Perfume on-screen lost its scent
It must have been 10 years ago when I read Patrick Suskind’s novel “Perfume.” I was blown away at how well-written and how descriptive it was. It was amazing how he described different scents through Jean Baptiste Grenoulli. When my husband and I learned that it was going to be a movie we both agreed that we wanted to see. He has read the book in German and was equally impressed by it. Last night, my husband and I managed to catch the 640pm show at the Horton Plaza. We were a little late by still opted to watch it (over Borat!)
The opening scene where Grenoulli’s mother gave birth to him under the fish stall was a promising start. The ending, however, had me shaking my head with incredulity. Was the ending really like that? The mob of Grasse intent on persecuting the murderer upon smelling the virginal perfume turned into a lovefest?! Furthermore, upon arriving in Paris and returning to his birthplace (the fish market), he poured all of the perfume on himself then droves of people swarmed and ate him. Hmmm.
Certainly, the book has wonderfully described how Grenoulli thought he can rule the world with The Perfume. It didn’t sound ridiculous in the book but in the film it was. So I guess, Stanley Kubrick was right about the book being unfilmable. Amazing how words seem to be more powerful that the visual in this case.
What I definitely need to do is read this book again.
