Review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) by Jack   — 20 Aug 2010

In the foulest smelling part of the foulest smelling town in the 1800's a boy is born under the table of his mothers fishmarket shack. Presumed born dead like his five siblings he is quickly kicked into the mud and left to rot. But the boy is tough and with the stench surrounding him he draws his first breath. Bystanders are shocked to see a baby in the dirt and the mother is swiftly hanged.

Young Jean-Paul ends up in an orphanage where the other children immediately finds a dislike to the infant and tries to murder him. He prevails and finds out that he has an acute sense of smell. At age five he has yet not begun to speak; the humen language failing to describe the world of smells which surround him. At age 13 he is sold to a tanner in the outskirts of Paris and a pattern reveals itself as the second person to abandon him meets a quick death. Is the boy cursed?

Life expectancy at the tannery is five years. Jean-Paul endures and is finally trusted to make leather deliveries to the town centre. For the first time in a life surrounded by stench and decay his sensitive nose comes in contact with the scents of fresh fruit, perfume and the best of all; a young woman...

This is an extremely weird and unpredictible movie, and that's what makes it great! It was actually recommended to me by my mother - great to know we share the same obscure taste in movies!

Not for the prude (lots of soft nudity), but definately worth a look if you enjoy stories about anti-heroes and different movies in general, like I do.