Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
is a 2006 thriller film directed by Tom Tykwer and written by Andrew
Birkin, Bernd Eichinger and Tykwer. It is based on the 1985 novel
Perfume by Patrick Süskind. Set in 18th century France, the film tells
the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), an olfactory
genius, and his homicidal quest for the perfect scent. The film also
stars Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman and Rachel Hurd-Wood; John Hurt
provides narration.
The
film was made on a budget of €50 million, making it one of the most
expensive German films. Principal photography began on July 12, 2005 and
concluded on October 16, 2005; filming took place in Spain, Germany and
France.
Perfume was released on September 14, 2006 in Germany. It grossed
$135,039,943 worldwide, of which $53,125,663 was made in Germany.
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Video Format: 23.976 fps / MKV
Duration: 2Hrs 27min
Dimension: 1280x544
Size: 700MB
Download:
LINK 1
The
film begins with the sentencing of Jean-Baptiste 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 tanner's
apprentice, he makes his first delivery to Paris, where he revels in the
new odors. He focuses on a girl selling plums (Karoline Herfurth) and
startles her with his behavior. To prevent her from crying out, he
covers the girl's mouth and unintentionally suffocates her. After
realizing that she is dead, he strips her body naked and smells her
until the scent fades. Afterwards, Grenouille becomes haunted by the
desire to recreate the plum slicing girl's scent.
After
making a delivery to a perfume shop, Grenouille amazes the Italian
owner, Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman), with his ability to create
fragrances. He revitalizes the perfumer's career with new formulas,
demanding only that Baldini teach him how to convert scents into
perfume. Baldini explains that all perfumes are harmonies of 12
individual scents, and may contain a theoretical 13th scent. He also
tells a story about a perfume discovered in an Egyptian tomb that was so
perfect that it caused everyone in the entire world to briefly believe
they were in paradise the moment the bottle was opened. When Grenouille
discovers that Baldini's method of distillation will not capture the
scents of all objects, such as iron chains and dead animals, he becomes
depressed. After receiving a letter of presentation written by Baldini,
Grenouille leaves to learn a different method in Grasse. En route to
Grasse, Grenouille realises that he has no scent of his own, and is
therefore a cipher. He decides that creating the perfect smell will
prove his worth.
Upon
arrival in Grasse, Grenouille catches the scent of Laura Richis (Rachel
Hurd-Wood), daughter of the wealthy Antoine Richis (Alan Rickman) and
decides that she will be his "13th scent", the linchpin of his perfect
perfume. Grenouille finds a job in Grasse under Madame Arnulfi (Corinna
Harfouch) and Dominique Druot (Paul Berrondo) assisting with perfumes
and learns the method of enfleurage. He kills a lavender picker and
attempts to extract her scent using the method of hot enfleurage, which
fails. After this, he tries the method of cold enfleurage on a
prostitute and successfully preserves the scent of the woman. Grenouille
embarks on a killing spree, murdering beautiful young girls and
capturing their scents. He dumps the women's naked corpses around the
city, creating panic. After preserving the first 12 scents, Grenouille
plans his attack on Laura. During a church sermon against him it is
announced that a man has confessed to the murders. Richis remains
unconvinced and flees the city with his daughter. Grenouille tracks her
scent to a roadside inn and sneaks into her room that night. The next
morning, Richis discovers Laura lying dead in her bed.
Soldiers capture Grenouille moments after he finishes preparing his
perfume. On the day of his execution, he applies a drop of the perfume
over himself. The executioner and the crowd in attendance are speechless
at the beauty of the perfume; they declare Grenouille innocent before
falling into a massive orgy. Richis, still convinced of Grenouille's
guilt, threatens him with his sword, before being overwhelmed by the
scent and embracing Grenouille as his "son". Eventually, the town
awakens and decides that the godly Grenouille could not have been the
murderer. Druot is convicted for the murders and hanged, since it was
his backyard where the clothes and hair of the victims were found.
Walking out of Grasse unscathed, Grenouille has enough perfume to rule
the world, but has discovered that it will not allow him to love or be
loved like a normal person. Disenchanted by his aimless quest and tired
of his life, he returns to Paris. Back in the city, Grenouille returns
to the fish market where he was born and dumps the perfume on his head.
Overcome by the scent and in the belief that Grenouille is an angel, the
nearby crowd devours him. The next day, all that is left are his
clothes and the open perfume bottle, from which one final drop of
perfume falls.
NOTE:
See the public sex orgy with the Cardinal in the final scene. For mature viewers only.
