Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

  This was another of those movies that I had to see again to decide if I liked it.  Christy (of the Experiment) gave it to me a year or so ago because "this is a you movie, not a me movie" as she said.  The first time I watched it, the ending struck me as a little cold but maybe I was paying more attention to it this time, or maybe I was just in a different state of mind but I didn't mind it so much.

Jean-Baptiste (Ben Whishaw) has an almost supernatural sense of smell.  Born in the fishmonger's district and almost immediately sold to an orphanage, Jean-Baptiste's life isn't exactly a basket of roses.  At 13, he is sold to a tannery and that's where his talents really come into play.  On an errand into the city, he is captivated by the aroma of a young plum-seller (Karoline Herfurth).  She, obviously, is more than a little creeped out by this dude who keeps trying to smell her and he accidentally kills her while trying to keep her from screaming.  At death, though, her scent fades, distressing Jean-Baptiste greatly.  Not so much that he just killed a woman, but that he will never again be able to smell her.  It becomes his mission in life to learn how to preserve scent.  He gets himself apprenticed to a formerly glorious perfumer named Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) and learns the art of distillation.  It works very well on flowers but not so well on more esoteric things:  iron, copper, the housecat.  Baldini explains that the town of Grasse is famous for their en florage method of preserving scent.  Off goes the journeyman Jean-Baptiste to Provence.  Coincidentally, a string of murders begins in the same place; all young women of surpassing beauty.  The town's fathers are in an uproar, especially Antoine Richis (Alan Rickman), since his daughter Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood) is the fairest of them all.

You see, Jean-Baptiste has discovered a perfume that captures the essence of Beauty, because beauty is what makes the world go round.  Love follows Beauty and Beauty, Love as a snake biting its own tail. We love things that are beautiful and the things that we love become beautiful because we love them.  We find ourselves eager to do things for beautiful people.  It's why you'll never see a hot homeless person.  Jean-Baptiste has never known love, only obsession.

Anyway, it's a gorgeous film and I encourage everyone to see it.  Even if you don't like it, I think you should appreciate the artistry.  After all, beautiful things should be preserved.