Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (8 out of 10)

I just saw Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. This is directed by Tom Tykwer, the guy that did Run Lola Run. It stars Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, and Alan Rickman namely. It is based in 18th century France, and it is a mix of thriller, mystery, fantasy, and a bit of black comedy. Mainly, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), is born with an incredible sense of smell. He can smell anything and everything, and one of his talents is being to tell the types and amounts of oils within perfumes. Therefore, he begins his job as an apprentice perfumier. However, he finds the most beautiful of scents comes from women, and in order to preserve their scent and make the most amazing perfume, he starts murdering them.

This movie is based off of a book even Stanley Kubrick believed was unadaptable (I got that tidbit off of IMDB). Tykwer does a wonderful job here though. The premise alone is original and interesting, but the movie is so vibrant and interesting. Ben Whishaw, who plays the lead, looks like a more disturbing Hayden Christensen in a way, though Ben Whishaw can actually act. He does a great job in this movie, acting so incredibly eerie.

The movie dragged as it came closer to the ending, but it was all brought together satisfyingly. Perfume is so colorful and beautiful to watch in that so much attention is paid to the details of what you are seeing. It's as if the makers wanted the audience to see the way Grenouille smells. Therefore, at it's dirtiest and it's most elegant, the film is a wonder to watch.

The ending is hilarious, and definitely puts this movie into the "fantasy" realm, if the Super Sense of Smell did not do that already. I loved the ending in that it did not go down safer, oft-travelled roads, but rather did it's own shocking thing. It's get more and more out there, and culminates superbly.

Perfume is a fun movie on many levels, and is wholly original. It has a number of great performances, and is only harmed by the pacing, as, like I said before, it gets somewhat bogged down as it reaches the end.

I am movied out. I have a review for Volver, but I will do that tomorrow. I'm taking a small break from seeing movies, but I'll be back at it soon. Columbus is getting a lot of great limited releases this month.