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• Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer on DVD (2006)
  Starring: Ben Whishaw,  Dustin Hoffman,  Alan Rickman
  Director: Tom Tykwer
  Certificate:
  It's not just the ending. The whole film is pretentious guff from start to finish. Presumably, the director was going for some kind of sumptuous, baroque feel to match the magic realism dimension of the plot, but it all seemed to me like style over substance - good actors can't disguise the absurdity of the premise and the fact that it's a horrible mix of gruesome *and* stupid.
  
  It's obviously difficult for a story that centres so crucially around the sense of smell to portray this visually. Mostly, this is achieved by just having people crinkle their noses, pull a face, and sniff really obviously. Or have the camera follow the scent through the air, as if it were a bird or something. Occasionally, there is a scene where the scent is brought to life by showing imaginary flowers etc. But for the most part, we get a lot of obvious 'react to a smell' gurning straight out of actors workshop 101. It gets tiresome after a while.
  
  I found Ben Whishaw's lead character unengaging on every level. How we're supposed to relate to a taciturn, surly serial killer with a smell fetish and a creepy interest in sniffing women is anyone's guess. He's not a charming villain, or a fascinating psychopath. He's just a rather nasty and boring perv.
  
  Dustin Hoffman is totally miscast, and utterly unconvincing in his half-hearted performance. Rickman sleepwalks through it as father of some girl or other. I spent the last period of the film reading the paper instead. To be honest, the ridiculous conclusion fits this film perfectly, in that it's utterly stupid, and quite annoying.
  
  I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and hearing John Hurt narrate brought back memories of Dogville. Now that's a dark but brilliant film. Rent that instead.   2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
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