Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
- Starring:
- Ben Whishaw, Alan Rickman, (more)
- Director(s):
- Tom Tykwer
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Category:
- Foreign, Mystery & Suspense
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An obsessive French perfumer with a highly developed olfactory sense and an all-consuming drive to capture the essence of love eventually resorts to murder in his unrepentant quest to find the key ingredient for his recipe in director Tom Tykwer's adaptation of author Patrick Suskind's best-selling 1985 novel. Born in a fetid fish market and raised in a dilapidated orphanage, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) toiled his childhood away in a rank tannery run by the thuggish Grimal (Sam Douglas). Subsequently obsessed by smell, Grenouille's keen olfactory sense becomes so finely tuned that it eventually overpowers such human qualities as love and compassion. Though he has indeed discovered the unmistakable scent of a woman, Grenouille finds it impossible to connect with the fairer sex on any sort of meaningful level. Roaming the streets of Paris late one night, Grenouille catches the scent of a young girl selling plums and impulsively strangles her, later sniffing her nude corpse in a twisted attempt to preserve the distinctive scent in his memory. After persuading legendary perfumer Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) to take him on as an apprentice, Grenouille travels to the town of Grasse in Southern France in order to learn the art of enfleurage at a firm run by the highly respected Mme. Arnulfi (Corinna Harfouch). It is there that Grenouille becomes dangerously drawn to the vestal aroma of the young and beautiful Laura (Rachel Hurd-Wood), the daughter of widower merchant Antione Richis (Alan Rickman). Soon driven to madness by such a pure scent, the spellbound Grenouille continues to claim the lives of the numerous young girls in a tragic attempt to bottle the impossibly elusive smell of virginal womanhood. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 147 mins
Complete Cast:
- Ben Whishaw - Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
- Rachel Hurd-Wood - Laura
- Karoline Herfurth - The Plum Girl
- Simon Chandler - Mayor of Grasse
- Jessica Schwarz - Natalie
- Paul Berrondo - Dominique Druot
- Timothy Davies - Chenier
- Harris Gordon - Marquis de Montesquieu
- Joanna Griffiths - Marianne
- Alvaro Roque - Grenouille 5 Years
- Michael Smiley - Porter
- Francesc Albiol - Court Official
- Roger Salvany - Guard 2 Dungeon
- Reginald Wilson - Customer Fishmarket
- Nuria Casas - Woman 2 Fishmarket
- Walter Cots Wangüemert - Driver
- Jan Cortes - Boy Boarding House
- Joan Serrats - Upholsterer
- Bridget McConnel - Aunt
- Dora Romano - Baldini's Wife
- Ramon Pujol - Lucien
- Laura Gelman - Françoise
- Anna Diogene - Tallien's Wife
- Toby Harper - Police Lieutenant
- Fermi Reixach - Councillor
- Albert Pérez - Councillor
- Thomas Lenox - Messenger
- Nico Baixas - Guard Torture Chamber
- Oriol Tramvia - Land Priest
- Laura Vidal Traver - Hangover Girl
- Maia Jenkinson - Beggar Woman
- Alan Rickman - Antoine Richis
- Dustin Hoffman - Baldini, Giuseppe
- David Calder - Bishop of Grasse
- Sian Thomas - Madame Gaillard
- Corinna Harfouch - Madame Arnulfi
- Carlos Reig-Plaza
- Sam Douglas - Grimal
- Sara Forestier - Jeanne
- Birgit Minichmayr - Grenouille's Mother
- Franck Lefeuvre - Grenouille 12 Years
- Richard Felix - Chief Magistrate
- Gonzalo Cunill - Guard 1 Dungeon
- Andres Herrera - Door Guard
- Catherine Boisgontier - Woman Fishmarket
- Carlos Gramaje - Police Lieutenant Fishmarket
- Perry Millward - Marcel
- Berta Ros - Girl Boarding House
- Jaume Montane - Pelissier
- Duna Jove - Young Woman
- Carolina Vera - Neapolitan Girl
- Anna Gelman - Albine
- Guillermo Ayesa - Tallien
- Montserrat Maso - Housekeeper
- Jerome Willis - Councillor
- Derek Smee - Councillor
- Artur Sala - Gatekeeper
- Richard Collins-Moore - Innkeeper's Wife
- Enric Arquimbau - Executioner
- Cristina Sola - Woman With Bishop
- Ariadna Cabrol - Beggar Woman
- John Hurt - Narrator
- Director(s):
- Tom Tykwer
- Writer(s):
- Caroline Thompson, Andrew Birkin, Tom Tykwer
- Producer(s):
- Bernd Eichinger, Martin Moszkowicz
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Nudity, Adult Situations, Violence, Sexual Situations)
- Categories:
- Foreign, Mystery & Suspense
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
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