Perfumes

Anne Walberg was a great name in the world of perfume. She had a nose, and for a period that nose was the industry's most expensive instrument. Now she does not work with the big houses; she gives scent to leather bags, removes a bad smell from a shop, takes small jobs. Guillaume is her driver. He is about to lose the work; he is divorced, needs a decent home for custody of his daughter, and this job is his last chance. Anne is a difficult person; demanding, cold, explaining herself to nobody. The two spend long hours in the car. Grégory Magne writes and directs. Emmanuelle Devos plays Anne and Grégory Montel plays Guillaume. It is a French production. The film's interest is the profession; how scent is produced is shown in detail and that knowledge stays inside the narrative. Anne's trouble rests on a professional loss; for a period she stopped being able to smell, and the industry dropped her for it. The narrative opens no romantic strand between them and refuses it deliberately. Its limit is scale; the narrative is small, there is little event and the conflict is low. Emmanuelle Devos's performance carries the film; the character is not shown as likeable. The matter it works at is a talent turning into goods independent of the person who holds it. Who it is for: viewers who like quiet French two handers and stories about a trade. Who it is not for: the pace is low, there is no dramatic peak, and the resolution is quiet.