Back to the topic~ The
protagonist Grenouille What kind of existence is it? I think what he has been looking for is actually the discovery of self and the
story of identification. Using smell as "currency" (sorry, I study economics~), the good and evil of life in this world can be transformed For "smell" this medium. People's status, wealth, knowledge, everything is the external manifestation of smell. It can be said that smell is people's ID card and social value label.
However, our Grenouille has no smell, he can walk in the crowd without anyone noticing. It's a metaphor, Grenouille has no identity in this world, no one cares about him, his life is insignificant to others, he's afraid of being ignored, overwhelmed, as if he doesn't exist. His talent was more of a curse than a godsend.
The plot of Grenouille's seclusion in the valley in the film is a turning point. Before that, all Grenouille wanted was pure smell. But when Grenouille realized that he had no scent, he found another meaning in life: to put scent on himself.
That's one of the things we can see Grenouille doing since then. This move can be interpreted as Grenouille's consciously or unconsciously seeking social value recognition. Grenouille set foot on Grasse, where he not only had to tell the world that he existed, he was important and exceptional.
However, this effort failed. Because when he was finally matched with a perfume that stunned the world and made humans crawl madly, Grenouille found that he did not identify with himself. In the last chapter of the book it says, "Although he appears to the world as God through his perfume, he cannot smell himself, so he never knows who he is, so he is to the world, to himself, to the His perfume doesn't care."
Grenouille had won the world, he could go to Versailles if he wanted to, have the king kiss his feet, he could write a perfumed letter to the Pope, announcing himself as the new savior, and he could do whatever he wanted. This power in his hands is stronger than money, fear, or death. There is only one thing that perfume can't do. When Grenouille stood in the middle of the square in Grasse, watching the mad people have sex, he realized that this perfume will never make him enjoy love and be loved like ordinary people. , unable to make him get real identity, in this world, Grenouille is always an outsider. Grenouille's self-salvation finally ended with such a tragic ending.
This film is alluding to such a group of people who have no self-identity, do not know who they are, but hope to use social identity to make up for their emptiness, and use fragrance (prestige, status, wealth) to reshape themselves. Although they may succeed in the end, they also have no soul of their own.
Grenouille's tragedy is your tragedy
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