Beloved Books becoming Films // Perfume, The story of a murderer


Last night I watched this movie on NovaCinema1 (Greek cable/pay TV) for the 3rd time! As awkward as this may sound, I consider this a love story... a very sick one though! The unconditional love of Jean-Baptiste for scents and his unconventional journey on how to preserve them and create the perfect perfume, which will unfortunately led him to kill many young and beautiful women in order to accomplish that...





Perfume is a 1985 novel (originally published in German as Das Parfum) by German writer Patrick Süskind. The novel explores the sense of smell and its relationship with the emotional meaning that scents may carry. Above all this is a story of identity, communication and the morality of the human spirit. The story focuses on Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a perfume apprentice in 18th-century France who, born with no body scent himself, begins to stalk and murder beautiful young virgins in search of the "perfect scent", which he finds in a young woman named Laura, whom his acute sense of smell finds in a secluded private garden in Grasse.

The Plum Girl, a few seconds before Jean-Baptiste make her his first murder victim

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer directed by Tom Tykwer was released in theaters in 2006, starring Ben Whishaw as Jean-Baptiste, Dustin Hoffman (Baldini), Rachel Hurd-Wood (Laura) and Alan Rickman (Laura's father). The film was made on a budget of €50 million, making it one of the most expensive German films. Filming took place in Spain, Germany and France. [source: Wikipedia]


With Master Perfumer Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) learning the secrets of creating perfumes

Seeing Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood) for the first time at her balcony in Grasse

At a perfume workshop in Grasse learning how to preserve the scent of flowers (to begin with...)

Beautiful Laura

Wowing the crowd with the perfect perfume he created

The end is near for Jean-Baptiste 

If you either read the book or watch the movie or do both, I suggest you do it with an open heart...
Have a great weekend =)

Images via:
http://www.impawards.com/2006/perfume_ver2_xlg.html
http://www.tribute.ca/galleries/perfume-the-story-of-a-murderer/12558/
http://collider.com/entertainment/archive_detail.asp/aid/3409/cid/13/tcid/1
http://www.moviezeal.com/perfume-the-story-of-a-murderer/
http://hdwallpapersdesktop.com/wallpapers/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/15/Perfume-The-Story-of-a-Murderer-Wallpaper-3.jpg