Perfume: The Story of A Murderer - A Review

7:53 PM | Labels: Movie Reviews, Movies, Perfume:The Story of a Murderer

I always watch movies, like everyday, but seldom do I find movies which leave a mark on my mind and in my heart. I can still remember when I was still in college; I was on my first year that time, when our teacher made us see a film for our Literature class. That was my first film showing ever! But that wasn’t the reason why that experience was so memorable to me. It was all about the movie that we’ve watched. It was entitled “Perfumo”, 5 years ago. The more recent title is written above.

It was a story of a boy (Jean-Baptiste Grenouille) – came out from an evil mother in a filthy and crowded marketplace. His mother tried to get rid of him right after his birth. At first he wasn’t crying and so she thought he was dead but fortunately, he was able to cry out loud after smelling the filthy environment. He was able to use his sense of smell first which made him develop his extraordinary olfactory sense.

Unlike any other children, everything about him since the start of the movie was different. The first cry of a baby is usually the happiest sound that parents are eagerly waiting right after a mother gives birth. In Grenouille’s case, his first cry caused his mother’s death. She was hanged because she tried to kill her own child. How sad could that be for a start?

Grenouille grew up in different places with different people around him. As he grew, his olfactory sense became exceptional. He can imagine a pond from afar just by the smell of it which was carried by the wind to the orphanage where he once stayed. Everything could have been good for him until he accidentally killed a woman whose smell enchanted him. What made everything worst was when he worked for a perfumer in Paris. He was taught how to mix fumes and how to preserve the smell of something. That later turned out to be his greatest addiction. He really wanted to create the perfect scent and unfortunately, he found the perfect source – women. He killed a lot of women whose scents became his “ingredients” for his perfect scent. He was really able to create the perfect scent but it was just so sad that he still had to die. I didn’t want him to because even if he was so evil to kill women, he did that for his passion. He is the kind of person who can do everything to get his way, in a negative way though. But I still liked him.

This kind of story is something that I will never ever forget. It wasn’t like the fairytale stories that we use to enjoy. Yes, Grenouille’s life ended in a tragedy but at least he was strong enough to face all the consequences of his actions. I believe that he created the perfect scent for the people in his home town to experience real happiness, something they felt when he let them all smell the perfume he made. I know that deep inside him is his sincere intention to give the people in his filthy community the greatest feeling the weren't and will never be able to experience. He gave up his life for that and what more can be braver than that? Yes he was a murderer but someone who still had a big place for goodness in his heart.