Review: PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER ~ From Book to Film

'[...]his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of scent.'  

Süskind's novel is one you'll be glad you stuck your nose into.   

   Written in 1985, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (or Das Parfum as it appears in its original German) tells the story of 18th century man gifted from birth with the finest nose in the world. With it, he can detect, and distinguish between, every smell under the sun. 

   Relishing in the thousands of odours he encounters and stores up like ghostly memories in his black heart, he soon becomes obsessed with creating a perfume like no other on earth: a perfume made up of the collected fragrances of beautiful, young woman.  Its crowning glory will be the most intoxicating and elusive female scent he has ever encountered; and he will stop at nothing to possess it...

   Split into lots of short chapters and with eloquent and very pretty prose that are satisfyingly easy to read,  it is the ideal book for dipping in and out of; though, perhaps because of this, you may well find yourself lured into sniffing out "just one more chapter..." after another. It is a very pensive novel, and challenges our notions of beauty, self, and social order, yet all in a manner that refuses to be heavy going or patronising to the reader.

   Due to the fact that much of the book's most poignant moments involve the experiencing of certain aromas and the internal reflections and revelations they incur, it is certainly a difficult book to adapt onto screen. However, despite a certain necessary trimming-down of time periods, Tom Tywker's 2006 film adaption (see trailer above) is largely successful in its portrayal of such a seemingly impossible novel to film; all thanks to a clever use of 'blooming' light effects, camera shots and angles, and (the usual favourite of mine) a superb soundtrack (see right) which manages to beautifully imitate the detection and elusiveness of scents and the veritable ecstasy Grenouille feels in encountering them (best identified in the tracks  'Streets of Paris' (1:51) and 'Meeting Laura' (27:09)).

    Without wishing to ruin the end of either the book or film, the director manages to portray, in a very artistic and tasteful manner, an especially difficult scene from the end of the story (to those of you in the know I need merely say the 'town square' scene) which could potentially have seemed vulgar and ridiculous. It is a film I would very much recommend.



Rachel Hurd-Wood as the intoxicating Laura Richis (Left) and Ben Wishaw as Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Right), murderous Perfumer with an extraordinary gift, in Perfume: The Story of  Murderer (2006).

    Without any further gilding the lily, it remains only for me to say that Perfume: The Story of  a Murderer is an intriguing and satisfying book that brings in to question a whole host of ideas of identity and of the finite nature of life.

Rating: ★★★

Softback book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfume-Story-Murderer-Patrick-Suskind/dp/0141041153

Film adaption:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfume-Story-Murderer-DVD/dp/B000MTF09A

   What're you thoughts on Süskind's novel? Does the film adaption live up/surpass to your expectations? Let me know your thoughts!

Film Score: Dario Marianelli ~ Jane Eyre (2010)

Eyres and Graces: Marianelli's Masterpiece

I've always had a thing for a good film score. You can have the most well directed film you like, but if its score is lacklustre, the whole thing suffers. Vice versa, a beautiful soundtrack can do much for a film that is itself relatively mediocre. 

    Call me mad, but I can happily sit in my room and listen to some of my favourite film score composers for hours on end. One of my absolute favourites has to be the Italian genius that is Dario Marianelli. He's written original scores for a whole host of films; some of his most recent and no doubt most famous works being Pride and Prejudice (Oscar-nominated for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, and Original Score) and Atonement (which won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score), both of which truly are amazing.

   An OST (original soundtrack) of Marianelli's which, to my horror, seems to have slipped through the net however, is Jane Eyre (2010), the most recent adaption of Charlotte Brontë's classic. I find it outrageous how overlooked it seems to have been, when, in reality, it is, in my opinion, one of his finest compositions of all. It features the musical talents of Classical Brit Award-winning violinist Jack Liebeck, whose doleful and rustic fiddle pieces evoke so much of the orphaned, governess protagonist's pent up passions; her sorrow and ecstasy alike. I find, too, the repeated use of a riff that one presumes to be an eerie distortion of a melody to some once happy love song from Mr Rochester's past (he is briefly seen playing it on an out of tune piano as he dwells on dark thoughts) incredibly tantalizing and ingenious. It can be heard in the opening of track one (below), 'Wandering Jane':  

                                       

   The following is a medley of several other tracks from the OST. Particular favourites of mine featured in it are 'Awaken' (opening)  and the sinister and heart-rending 'An Insuperable Impediment' (3:49).

                                          

   It is an utterly  haunting and exquisite film score. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B004KD5TQS

   What are your impressions of the Jane Eyre score and/or Dario Marianelli's other scores ?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!