Review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) by Tony L — 05 Apr 2011

A French peasant boy born with a remarkably acute sense of smell becomes obsessed with capturing the scent of beautiful young girls leading him to murder. I must admit that I found the first act of this film captivating; the visuals are glorious and it gives a palpable feel for the time and context of the story complimented by some fantastic photography and nice performances.

Once the plot takes a turn towards homicide however, all the sympathy you felt for Jean-Baptiste evaporates and with no central character to relate to, the narrative begins to seriously flounder. By the end the story becomes a load of existential guff and despite featuring surely the largest orgy ever committed to celluloid, I'd lost all interest in it.

It's a shame because it started so well and there was enough of interest going on to make all of its flaws survivable... if it had just been 45 minutes shorter. A real missed opportunity.