: The story of a murderer

Dear readers,

I had the opportunity to see a great film: "Perfume: the story of a murderer".
I really enjoyed reading the novel from Patrick Süskind a few years ago and I must admit the adaptation is delicate, sensitive and reliable (fidele). I sincerely recommend you to see it as the atmosphere is exactly the same as on the novel. Only scents were missing on theater, otherwise all would have been perfect.

For your record, Patrick Süskind has refused for 20 years to sell the rights to adapt his novel on screens. 15 M of books were sold all around the world and translated into 45 languages. It was published the first time in 1985.

Some technical figures for the film:

- 520 technicians
- 67 actors
- about 100 scenery (plurial - decors)
- 5,200 walker-on (figurant)
- Shooting in Provence, Munich and Spain

The most difficulty was the adaptation of scent.  Here is an interesting article from The Guardian on this matter:

Critics sniffy over Perfume, the 'unfilmable' film

· €50m movie of bestseller is Germany's most costly
· Kubrick, Scorsese, Scott backed out of project

Jess Smee in Berlin
Friday September 8, 2006

Guardian

A 15-year wait for the film realisation of Patrick Süskind's best-selling novel Perfume ended last night with the Munich premiere of the project which many thought would be impossible to recreate on the big screen.

Set in the murky (obscur, tenebreux) backstreets of 18th century Paris, the book tracks (traquer) Jean-Baptiste Grenouille - born without a personal odour but who develops a superior olfactory sense - on his murderous quest for the perfect scent (parfum). With international sales of 15m copies, it is the most successful German novel for decades. It also caught the imagination of many film directors.

Stanley Kubrick was among those who fantasised (fantasmer) about filming the book before he reputedly (censement) ditched (abandonner) it as "unfilmable".

Other big names at some time linked to the elusive (insaisissable) project were Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Tim Burton. But, years after the book's publication, it was finally the German cinema director Tom Tykwer who took the hot seat.

Süskind is keeping far from the limelight (bien en vue, en vedette). Born in 1949, he has a sparse (claireseme) bibliography of books and plays, and lives a reclusive life in Munich. But the film, starring Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and newcomer Ben Whishaw as Grenouille, is already being lauded (louer) as a likely (probable) hit of the year. With a budget of €50m, it is claimed (revendiquer) to be the most costly German film to date.

However it remains to be seen whether the film can replicate the key to the book's success: its ability to conjure up (evoquer) smell.

Born without a personal odour, Grenouille is obsessed with creating a perfect smell for himself, an olfactory mission which impels (pousser) him to murder virgins for their scent. Süskind's descriptions dwell (demeurer) on the stench (puanteur) of the fish market and pungent (acre) Parisian alleys.

The film's producer, Bernd Eichinger, the man behind the controversial Hitler film Downfall, said the film aims to bring smell to celluloid by imitating the author's attention to detail. "While Süskind used the clear and exact power of words, we use the power of image, noise and music," he said. "When filming a lawn (pelouse) in sunlight, or even a single tree, all that is needed is absolute optical precision and then smells are created."

But although German film critics praised the costumes and acting, many argued that the film fell short of conveying the sense of smell. The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said it did not match up to the book and "in the end failed to emerge as the orgasm of a film it wanted to be". Meanwhile, Die Zeit weekly ridiculed the film as "big nose theatre", saying it rather obviously tried to convey smell through close-up shots (plan rapproche) of the protagonist's nose - of which there were no less than 27. 

Well, a few words about the actors:
Ben Whishaw is astounding (stupefiant) and Rachel Hurd-Wood is perfect as a red (rousse) and pure virgin.

For further information:

http://movies.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=142190
http://www.perfumemovie.com/
http://imdb.com/title/tt0396171/
http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/hollywood/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000837579
http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=2616
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/patrick-suskind/
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5866

Talk to you soon.

With best wishes,
Ceraulen