There are some people who have an acute sense of smell, that makes you wonder if they have canine genes in their genetic make-up. An example would be my nephew the perfumer. Walking into his office is like walking into a laboratory out of Hogwarts, with vials of ingredients lined up row after row along the walls. Then there are other people who lack even a rudimentary sense of smell; where they cannot detect the foul odor coming out of a co-worker’s mouth. In this intoxicating film; Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, played by Ben Whishaw (I’m Not There, Layer Cake), was born with an extraordinary sense of smell. His capability on deciphering the essences of scents was almost magical. These skills did not go unnoticed by elderly perfumer Giuseppe Baldini, played by Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey, Finding Neverland). As he was learning the craft of perfume making, Jean-Baptiste’s desire to create the ultimate scent grew daily. With this hunger growing inside of him, he started on a malevolent pursuit to capture new ingredients. This film had beautiful scenes that were as close as possible to giving off a a visual scent to the viewer, even scenes that had blood. Though I understand the book goes into greater detail; I was grateful the director held himself back and instead, presented a beautiful period piece of a movie.

3 stars — DVD