The most superb words and the most wonderful fragrances have such a similar artistic conception.
In October 1984, the 35-year-old German Süskind completed his first novel "Perfume", which immediately caused a sensation in the German literary world and was translated into more than 20 languages. Perfume is the best-selling German novel of all time, with 15 million copies sold worldwide. Known by the literary world as "an important event, a miracle. Countless producers scrambled for film rights, the reclusive Süskind believed that only Stanley Kubrick, the director of "The Shining" and "A Clockwork Orange," could do it. In 1999, Kubrick died. Three years later, Bernd Eichinger, a friend of Süskind, who had filmed "The Name of the Rose" and "The Fall of an Empire", obtained the film copyright of "Perfume" for tens of millions of euros. The director of "Lola Run" Tom Tykway was favored by Bernd Eichinger to direct this film. The
protagonist Grenouille is a very special man. He was born in a dirty and smelly fish market. Like his older brothers and sisters, he was thrown into the wet pile of dead fish by his mother after being born and gradually lost his vitality. Instead, he let out a sharp cry under the stimulation of the smell. Then his mother was sentenced to abandonment, hanged, and he was sent to the hospital. Orphanage.
In fact, Grenouille's life was a process of abandonment and tenacious survival. In the orphanage, he was deliberately murdered by other children just a few days after he was born, but the little baby cried out, attracting Dean, who saved his life.
In his early ten years, he was sold to a leather workshop owner for five francs by Madame Gallard of the orphanage.
A few years later, the industrious, silent and stoic Grenouille was not only not tortured to death by this cruel coolie, he even got the opportunity to go shopping with his master, and he also had the opportunity to touch more scents. He enjoyed the smell of it all, whether it was unpleasant or charming to others. Among the many scents, he found a scent that made him the most relaxed and happy. Grenouille pursued it with his amazing sense of smell and found that it came from a red-haired girl with clear big eyes. He approached her obsessively, but killed her unintentionally, and found that the wonderful fragrance gradually disappeared as the girl's body cooled. At this point, for the first time in his life, an urgent quest appeared:
he wanted to preserve the scent.
On a fur delivery mission, Grenouille entered a perfume shop that was struggling. Although there are many things here, there are all kinds of spices available. Old-fashioned perfumer Baldik, fretful that his creativity was drying up, gave Grenouille a chance to make a perfume on the spot, despite being headstrong. Then he had to admit that Grenouille was a genius - he could tell all the fragrances with just his nose, and quickly concocted exquisite and extraordinary fragrances that felt almost rude. So unconventional, yet uncompromising genius.
Of course, only a genius can do that. The so-called routines are made for ordinary people.
Baldic bought Grenouille from the leather workshop owner for fifty francs. The bald-headed man who looked ugly and ferocious, but actually made people want to die, was full of joy after getting fifty francs, thinking that he had made a lucrative business, and went to the tavern to drink. Because of drunkenness, he was knocked over by a carriage and fell into the river, becoming food for fish, shrimp and crabs.
Grenouille brought great benefits to Baldic, and his genius made the perfumery one of the most prosperous in town. In return for what was initially negotiated, Baldic taught Grenouille how to use distillation to extract the scent of the flowers. But Grenouille was desperate to find that this method would not preserve the taste of objects other than plants for him. Baldik finally told him that he could go to a famous fragrance source to learn how to better extract the smell of objects. Grenouille left behind a hundred perfume recipes, which was a huge wealth for the merchant, but for Grenouille, the certificate of the skilled perfume maker in exchange for this recipe was even more important.
After he left, the perfumer's dilapidated house suddenly collapsed at night, and the businessman said goodbye to his perfume business in his sleep.
During the trip, Grenouille strolled in the mountains and lived in seclusion in uninhabited caves. For a while, he indulged in this kind of quietness-without too much interference from smells, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, and savored the quiet and quiet space in the cave alone. So narrow, yet so free and comfortable for him.
In the original book, there is a very detailed description of Grenouille's psychology, and those words made me feel as if I was sucked into a hole and entered the hero's heart involuntarily. In the movie, this part is omitted. After all, what images can do is far better than words.
One day Grenouille suddenly realized his dream many years ago - to preserve the most beautiful fragrance in the world, so he left the cave and came to a small town full of lavender.
Here he learned the cold oil extraction method, so that he can preserve the smell of animals and plants as they are. He started hunting scents like a hunter. The scents that he thought were the most beautiful came from beautiful virgins, with beautiful bodies and attractive features, but Grenouille didn't care about that. He calmly grabbed them, absorbed the scent of them meticulously, and left the withered bodies at random around the town.
The small town was shrouded in terror, so many girls among them were killed, but there was no trace of the murderer. Despite many preventive measures, the beautiful girls could not be stopped from being kidnapped and killed one by one. Because Grenouille is no one else, he's a genius of smell, knowing how to safely catch prey and keep himself undetected.
As the perfumer told him, a singular perfume, in addition to preparing twelve scents, also needs a main note, which can harmonize the other scents and give the perfume its greatest magic. With this theme, Grenouille has already locked in the target, which is the wealthy businesswoman Rachel, a beautiful 16-year-old girl with a fresh and bright face like a rosebud.
The wise wealthy businessman tried his best to protect his daughter and let the woman escape murder again and again, but in the end, he could not escape the pursuit of the tenacious and tenacious Grenouille. He is so persevering, he is completely committed to the mission of talent, stubbornly survived in a difficult environment since childhood, traveled long distances, studied hard, and concentrated on creating the most magical and wonderful perfume in his heart.
Seeing his determined and obsessive eyes, the old scar on his forehead, the traces of skin disease on his neck... I actually felt that all these crimes were forgivable.
To Grenouille, he finally made the sacred perfume in his heart, and at the same time, he was caught by officers and soldiers and imprisoned because the puppy accidentally picked up the girl's clothes and hair buried under the floor of his humble room. The truth is revealed to the public. Excited, Grenouille was sentenced to the harshest sentence, a slow death after smashing bones all over his body.
On the day of the execution, the streets were crowded, and everyone huddled in the square to watch Grenouille be executed. But Grenouille arrived in a noble manner, riding in a carriage and wearing a blue dress. Because a little perfume on his body has conquered the soldiers who brought him to execution. They kneeled respectfully and sent him to the execution stand. The vicious executioner suddenly dropped the iron rod in his hand, knelt down and cried bitterly: This person is innocent!
The smell of perfume is exuding. It shakes the minds of all people, people are confused, and then sympathy, saying: This person can't be a murderer!
Grenouille took out a white handkerchief, poured a few drops of perfume on the handkerchief, and waved it. His posture was a little awkward, as he had never done so gracefully before. He has always been a lowly, never respected man. The scent of the perfume on the handkerchief was carried by the wind, and everyone was deeply intoxicated. Even the Pope announced excitedly: This man is an angel!
A despicable murderer who had been considered a few minutes ago without a thousand cuts was not enough to quell his anger, now he has become a holy angel. What an irony. But look at our real life, things that make people confused and lose their judgment actually exist. Like money.
Grenouille raised his hand, and the handkerchief flew and slowly fell in slow motion.
The crowd raised their hands to fight. When the strange fragrance landed in the center of the crowd, people seemed to have been bombed by an atomic bomb. It's a blissful fragrance that inspires the greatest love in people's hearts. People send hugs and kisses to anyone around them, and take off their clothes without hesitation... Soon, every corner of the square is filled with passionate moans and thousands of naked bodies tangled and twisted, which is spectacular. There is no distinction between rich and poor, no distinction between men and women, no distinction between family members, and all people are obsessed with giving everything to others.
Rachel's father, the last conscious man, approached Grenouille with a sword, but the sword could not come to pass. He knelt down and hugged the murderer of his daughter and called: My son!
Perhaps, in that unspeakable scent, he recognized the scent of his daughter. In a trance, what he broke out was the love of a father.
People woke up the next day with splitting headaches. They couldn't explain how everything happened yesterday, so they just wiped the memory. They found a new "murderer" and executed him.
Grenouille had already left the town and walked back to his hometown of Paris. It was already dark when he entered the city. Grenouille walked back to the place where he was born. Years ago, he was born hastily and was abandoned. The original scent stayed in his olfactory memory and brought him back to where he was. There was a gathering of gypsies in blue clothes. Grenouille poured all the perfume on himself - the magic perfume that was refined with his unparalleled talent and life-long energy, and the souls of dozens of girls.
The crowd rushed up, and they ate the thin man with great love. When the crowd dispersed, not even bones were left on the ground.
The film produced the original taste of "Perfume". From the set to the atmosphere, they were made with great care, basically reproducing the scenes depicted in the book. Using music, light and shadow and rhythm to express the special texture of perfume, part of it conveys the strange but charming atmosphere created by the novel, which can tightly capture the audience's attention.
But what I want to repeat again is that words can reach areas far beyond the reach of images. Just like the key props in "Perfume" - perfume, it seems to have shape and quality, but the intoxication brought by superb language cannot describe the depth of its touch.
Some changes are not so recognized. For example, the movie deepens the hero's emotional bond with the virgin girl he met for the first time, and it seems that the more "normal" side of craving for love and being loved is to be discovered in this character. But Grenouille in the original is more ruthless, he lives for intuition, his world is made of smells, and everything else is dispensable. It was only when he got the perfume of his dreams that his pursuit came to an end and he felt sad. There is nothing sadder than the end. Someone else might manipulate the fragrance to do more things, but Grenouille, he's obviously not that easy to understand.
The performance of the male protagonist Ben Whishaw is remarkable, and Laura, who acts as the "main note" of the perfume, has a delicate face like an angel, which is really beautiful and unforgettable. After watching the movie, I searched for pictures of Ben Whishaw to see what he looked like in real life. In the film, he is the real Grenouille: genius, madness, concentration, calmness... The dream he pursues is such a grand and unimaginable dream. But he destroyed himself by mastering the perfume that could turn the world upside down. What does he want?
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