Perfume Book Vs Movie Essay

The film adaptation of the novel Perfume: The Story of a Murderer directed by Tom Tykwer did a great job in resembling the novel. I felt that the film followed the novel closely, which really helped me understand the story better. Reading the novel is helpful to understand the film because the novel is the original story/script. When novels are adapted into screenplays, the writer has to do what is best for the film, which can result in the writer cutting out or changing certain things like: characters, dialogue, etc. The film helped me understand the novel better because I was able to follow the story more clearly than the novel. In the novel, there is a part where Grenouille is making a perfume and Baldini is watching him. Baldini starts yelling at him for mixing the alcohol first and in the film that part of the novel stood out to me. When I was reading this part of the novel I was trying to picture …show more content…
All throughout the story every character’s motives are driven by selfish needs. One scene that stood out to me was the scene where Madame Gaillard sells Grenuilles to a man. Then the man kills Madame Gaillard and takes back the money he gave her and treats Grenouille as a slave. Money was the first thing that visually stood out for me that represents the selfish tone. Money makes people greedy, and there is a close up on Madame Gaillard counting money that she earns from all the children she takes care of. The music is very dramatic and serious, which illustrates how coldhearted Madame Gaillard is. On the other hand, I feel that the tone of the novel is dark because the way that Grenouille dies is hard. His perfume that represented life and love is what got him killed. The people ripped him apart and ate him. The detailed description of the novel helps illustrate this dark ending. Death is dark, but the way Grenouille is killed, highlights the dark tone of the overall