El perfumista

No pun intended - I have seen the movie Perfume which is really good ... so if you compare this to the superior movie (and/or the amazing book/novel which I have not read I have to admit) ... well the movie will not be looking too good ... so I get the rating in one sense - well more than one sense.

The acting is quite decent overall, the story is ok I reckon. But it does take its time, it is predictable and in the end most will not be sufficiently satisfied. August Diehl might have been able to save this, but he isn't in this long enough to make a dent in the right direction. Still I liked that it at least tried and all the actors did their best ... I've seen way worse movies than this.

This movie features some of the most talented actors in Germany, in my humble opinion, such as the fantastic August Diehl and the wonderful Ludwig Simon, or the talented Emilia Schüle. I'm still trying to figure out what lured them into this project...

"The Perfume" by Patrick Süskind is such a great novel and is mentioned to be the source of inspiration for this movie. Unfortunately there is neither any kind of intriguing storyline, nor do we get to know the characters or their ambitions in depth, which inevitably leaves the viewer with this fragmentary piece that is hard to engage in. Some of the more odd characters, such as the female accomplice Rex, would need so much more explaination in this narrative. The viewer just can figure out what drives them to their action (despite total madness?).

It's such a pity, that the script is so bad, because the actors are as great as always. I'm suffering while watching them saying some of the most pathetic nonsense-lines from the script. They are struggling hard to make the lines work, but the dialogues and monologues are just too strange. I'm very sorry on their behalf.

Where to start, where to end? What a terrible German movie drivel, once again. Too many just can't write good scripts, it seems, and just don't understand story, character development, suspense, protagonists. Woven in is once again that bland wokeness that Netflix has come to represent. The original, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, is a pretty much perfect movie, great visuals, acting, story, tragedy. This here is just a grand muddle, from beginning to end. The acting is okayish, as are the technical-artistic aspects like camerawork, music etc. Altogether, when will there be good script writing film schools in Germany?

600 characters are really too much for a lot of movies, this being one of them. I could say two simple words, aesthetic rubbish, and you would immediately understand what I'm talking about. There are a lot of silent scenes, interesting costume choices, "visionary" moments... the complete indie package. It has nothing to do with the German serie Der Perfume, August Diehl (I love him so much) cammeo is clearly an attempt to create an expanded universe but it's just not it. It's boring. It's mostly pointless. It's too long. There are so many basic plot twists that could be laughable if the movie didn't take itself so damn seriously.

If you have seen the original one, the American/English one twin, based on the same book, you will be very disappointed if you try to see this piece. The idea behind the whole movie is to modernize the plot, however all the manage to do was to damage the story and to promote bad actors. The policeman is the worst of them, he has no talents for actor and maybe has his part only basic on his friendship with someone. It is techy and has nothing to contribute with Cinema, despite the good work of the lead actress. On the other hand, she cries too much. By the end, the story makes no sense anymore and all the time you spend trying to fulfill your hope that the movie will, somehow, something that worth your time, it doesn't.