Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (film)
Perfume The Story of a Murderer is a 2006 German fantasy thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer and starring Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel HurdWood, and Dustin Hoffman. Tykwer, with Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, also composed the music. The screenplay by Tykwer, Andrew Birkin, and Bernd Eichinger is based on Patrick Sskinds 1985 novel Perfume. Set in 18th century France, the film tells the story of JeanBaptiste Grenouille Whishaw, an olfactory genius, and his homicidal quest for the perfect scent.
The film begins with the sentencing of JeanBaptiste Grenouille Ben Whishaw, a notorious murderer. Between the reading of the sentence and the execution, the story of his life is told in flashback, beginning with his abandonment at birth in a French fish market. Raised in an orphanage, Grenouille grows into a strangely detached boy with a superhuman sense of smell. After growing to maturity as a tanners apprentice, he makes his first delivery to Paris, where he revels in the new odors. He focuses on a redheaded girl Karoline Herfurth selling yellow plums, following her and repeatedly attempting to sniff her, but startles her with his behavior. To prevent her from crying out, he covers the girls mouth and unintentionally suffocates her. After realizing that she is dead, he strips her body naked and smells her all over, becoming distraught when her scent fades. Afterwards, Grenouille is haunted by the desire to recreate the girls aroma.After making a delivery to a perfume shop, Grenouille amazes the Italian owner, Giuseppe Baldini Dustin Hoffman, with his ability to identify and create fragrances. He revitalizes the perfumers career with new formulas, demanding only that Baldini teach him how to preserve scents. Baldini explains that all perfumes are harmonies of twelve individual scents, and may contain a theoretical thirteenth scent. Grenouille continues working for Baldini but is saddened when he learns that Baldinis method of distillation will not capture the scents of all objects. Baldini informs Grenouille of another method that can be learned in Grasse and agrees to help him by providing the journeyman papers he requires in exchange for 100 new perfume formulas. En route to Grasse, Grenouille decides to exile himself from society, taking refuge in a cave. During this time, he discovers that he has no body odor, and is therefore worthless. He decides that creating the perfect perfume will prove his worth, and continues onwards to Grasse. ........
Source: Wikipedia
