TNL Movie Club: Perfume

**D_N_G** · 08 Sep 2009, 11:42 AM

Netflix (also available for streaming)

Amazon DVD

IMDB Link

IMDB Synopsis:

'Perfume' chronicles one week in the lives of over a dozen people involved in the magazine and entertainment business of New York City. The central characters include Italian designer Lorenzo Mancini who learns that he's dying from cancer and decides to get his affairs in order with his wife Irine and his business partner Guido. Lorenzo's son Mario is a recording promoter who's latest client is hip-hop rapper J.B.. Roberta is a designer hard-pressed to fill out a latest dress design for the next Broadway show her group is putting on. Other characters are Jamie, a crafty agent whose latest client, Camille finds success but affects their relationship in ways he never planned and fails to deal with. Leese Hotton is a has-been model/actress trying to make a comeback into the spotlight; Janice Crawford is a wealthy publisher and control freak whose problems escalate with the arrival of her estranged teenage daughter Halley whom Janice abandoned her and everything else for her career years ago.

So Im thinking about the movie club selection, and I felt TNL was missing out on romantic comedies in the list. Here is a good one with lots of emphasis on fashion design. It has some hot naked chicks and even Jeff Goldblum!

I had been waiting for this movie to hit the theaters after having read about its showing at Sundance, and was quite surprised to see that it went directly to dvd. Especially with such a deep cast.

At first I couldn't tell whether it was a comedy or docudrama. Having seen it I still wonder.

Rather than one storyline this movie is about several. There is the designer (Rita Wilson) whose partner (Leslie Mann) has left her to seek fortune elsewhere. There is the Versace-esque Italian designer (Paul Sirvino) who must face health and family crises. There is the photographer (Jared Harris) juggling work and personal relationship. Then there's the magazine editor (Joanne Baron) whose abandoned daughter (Michelle Williams) suddenly reappears in her life.

Director Rymer wants to give the audience an inside look at the fashion industry, and he does accomplish this on several levels. The designer's assistants following her everywhere; the brief but very real segment of shuffling seating assignments for a fashion show; the editor's assistant (Angela Bettis) screening for her worshipped boss. Some of the exchanges are readily identifiable to all (photographer and girlfriend), some are true-to-life but foreign to those outside the industry (designer and her assistants) but some are so last season (conglomerate quoting Henry James).

What this film needs is more attitude. We see the backstabbing and false niceties, but the only part of the movie that reflects the snobbishness prevalent in the industry is at the reception desk at the magazine office.

Those without first-hand experience with New Yorkers might doubt the dialogue, but it is largely faithful. It is however also highly inconsistent--at times the scenes, the ones that worked, seemed unscripted (reportedly there was some improvisation) and at times it is so spoofy goofy you wonder how many different writers were behind it. Because of the quick pace, you pay attention to the exchanges and not overly scrutinize the acting. You won't get to see too much of the inner workings of the fashion industry, but you could familiarize yourself with its personalities. If you don't sigh paying two bucks for a bottle of Evian, then surely you can have some fun with this movie.

Summary: Like New York and the fashion industry, fast and fun, but lots of loose threads.

Note: Don't be fooled! Carmen Electra's name appearing on the main credits (i.e., cover of the dvd) is ludicrous and an obvious marketing ploy. She appears in just a couple of scenes and a total of maybe five minutes in the movie. The same could be said with several others...Estella Warren, prominently featured as the poster girl for this release, is merely in an opening scene and a closing one. One glaring omission in the main credits but a standout in the movie is Jared Harris, who gave a very convincing performance as the fashion photographer having to deal with egos on the job and go home to a girlfriend whose demands he can't quite satisfy.

**Josh** · 08 Sep 2009, 12:15 PM

It's on Netflix instant. No excuses!

**Doc Holliday** · 08 Sep 2009, 12:17 PM

Cool! It's like Devil Wears Prada, but for the working class.

**D_N_G** · 08 Sep 2009, 12:19 PM

PSYCHE!

The real selection is Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, not that piece of drivel above.

But you can do a double feature if you want.

Youtube Trailer:

TNL Amazon Link Book
TNL Amazon Link Movie
Netflix (sorry no streaming)
IMDB

IMDB Synopsis:

Perfume is set in the colourful backdrop of 18th century France centering on the life of an unfortunate boy, Jean Baptiste, born in the slums of a Paris fish market. Left for dead amongst rotting fish guts, he inhales the plethora of scents around him. He is rescued by some passers by and is subsequently placed in an orphanage. He is an odd child and a social outcast. Possibly as a result of his traumatic birth, he is blessed with outstanding olfactory senses: from early childhood he displays an uncanny ability for discerning the individual smells of everything around him. The twists and turns of his early life are one continuous tragic story. His quest is to learn the art of perfume making and, once taught, Jean Baptise desires to make the ultimate perfume. His skilfully crafted perfumes have the ability to provoke unexpected reactions in both the wearer and the recipient. During his apprenticeship, he discovers he has no personal smell and is initially devastated. On his journey to create olfactory perfection, he seeks alternative ingredients to his perfumes and, in doing so, leaves a grisly trail...

This movie is based on a 1986 bestselling German Book of the same name by Patrick Suskind, and is an adaptation very well done.

For years this book was said to be unfilmable, and has had several big names attached to the project ie. Ridley Scott and Tim Burton. However it was Tim Tykwer (most famous for Run Lola Run) who stepped up and made this tale come to life.

My small list was down to this and 13 Tzameti, but Perfume had more meat to it and is a little more accessable for a wider audience . Neither of these flicks got a lot of discussion on TNL, Im assuming some people have watched this, but hopefully if you haven't you will enjoy.

I picked this film for several reasons. It is an absolutely unique tale, that's hard to say with all of the rehashed and regurgitated Hollywood slop that is thrown about. This was the main thing I loved that I have never seen anything quite like this. It has the feel of a grim fairy tale come to life, so keep that in mind while watching that it is not a period piece and is based in fantasy. Reminiscient of the aura of Pan's Labyrinth but not to that extreme.

Perfume: TSOAM also has lots of style, amazing cinematography, and perfect set pieces and costumes. A lot of money went into the production and it really shows. The colors and the cinematography with shot framing are extremely impressive. Also there is "visual scent" , if there was ever a movie trying to give off a smell by imagery this is the one.

Perfume does suffer from several flaws,it is not a perfect film. It is an adaption of a novel so there is a lot of stuff crammed into each frame. This keeps the running time a little higher than usual, but hopefully there is enough substance there to get you through it and keep you on your toes.

This is also a negative in the other direction with novel adaptation, as not all content was able to be translated to the screen, so you lose some story components. This is standard with almost any adaptation, so it is forgivable

The cast has some good acting from Ben Whishaw as Jean Baptiste Grenouille (means frog in french). Alan Rickman does an awesome job as well especially in a certain scene spewing forth hatred. My only overall complaint is that Dustin Hoffman does not quite fit the role and his accent is a little akward.
He doesn't detract from the film, he's just a little off when envisioning the character.

The story is mostly polarizing with no real moral to the tale except that someone feeling alienation realizes that there is nothing else, the comfort that they wish for can never be felt. It was said that Kurt Cobain carried around a copy of the book with him at all times because he related directly to the alienation of Grenouille, we see where that led him.

Please also keep in mind that Grenouille only knows what he has seen, he does not know right from wrong in a moral sense because he has never been taught. This piece of info helps to understand the inner workings of his thought process.

The first and last sections of this film should blow you away, it starts off and goes out with a bang. If you think you know where it is going by the halfway mark, you are truly in for a suprise.

There is a controversial scene towards the end, and even if you don't like the content, at least look at it from a technical perspective in what it took to get that filmed and coordinated. Tykwer actually used dance choreographers as he felt the orgy scene was a dance in iteslf

Also a neat thing to think about after the movie is over, there is no blood.

Anyways hope you enjoy, looking forward to your comments.

Warning: There is nudity in the film

didnt write the review in the 1st post in the thread, that was stolen from Amazon