From "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"

To capture scent, to capture beauty. The work of a genius that also fulfills a man's desires.

SEKIGUCHI YukoIs it really possible to extract scent from a living being, or rather, from a body, in that way?

NAKANO KaoriHmm. When I read the novel, I thought about trying it, but animal fat seems so sticky (laughs).

GAGA TOKIMURAAh, I tried it!

AllWhat!?

GAGA TOKIMURAIt actually smells quite good, my own scent (laughs).

NAKANOI'm impressed... Anyway, in the movie, they try various extraction methods, and they even boil down beautiful women whole, right?

Editor MAKOTOAs a man, I have those kinds of desires. A desire for purity, perhaps.

SEKIGUCHIThere's a movie called "The Collector," isn't there? I felt there was a bit of a warped version of that here.

NAKANOHe lives beyond good and evil, so it's truly "heaven" for him, isn't it? By continuously creating the ultimate scent, he is already living in paradise.

SEKIGUCHIPerhaps he transcended when he gathered the twelve virgins. He went to heaven. At that point, he was reborn from a demon into a god. The rest of the story can only be seen as the work of a god... I did some deep reading into it.

From "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"

NAKANOThe work of a god... Certainly, the scene where the crowd sways as if moved by a handkerchief felt divine. Speaking of which, that scene was also breathtaking. I could visually experience the scent spreading.

SEKIGUCHIIs that scene also in the novel?

NAKANOThe novel is more chaotic. The film emphasizes an amorous atmosphere and refines it elegantly, much like a medieval religious painting.

SEKIGUCHIIt reminded me of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. The crowd looked happy. It also seemed as if scent, sprinkled onto a 'tasteless and odorless' life, fulfilled their emotional lives.

From "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"

Visualizing Scent Through Sound and Color

SEKIGUCHIThe twelve virgins become twelve perfume bottles, right? 4 x 4 x 4. Does that principle still exist today?

NAKANOIt seems there's a principle in perfumery of creating three stages: top notes, middle notes, and base notes...

SEKIGUCHIWhat does the number 12 represent?

NAKANOI wonder what it is? If any readers know, please tell us (laughs)!

Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do has eight notes. If you add the five black keys of sharps and flats, it makes twelve along with the seven white keys from Do to Ti... Scent can sometimes be compared to chords. A scent of Do-Mi-So, or a scent of Do-Fa-La.

SEKIGUCHIA scale of scents?

NAKANOYes, there's a word called 'fragrance scale' (kōkai). Speaking of which, does this movie represent scents with music? Assigning specific music to a specific woman. In the 80s, there was a film that actually released real scents in theaters.

GAGA TOKIMURAThat was "Polyester."

NAKANORight, right, they seemed to be trying to create a genre called 'odorama,' a smelling cinema. With taglines like Smelling is Believing or It's Scentsational, full of dad jokes. But it didn't seem to succeed. Scent is perceived differently by each person, so even if real scents were released, not everyone would perceive them the same way. In that regard, I thought the director was clever. Representing scent through music. It truly becomes a film where you 'hear' scent.


NAKANOIsn't his use of color also skillful? There's a scene that gave me goosebumps. It's when the red-haired Laura, disguised as a boy, is escaping. In front of a fork in the road, the protagonist smells the wind and knows which way to go, right? Following his gaze, Laura's hat comes off, and her red hair bursts forth.

SEKIGUCHIDoes Tykwer like red hair? Laura in "Run Lola Run" also had red hair.

NAKANOLaura with red hair. It sounds like poetry (laughs). Red-haired women have sometimes been used as a symbol of eccentric women since "Carrot," but Tykwer uses it in a completely different sense, doesn't he?

SEKIGUCHIHe's aiming for a purely visual effect.

At GAGA Headquarters

NAKANOBy having the red hair spread out, he makes the audience feel that the scent is spreading. A world of color and fragrance, making you feel scent through color. Red hair must have a purpose too. Blonde would be too common, and black hair feels like it would limit the scent. Perhaps to oriental musk scents (laughs). Since there are few women with red hair, it might also evoke imagination about what kind of scent it could be.

SEKIGUCHIBen Whishaw is probably a cute boy in real life, but in the movie, he's creepy just standing there. He must be a really good actor.

NAKANOHe's a stage actor, isn't he? This role must be difficult. He can't smell like the city, but he has to possess the genius of the wild. He has both angelic and demonic sides, shows madness, but shouldn't be too creepy. Whishaw was perfect. How did they find someone like him?

SEKIGUCHIHis strange demeanor reminded me of Kazunari Ninomiya from "Letters from Iwo Jima."

AllOh!

SEKIGUCHISo, if this movie were to be remade in Japan, he might be the protagonist (laughs).





"Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"
Opens Saturday, March 3rd at Salonpas Louvre Marunouchi and other Shochiku/Tokyu theaters nationwide.