Literary adaptations are often tricky things, not least those adaptations of novels that are perceived to be 'unadaptable' or have a solid fan base. On most levels Tom Twycker's (Run Lola Run) film is a success. It tells the story of a young man, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), with an unusually acute sense of smell. Obsessed with the idea of creating the perfect scent Grenouille first ensconces himself at a Paris perfumier's (Dustin Hoffmann in yet another befuddled/disgruntled pater familias role). Frustrated that old Hoffers can't teach him how to capture the scent of a living being Grenouille travels to the picturesque town of Grasse to learn more about the perfume trade. There Grenouille finally learns how to preserve scent and begins murdering the young virgins in his hope of attaining the most heavenly perfume on Earth.
The early sections of the film are the most successful, with Twycker flashing a variety of images in front of his audience in order to convey Grenouille's pervasive sense of smell. Whishaw also makes for a fine lead. He plays Grenouille as eerily detached but with a dash of cute naivité that makes him almost sympathetic in places. Whilst the director pushes this sympathy too far in the final scenes (having Grenouille cry for the first girl he murdered feels like it's too much), Whishaw's performance is incredibly intense and at time almost haunting. It's a shame then that both Hoffmann and Alan Rickman (playing a doting father) are typecast and offer little new, although Rachel Hurd-Wood - so marvellous in PJ Hogan's live-action version of Peter Pan - here playing a virginal teenager surely has a long career ahead of her.
What's most noticeable about the film is how very different it is from Twycker's most famous film, Run Lola Run. Gone are the flashy images and loud techno music, replaced by beautiful locations and stirring strings. In fact, the nail-biting tension that was such a dominant feature in the previous film is nowhere to be seen here. Indeed, as the police begin to close in on Grenouille and he comes closer to making his perfume, the movie steers dangerously close to becoming just another chase thriller. Of course, any concern that Perfume may become something generic are rapidly swept away by its audacious closing moments. No classic perhaps, but an intelligent and thoughtful take on a difficult novel.
