From AICN: "I just got back from a screening of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer and had a brief chat with Tom Tykwer outside afterwards. I have to say that as a huge fan of the novel since it came out nearly twenty years ago, I doubted that a good film could be made of this strange and recalcitrant novel...but I was more than pleased with what Tykwer was able to do with it. Obviously, there were some technical problems in that certain scenes hadn't been color-corrected, there was mostly temp music, and some scenes were even digital elements transferred to film for this screening, but all in all it was a fantastic success. It's a dark film, and I don't want to include any spoilers here because I think it's a film that needs to be experienced without knowing any plot twists (unless you know the book of course).
First off, it's a remarkably faithful adaptation of the book, with the very big exception being that the lead character has been humanized and is almost sympathetic, which i believe to be a good thing; it adds a poignancy that was lacking in Susskind's novel. The technical elements are excellent, and acting very strong across the board, especially from Ben Whishaw in the lead. The only false note, surprisingly, was Dustin Hoffman who seemed to be in a different movie.
Tykwer was humble afterwards, because I think the general sense from the audience (and apparently from studio execs that were present) is that a critical scene at the end is too dark and audacious for American audiences. But, hopefully, since it will be released in Europe a few months before we get the finished film here, it will generate enough positive buzz to keep American distributers from hacking the end before its release.
The biggest surprise is that Tykwer was really able to create a cinematic sense of smell. Through crafty camerawork and an intricate sound design, the movie absolutey transports you into Grenouille's world.
I know this movie has had a difficult time getting to the big screen, but Tykwer, who next to Lars Von Trier is - to me- one of the most interesting filmmakers working in Europe, really pulled it off, and I just hope that it finds an audience in the U.S."
2 comments:
"Tykwer was humble afterwards, because I think the general sense from the audience (and apparently from studio execs that were present) is that a critical scene at the end is too dark and audacious for American audiences."
God, what is it about the "Hollywood" ending in America? Are we really so fragile that we can't handle a downbeat story? The masses are asses.
"The masses are asses?"
I think your comment would do better if it ended on a more positive note. Actually, that's pretty funny, did you make it up?
I loved this book and I'm pysched that the olfactory world came through. Sound design? Brilliant maneuver. I was thinking of something like colored smoke that pulled the character along by his nose, his feet leaving the ground like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
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