Perfume:
The
Perfume: The
Perfume:
The
Story
ofaa
Story
of
Perfume:
Story of aThe Story
Murderer
Murderer
of
a Murderer
Murderer
He lived to find
beauty. He killed
to possess it.
By:
By: Claudette
Claudette
By: Claudette
Plot
In eighteenth century France, Jean Baptiste
Grenouille, a charity orphan with an
extraordinary olfactory sense is born in the fish
market in Paris, on July 17, 1738 . He becomes
obsessed with the idea of preserving the human
scent of beautiful young girls. His misguided
infatuation leads him on a murderous quest to
create the perfect perfume, but at the end of it
all, he realizes that nothing can supplant human
companionship or suffice for love. Lonely and
heartbroken, Jean Baptiste mourns the deaths of
all of his victims, especially that of a shy servant
girl and a beautiful young aristocrat Laura
Richis.
Characters
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
Grenouille's mother
Father Terrier
Madame Gaillard
Children at the Boarding House
Grimal
The Girl with the Plums
Giuseppe Baldini
Chénier
Pélissier
Taillade-Espinasse
Madame Arnulfi
Dominique Druot
Antoine Richis
Laure Richis
Themes
Black humor
Emotionally or mentally
inadequate people
Hatred of humanity
Grenouille as agent of
death
Children as subhuman
Theory of the
sovereignty of scent
Seeing others' lives as
mere snippets
Settings
Paris, France
Fish Market
Orphanage
Tannery
Ponte Au Change
Perfume Shop
Massif Central
Montpellier
Grasse
Victims
The Girl with the Plums
The prostitute
Lavender Picker
The Twins
Laure
19 other girls
Methods
Memorization
Distillation
Hot enfleurage
Cold enfleurage
Patrick Süskind
Date of Birth: March 26, 1949 in Ambach in
Germany to the late Wilhelm Emanuel
Süskind, a journalist and writer on language.
Patrick Süskind studied Medieval and
Modern History at the University of Munich
and Aix-en-Provence between 1968 and 1974.
in Munich and was a writer for television
before he wrote Perfume. His second novel,
The Pigeon, later adapted as a play, was first
staged at the BAC Theatre in London in May
1993. His play, The Double-Bass was first
staged in Munich in 1981 and has since
become one of the most performed plays in
Germany, Switzerland and Austria. His
novella, The Story of Mr Sommer, was
published in 1992 and like Perfume has been
a huge success all over the world. Süskind
resides almost anonymously in Munich. He
has refused to give any interviews for over
twenty years.
Perfume
Directed by: Tom
Tykwer
Starring:
Birgit Minichmayr: Grenouille’s mother
Ben Whishaw: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
Sian Thomas: Madame Gaillard
Sam Douglas: Grimal
Jaume Montané: Pélissier
Karoline Herfurth: The Plum Girl
Dustin Hoffman: Baldini
Dora Romano: Baldini’s wife
Rachel Hurd-Wood: Laure Richis
Alan Rickman: Antoine Richis
Paul Berrondo: Druot
Released in Europe in 2006 and 2007 in
America.
Budget: cinquante
million
Gross:
$132,180,323
(Worldwide)
Quotes
Quotes
Fun
Facts
Fun
Facts
“When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances
and then candid ones, they had to smile. They were
uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done
something out of love.” - Narrator
“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of
words, appearances, emotions, or will.” – Baldini
“The cry that followed his birth, the cry with which he
had brought himself to people's attention and his mother
to the gallows, was not an instinctive cry for sympathy
and love. That cry, emitted upon careful consideration,
one might almost say upon mature consideration, was
the newborn's decision against love and nevertheless for
life.”- Narrator
“We are familiar with people who seek out solitude:
penitents, failures, saints, or prophets.” - Narrator
Fun Facts
More than 12 million copies have been sold and translated into
46 languages.
This novel was on the bestselling list of the German weekly news
magazine "Der Spiegel" for nine years.
Some editions of Perfume have as their cover image Antoine
Watteau's painting Jupiter and Antiope, which depicts a
murdered woman.
51 chapters total.
Patrick Süskind refuses the literary world largely is almost no
interviews, does not appear in public and there are hardly any
photos of him. Only three photos are found of him on the
internet.
Adaptions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A film adaption, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, co-written
and directed by Tom Tykwer, premiered in Germany on
September 14th 2006.
A Russian musical adaptation of the novel, Perfumer, premiered
on December 5th 2010 in Moscow.
The song "Scentless Apprentice", by the American band
Nirvana, was inspired by Perfume. The band's lead singer and
guitarist Kurt Cobain often described the novel as one of his
favorite books.
The song "Herr Spiegelmann" from the Portuguese metal band
Moonspell contains an excerpt from the book.
The song "Red Head Girl" by French duo Air is inspired by
Perfume.
The song You smell so good by German band Rammstein was
inspired by the book, which is the lead singer's favorite book.
Marilyn Manson credits the novel as one of the inspirations
behind the title of his second album, Smells like Children.
The episode “Sense Memory" of the television show Criminal
Minds was inspired by the novel.
The song "Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met)" by American
band Panic! At The Disco is inspired by Perfume.
In 2006, French fashion designer Thierry Mugler created a
perfume coffret that held fifteen perfumes that were based on
the movie Perfume. The coffret cost sept cent dollars.
References
Süskind, Patrick. Perfume. Trans. John E. Woods. New York:
Vintage International, 1986.
Gradesaver.com 1999-2011 GradeSaver LLC.
Youtube.com