ViewGuide

Created Nov 01, 2007 02:12PM PST • Edited Nov 01, 2007 02:12PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   An amazing film, but definitely for the art-house crowd. There are long expanses without dialogue in this movie and a lot of imagery. Think ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, that amount of dialogue, and with an intensely different story. Not a happy story, this film tells of an obsession so consuming that it blots out anything else. You may not love it, but I doubt you’ll be able to turn away from it in a twisted fascination for this story that quickly grabs the viewer. Based on the famed novel by Patrick Suskind, it’s an amazing achievement to have captured so elegantly the soul of the book in film format.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   Ben Wishaw give a commendable performance as the main character, ‘Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’. A man with an extraordinary gift for smell. So extraordinary infact, that he becomes obsessed with finding the perfect scent.
   Dustin Hoffman also puts in an appearance as the lovable perfume maker under which Jean-Baptiste takes an apprenticeship and steals the scene in his over-the-top attire and compelling performance.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

   Alan Rickman pleasantly shows up about half way through the film. He does a great job in his part, though I wish we’d seen more of him.

6. Female Stars Really Great 4.5

7. Female Costars Really Great 4.5

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    The imagery and panning shots are gorgeously executed here. It leaves little, if anything, to be desired.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

    There isn’t much dialogue to speak of really. The most powerful scenes contain only low back ground music.

13. Music Perfect 5.0

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0

    Breath-taking.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.3

17. Sex Explicit 5.0

    Numerous naked women are shown throughout the show (though note in an objectifying way, they just happen to be nude.) There is also a few minor sex scenes and at one point a mass orgy is shown (I will not post the reason, it would spoil the film.)

18. Violence Savage 4.0

    The killing and scalping of numerous women.
    A scene of what could be described as cannabalism (though the context is very important to this scene)

19. Rudeness Polite 1.0

21. Reality

    Surreal 3.0

    Surreal in that, it’s not entirely believable, but it will make you think twice about how real it could be.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 3.0

23. Biological Surreal 3.0

24. Physical Surreal 3.0