Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Tom Tykwer is very inventive and has a head full of ideas, which he throws at the viewer with an unprecedented force, and he managed to adapt “Perfume” to the movie screen as well as possible. If we add great actors and the truly beautiful visuals, the occasional plot gaps and excessive running time can be forgiven. A truly unique story, a truly unique film. (25/05/2008)

If anyone should have adapted the book "Perfume", it was probably only Tykwer, because a book with such a reputation requires a director of his caliber. It's a slight mindfuck in places, but I think it sufficiently rehabilitates the good aspects of modern German culture. Ben Whishaw is properly disgusting, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman ensured the general public's attention and Corinna Harfouch and Karoline Herfurth added their inimitable faces to the whole. (06/06/2017)

In some scenes, Tykwer reaches the edge of perfection itself, but it fails to achieve a full set of stars due to a fairly large number of shortcomings. Primarily the middle part which could easily have been cut by about twenty minutes without doing any harm. This attempt at imparting a perfume just by means of a combination of visuals and music didn’t work completely, nor could it. Even so, in many scenes, when Tykwer tries hard, it is emotionally strong and stays in your memory for long after. I also liked the really bizarre closing third of the picture which could easily compete with some of the really big “weirdities" from Asia. I can’t say that Perfume is a great movie, but it is certainly unforgettable, and that means a lot. ♫ OST score: 5/5 (21/04/2022)

A film where even the closing credits have their specific scent. A scent both intoxicatingly sweet and desperately bitter. Perfume is a masterful and complex work, in which Tom Tykwer shocked me with his precision and, above all, his rawness. It is rare for me to be hit by such a rough film that matches my taste, but here a pleasantly exceptional success was achieved. It is not difficult to succumb to the magic of the film, with such fascinating editing and perfect musical accompaniment, few can resist. Another key advantage is the main character, who, despite his perversity, is strangely believable and induces almost guilty sympathy. (24/06/2007)

An attack of perceptions. Tom Tykwer offered a visually captivating experience that at times bordered on horror, unafraid of naturalism, caressing the ears with a noble musical accompaniment, and almost convincing the poor viewer through his illusion that he could even engage the often undervalued sense of smell. This tangible effort to bring depth and conquer the unfilmable was, however, accompanied by the futility of banality, and by the end, a lingering aftertaste left my dulled self sensing that the thirteenth essence was an extract from a shot putters armpit (after the fifth attempt). And worst of all, Alan Rickman and Dustin Hoffman have never been so average. (06/11/2020)