Perfume in Germany
“I’ve finally seen Tom Tykwer‘s Perfume in a plex in my home town of Augsburg, Germany , and I’m even more convinced that it will go the route of The Name of the Rose, which was a blockbuster in Europe ($120 million) while earning a miniscule $7 million in the U.S.,” says a former exhibitor who runs a site about box-office in Germany and elsewhere.
“Just keep in mind that Perfume has so far grossed $31.8 million in five European markets in just 11 days.
“Even though it feels a bit lengthy in parts, the movie never feels like its actual length of 150 minutes , give or take.
“If Dreamamount decides to push an Academy campaign, the camera work, art design, costumes and the score are definitely Oscar-nomination material. And Dustin Hoffman is wonderful as Guiseppe Baldini, and the unknown Ben Whishaw a pleasant surprise. (Only Alan Rickman suffers due to his role not being meaty enough.)
“But I wonder if the flagrant nudity and very sensual tone [in the film] and an unforgettable opening scene that led to a local woman fainting in a nearby theatre — a scene depicting Whishaw’s birth in a filthy Parisian fish market full of fish innards and other disgusting stuff (you can almost smell the bad air) — will result in resistance among U.S. moviegoers.
“Not to mention the strange ending, which is based more or less on the novel. I’m just wondering if the mainstream American audience will rather feel confused than satisfied
“I’m also wondering if the U.S. one-sheet is in synch with American tastes. It (rightfully) hints at nudity and I do not recall that many U.S. one-sheets do this, probably for good reason. For Americans the movie is artsy with nudity for sure, for European tastes it√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s a mixture of artsy and mainstream — the nudity doesn√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢t matter at all.”
I hope this is a huge hit for Tykwer!
Even Run Lola Run only made about $7 million here, so I don’t see this one doing so well in the U.S. That said, I’ll be there.
If you think U.S. one-sheets are shy about nudity, check out the one for LITTLE CHILDREN: It makes PERFUME look practically Victorian!
I am anticipating yet at the same time dreading this film mainly by being one of the many advocates of Patrick Suskind’s beautiful words.
“Parfum: The Story of a Murderer” is exactly what it promises. The entire book is all internal thoughts and motives expressed so wonderfully vivid that a film version feels redundant as you read it (but then again like Da Vinci, Potter, and the Rings: they offer a catchup for the illiterate).
The language and most importantly the choice of words conjure a rare nostalgia and desire for the reader while prancing about with its clear sense of black humor and wit. It’s clearly a vile story with awful acts however the reasoning behind everything are plausible in such a manner you feel dirty for the sheer thrill of it. Honestly the best written fiction book of recent times, anything less than a masterpiece is not possible considering the source.
This is a very hard act for Twyker to perform: capturing the almost jaunty free wheeling tone more in common with the life and opinions of Tristam Shandy with a hint of Marquis day Sha-day without being outright psychopathic. I don’t want this to turn into “Natural Born(Barry)Lyndon”. The idea is that the lead character is fully aware of he’s doing yet does not see it as crimes but rather necessity for his plans. He enjoys the fruit of his labors but has no honest opinion of the harvest.
Well, no matter what I think or say matters really. The film is done and complete and nothing can change what was burned onto the film. But having seen the barely seen “Heaven”, I think Tom Tywker has the chops to make at the very least a stunted yet competent screen version.
Here’s hoping and waiting for the short film versions of Mr. Summer’s Story and The Pigeon.
Want to import cars from Germany? Much cheaper! Check out auto invoeren uit Duitsland!!