Many thanks to Jonah Goldberg for this. If you’ve never read Perfume: Story of a Murderer (Das Parfum: Die Geschichte Eines Morders), go buy the book immediately and read it. It’s an amazing novel — and the English translation is superb — that’s impossible to describe, because the plot is unique, and doesn’t lend itself well to description or summary. If you’ve read it, you probably know that it’s been made into a movie — and you’ve no doubt also wondered how anyone could film the novel.
I’ve seen the first review, and the reviewer was surprised:
It has finally been achieved. Against all odds and common sense Patrick Suskind’s novel ‘Das Parfum’ has been filmed. And this was after Stan “the Man†Kubrick claimed that it couldn’t be done (and this was a man who felt there was no sentence in the English language that couldn’t be filmed). Tim Burton and Ridley Scott attempted to nab the book’s rights, until it finally fell into the hands of German producer Bernd Eichinger, and was funded by European money.
Perfume: the Story of a Murderer (perhaps I’m being cynical, but the film’s added subtitle must have been an attempt to attract a broader, more bloodthirsty audience), charts the life of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an orphan who was blessed with the most astute sense of smell any human has ever possessed. Living through 18th Century France, he lifts himself out of the sewers by learning the trade of a perfumer, only to strive to capture the scent of everything, including beautiful women. In an attempt to create the most glorious scent in the world, the scentless apprentice will do anything for his obsession.
Perfume is a hypnotic read. The prose is so beautiful and the story is so fascinating that you can’t put it down. I’m skeptical about the movie, but this is a definite must-see-the-day-it-opens movie. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.
Ms. Cornelius says:
Well, I’ll try it, but I’ll be honest– the basic outline of the story made me queasy. I mean– yikes! But I’m the woman who still can’t read The Lovely Bones because I don’t want to think about being in a similar situation.
January 13, 2007, 4:19 pmRight Wing Nation says:
[…] I saw the review for Perfume on January 12th. I then went to the local community website to see if it was here yet. […]
February 4, 2007, 12:19 pm