Perfume: The Story of a Murderer2006
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Perfume is what you'd expect from a Tom Twyker-directed movie glamorizing a serial killer: a kinetic visual feast, with a dark antihero that's impossible to feel sympathy for.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Videos
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Photos
Movie Info
Watch it now
Cast
as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
as Guiseppe Baldini
as Antoine Richis
as Laura
as The Plum Girl
as Gatekeeper
as Mme. Gaillard
as Natalie
as Mme. Arnulfi
as Dominique Druot
as Boarding House Boy
as Chenier
as Boarding House Girl
as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille at 5 Years Old
as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille at 12 Years Old
as Upholsterer
as Françoise
as Tallien's Wife
as Police Lieutenant
as Messenger
as Innkeeper
as Torture Chamber Guard
as Executioner
as Land Priest
as Woman With Bishop
as Hangover Girl
as Customer Fishmarket
as Beggar Woman No. 1
as Beggar Woman No. 2
as Grenouille's Mother
as Bishop of Grasse
as Mayor of Grasse
as Court Official
as Guard No. 1 Dungeon
as Fishmarket Customer
as Fishmarket Woman
as Aunt
as Fishmarket Woman No. 2
as Aunt
as Baldini's Wife
as Pelissier
as Neapolitan Girl
as Young Woman
as Lucien
as Marianne
as Albine
as Councillor No. 1
as Tallien
as Councillor No. 2
as Housekeeper
as Councillor No. 3
as Councillor No. 4
as Grimal
as Marquis de Montesquieu
as Jeanne
as Guard No. 2 Dungeon
as Chief Magistrate
as Messenger
as Porter
as Driver
as Marcel
as Police Lieutenant
as Door Guard
as Narrator
News & Interviews for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Critic Reviews for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
All Critics (129) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (76) | Rotten (53) | DVD (5)
[Its] off-the-charts screwiness obscures virtually all shortcomings.
Tykwer loses his cinematic grip when he tries to blend murder and piety. In his hands, the two don't emulsify.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is another nauseous example of style over content: a toxic tale of serial homicide set in 18th-century France that creeps you out faster than it makes you think.
Hated this movie. Hated it.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer never tries to make Jean-Baptiste sympathetic but he's not rendered monstrous, either: He just is a victim of a passion larger and more powerful than any one man can handle.
[The filmmakers] render a portrait of Paris that both delights and overwhelms the senses. This is a movie where eyes turn into noses, which may run at the many ghastly sights presented.
Audience Reviews for Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Some nice production design but so loathsome that hardly makes it worth looking at.
Super Reviewer
Great costumes and good acting. But the story's a bit...odd. Not a satisfying conclusion at all.
Super Reviewer
An arthouse film involving obsession, murder, and...perfume? Odd, but intriguing. The broad concept (a man with a highly developed sense of smell, one that is so intense that it is the primary way he experiences the world strives to capture the essence of love) is kinda interesting, and has the potential to be riveting, but, with how the thigns are executed here, it's a disappointment. I like artsy films, I do. But man, even with a potentially intriguing and involving concept, this is just a plodding, overlong bore. That, and it gets really absurd and hard to take seriously at times, especially the over the top ending. Yeah, there are some moments that are really creppy, atmospheric, thrilling and well done, but overall this is a lackluster thriller that doesn't deliver the goods often enough. The production values are great, the film looks spectacular, and the music is quite good, but there's not a whole lot here that's really all that stunning. The cast is good, but their performances seem off, distant, and like they're jsut going through the motions. Plus, as I keep saying, the concept is potentially itneresting, but let's think about it: a sense of smell is the main driving force here. That's not an easy thing to make work, and I think they could have done a better job with the concept. There's no shortage of talent here, but I just think that everyone went about it the wrong way a lot of times, hence why the film is the way it is. It's not a total failure, but man, this is a tough one to sit through.
Super Reviewer
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Quotes
| Antoine Richis: | Paris is not smarter than us. |
| Antoine Richis: | It's not about faith! There's a murderer out there! |
| Narrator: | He still had enough perfume left to enslave the whole world if he so chose. He could walk to Versailles and have the king kiss his feet. He could write the pope a perfumed letter and reveal himself as the new Messiah. He could do all this, and more, if he wanted to. He possessed a power stronger than the power of money, or terror, or death - the invincible power to command the love of man kind. There was only one thing the perfume could not do. It could not turn him into a person who could love and be loved like everyone else. So, to hell with it he thought. To hell with the world. With the perfume. With himself. |