The Story of a Murderer

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind is among many of the novels that have over the years been adapted into films. The novel is about a young boy with a gifted sense of smell, whose birth, upbringing and his sense of smell contribute to the development of his need to kill in order to obtain the scents of others. The background and upbringing of children greatly influence their behaviors and who they grow up to become in future. The novel focuses on the effects that child upbringing and human relations might have on the cognitive and psychological development of individuals. Though the idea of creating a novel-based film sounds easy, the written words that express so much emotion and action may not be expressed in the exact same way in a film. With the limited time that a film is entitled to, filmmakers often find it challenging to incorporate all the concepts and events taking place in a novel in their films which tend to take their films to an entirely different direction as compared to the original concepts in the novel. Tykwer, the director of the film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer omitted and modified some of the scenes in the novel which ultimately affected the way the main character, Grenouille, is perceived by the audience, causing pity towards him rather than the inhuman and cruel character depicted in the novel.
Similarities between the novel and the movie
Both the novel and the movie open with a brutality and gloom mood that prepares the audience for the impending events.

In both cases, the audience is taken through the misery that is Grenouille’s life, his suffering and his immoral quest for love. Suskind begins the novel with Grenouille’s darkness-filled birth and the death of him mother. Similarly, Tykwer begins the film in a dark prison cell where a nose emerges to sniff the air (Tykwer n.p). The description of the scents where Grenouille’s mother gave birth in the novel and the nose portrayed at the beginning of the movie, introduces the audience to the symbolic literally use of olfactory senses.
Both the novel and the movie depict Jean-Baptiste Grenouille’s sense of smell like some superpower. In the novel, the wet nurse, Jean Bussie is terrified of how Grenouille can predict the future. In the movie, Grenouille is also seen to be able to sense what’s behind walls and people’s scent from miles away and his interest in an apprenticeship with the great perfumer Baldini also shows his fascination with scents (Billington n.p).
Literally, devices used in the novel versus Visual special effects techniques in the film
In the novel, Suskind, through his choice of words brings out the theme of the olfactory sense in the novel. “In the period of which we speak, there reigned in the cities a stench barely conceivable to us modern men and women…the rivers stank, the marketplaces stank, the churches stank…the peasant stank as dis the priest, the apprentice as did his master’s wife…” (Suskind 3). His choice of words in this first chapter of the novel, work to inform the readers the domination of the theme of scents in the novel. There are also very few instances in the novel where Grenouille is seen to converse with other people yet Suskind incorporates Grenouille thoughts and the workings of his mind in the novel. This allows the readers to understand the complexity that is the man Grenouille, and how his contorted mind works. It gives the readers and insight into Grenouille’s mind and allows them to recognize that his actions are those of a man motivated only by his own satisfaction to kill and obtain the scent that he so much desires.
Tykwer incorporates music in the film to capture the mood and actions taking place in the film. While being interviewed, Tykwer explained the difficulty of transforming the olfactory sense presented using literature language in the novel and how he used cinematography language such as the facial expressions and actions of the main character plus the setting and music to capture the events in the novel. Tykwer composed the music and later recorder an orchestra band which played the music in order to use it in the film. He played the recorded music on the set so that the characters could get the feel of the music and mirror its mood while acting. Tykwer while being interviewed said, “…I really do understand the atmosphere and the emotional and the more abstract part of the film when I’m investigating the music.” (Murray n.p). Tykwer also uses a narrator in the film to communicate to the audience Grenouille’s thoughts. The difference between the novel and the film, in this case, is the frequency in which Grenouille himself is seen to converse with the other characters as compared to the novel where his conversational relations with others are kept to a minimum. His conversations in the film, allows the audience to humanize him and thus to make it easy for them to pity him.
Abby Hodge in her analysis of the film notices how Süskind uses graphic and descriptive diction to present the main character as an evil murderer while Tykwer utilizes the performance of the main character and the camera’s eye to present the main character as a pitiable, misguided young man (Hodge 1). The two different medium used different styles applicable within their medium to produce two similar yet very different works. While the Suskind used literature language to present the main character as a merciless serial killer, Tykwer used stage/set setting to present the character as a pitiable individual who succumbed to murder as a way of seeking his redemption.
Scenes Omitted or modifies in the film
The introductory scene in the film is completely modified such that it gives the audience a different perception of Grenouille. In the film, the introductory scene showcases Grenouille being brought before the people to face his judgment while being dragged with heavy iron chains that bind him. The force used by the guards to pull Grenouille creates a feeling of empathy and pity among the audience who are not aware of Grenouille’s crimes (Tykwer n.p). This scene prevents the audience from viewing Grenouille as a heartless serial killer who has absolutely no consideration for human life.
Suskind begins the novel with a brief explanation of who Grenouille is, his birth and his dark nature. “In Eighteenth-Century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages.” (Suskind 3). He does not allow his readers to form a different opinion about Grenouille, except that he was a dark, wicked man who used his “superpower” against humans with no consideration for the sanctity of life. The beginning of the novel presents Grenouille as an evil man thereby leaving no room for the readers to pity him unlike in the film.
The scene in which Grenouille kills the plum girl is modified in the film thereby changing the motive of the murder from an evil interest in her scent to an accidental killing based on his fascination of the girl. The scene was meant to show that Grenouille was only after his own pleasure and satisfaction though in the film it comes out as an accidental death thus creating pity among the audience. In the film, Grenouille is seen to be completely unaware of his actions which portray him as a mentally disturbed person. In the film, Grenouille follows the scent of the girl until she reaches her home. He continues sniffing her, and when she notices, in an attempt to silence her screams that they may not be heard by people passing by, he covers her mouth and nose with his hand until those who were passing by are long gone. Of course, by this time the girl is dead due to suffocation which brings out his first kill as an accident in the movie and provokes pity among the audience (Tykwer n.p).
In the novel, Grenouille followed the scent of the girl to her home and continued sniffing her. He was obsessed with her wonderful smell and saw it as his redemption. While he strangles her, he had only one concern in his brain, no her life but the importance of her scent, to him and he did not plan on losing any bit of it. The choice of words used by Suskind to express what was going through Grenouille’s mind while he was strangling the girl, wipe out any trace of pity that the reader might have had for Grenouille as compared to the movie. After she is dead, he is not concerned about his actions, but lays her down and continues to sniff her scent. His actions in the novel show that he held absolutely no regret for his actions (Suskind 18).
The scene whereby Grenouille spent seven years hiding from other human and their scents is modified in the film making it unclear the period he took away from human and thus limiting the audiences’ understanding of Grenouille inhuman nature. The movie only shows Grenouille’s departure from Baldini’s home and his decision to take the path through the villages and the uninhabited areas but do not specify his experiences while he undertook this journey (Tykwer n.p). The scenes in the movie skims through Grenouille’s decision to travel through the villages to his decision to continue his journey to Grasse. He’s seven years away from humans, rips away his morality and humanity leaving behind a man who is driven only by his need for the special scent. The audience would obviously not feel as much pity for him if this segment of the novel was included in the movie, as they would be allowed to form their own opinion of Grenouille as a ruthless murderer rather than a pitiful young man with a gifted sense of smell.
In chapter twenty-three of the novel, Grenouille is seen wandering in the forests and villages while constantly avoiding any form of human contact. He travels mostly at night using his sense of smell for guidance. To collect food for his sustenance in the farmers’ field, he waits until the last of them has left the field then makes his way to the farm to gather his food. For the entire time, he was traveling he did not meet a single person. Whenever Grenouille would feel the presence of humans near him, he would travel farther to the uninhabited areas of the country, which enhanced his detachment to humanity (Suskind 46-47). Unlike in the movie, this chapter in the novel enables readers to understand how Grenouille transforms to become the serial killer that he is.
Tykwer modified the wording in which Grenouille decided to commit suicide making it seem like all along his motive for the murders that he had committed were his search for love rather that his being a twisted serial killer. A sentence was changed from: “There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not make him able to smell. And though his perfume might allow him to appear before the world as a god if he could not smell himself and thus never know who he was, to hell with it, with the world, with himself, with his perfume.” (Suskind 97) to “There was only one thing that power could not do: it could not turn him into a person who could love or be loved like anyone else.” (Tykwer n.p). This modification allows viewers to pity Grenouille rather than see him as the cold murderer that he was. Tykwer’s change of this scene brings the theme of love and its longing in the movie which were not initially there in the novel. It also softens the cruelty of Grenouille’s as it now seems like all he wanted was for someone to love him and for him to be able to love them back. This modification limits the judgment of viewers who have not read the novel as they can only judge Grenouille’s actions from what the movie depicts.
The scene in which Monsieur Richiswas begging Grenouille to be his son was not clearly brought out in the film which limited the audience perception of Grenouille’s inhuman nature. In the novel, while Grenouille lay on the bed after agreeing to become Monsieur Richis’s son, he depicts no emotion towards Richis’s request and fakes a smile to show his supposed gratitude. “Grenouille pulled the corners of his mouth apart, the way he had noticed people do when they smile.” (Suskind 97). The fact that he did not tell Monsieur Richis that he had killed his daughter and that was why he saw the similarity between him and his daughter shows how inconsiderate and inhuman he is. His fake smile also reveals his pure evil nature as he cannot even understand basic human feelings but only mimics them.
Both executions of the story reveal the complexities of the main character, Grenouille, in ways that are similar and yet very different based on how the two mediums are used to tell the story of the main character. While the novel depicts Grenouille as a sociopath who is only after his own satisfaction, the film presents a misguided character who in his quest for love ends up committing a series of murders. The change in the film show how a different setting can create a totally different story from initial one. The modifications and omissions made in the film enabled the main character to be portrayed as pitiful rather than a cruel serial killer as emphasized in the novel.

Works Cited
Billington, Alex, “Perfume – The Story of a Murderer Review: A Remarkable Conoction.” FirstShowingnet RSS. First Showing LLC, 4 January 2007. Web. 22
December 2016.
Ebert, Roger. “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Movie Review (2007) / Roger Ebert.”
RogerEbert.com.Ebert Digital LLC, 04 January 2007. Web. 22 December 2016.
Hodge, Abby. “Perfume: The Tragedy of Humanity.” e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work. Vol 3, No. 3, 2013 http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/e-Research/Vol3/Iss3/3 Accessed 22 December 2016
Murray, Rebecca. “Exclusive Interview with Writer/Director Tom Tykwer on the Movie “Perfume”” http://movies.about.com/od/perfume/a/perfume122006.htm Accessed 22 December 2016
“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.” Dir. Tom Tykwer. By Tom Tykwer, Bernd Eichinger,
Andrew Birkin. and John Hurt. Prod. Bernd Eichinger. Per. Ben Whishaw, Dustin
Hoffman, and Rachel Hurd- Wood. Paramount Pictures, 2006. DVD.
Suskind, Patrick. “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.” New York: A.A. Knopf, 1986. Print.
Weintraub, Steve. “Torn Tykwer Interviewed ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’,”
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