Perfume — The Story of a Murderer
(Germany/France/Spain, 2006, 146 minutes)
In 18th century France, a young man born in the slums grows up with an astonishing ability to recognise and memorise scents, and after an apprenticeship with a Parisian perfume creator eventually turns to murder to bottle the ultimate scent. Period thriller adapting a perennial best-seller whose thoroughly unpleasant plot proves that what works on the printed page doesn’t necessarily translate to the big screen, even with this kind of lavish production values and stylish handling. Not badly done, but why do it?
Constantin Film presents a Constantin Film/VIP Medienfonds 4 production, in co-production with Nouvelles Éditions de Films and Castelao Productions; a Bernd Eichinger production; with the support of FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Bayerischen Banken Fonds, FilmFörderungsAnstalt, Centre National de la Cinématographie, Eurimages and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen; in association with Rising Star. Starring Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood; and Dustin Hoffman; John Hurt as the narrator; Karoline Herfurth. Directed by Tom Tykwer; produced by Bernd Eichinger; screenplay by Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger and Tom Tykwer, based on the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind; music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil; director of photography, Frank Griebe; production designer, Uli Hanisch; costume designer, Pierre-Yves Gayraud; film editor, Alexander Berner; visual effects supervisor, Dennis Lowe.
In 18th century France, a young man born in the slums grows up with an astonishing ability to recognise and memorise scents, and after an apprenticeship with a Parisian perfume creator eventually turns to murder to bottle the ultimate scent. Period thriller adapting a perennial best-seller whose thoroughly unpleasant plot proves that what works on the printed page doesn’t necessarily translate to the big screen, even with this kind of lavish production values and stylish handling. Not badly done, but why do it?
Constantin Film presents a Constantin Film/VIP Medienfonds 4 production, in co-production with Nouvelles Éditions de Films and Castelao Productions; a Bernd Eichinger production; with the support of FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Bayerischen Banken Fonds, FilmFörderungsAnstalt, Centre National de la Cinématographie, Eurimages and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen; in association with Rising Star. Starring Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood; and Dustin Hoffman; John Hurt as the narrator; Karoline Herfurth. Directed by Tom Tykwer; produced by Bernd Eichinger; screenplay by Andrew Birkin, Bernd Eichinger and Tom Tykwer, based on the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind; music by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil; director of photography, Frank Griebe; production designer, Uli Hanisch; costume designer, Pierre-Yves Gayraud; film editor, Alexander Berner; visual effects supervisor, Dennis Lowe.
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