You Smell Funny

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Tom Tykwer, 2006) - A-

Some fierce religious overtones here, to the point where I think it might just be allegory. It's suggested that Grenouille has no soul (no scent of his own), and thus spends his time collecting others'; once he's put together the right "formula," he commands absolute power, or at least influence, over the public; at one point, he's excommunicated, in absentia, from the Catholic Church. Everyone he encounters on his journey dies immediately after sending him on his way. Tykwer shoots Grenouille's victims brightly and him in shadow. He turns bloodlust into beauty. Is he the antichrist? The Great Deceiver? Others prefer to interpret the ending as a metaphor for the relationship of an artist with his audience, though that has the unfortunate side effect of rendering the rest of the film irrelevant. And I dare you to look into Grenouille's eyes when he's reciting perfume formulas for Dustin Hoffman's Baldini and not feel an otherworldly chill. Tykwer's film is elegant, unnerving storytelling; Ben Whishaw will have a long and bountiful career.

Code Name: The Cleaner (Les Mayfield, 2007) - D-

I really should know better than to waste my time like this. Too irritated to write anything substantive; suffice it to say this is the sort of incoherent comedy-of-idiocy I can't stand.