Few other German novels managed to achieve such popularity beyond the domestic borders as Das Parfum. The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind in 1985. The story about a perfumer with an extraordinary sense of smell, who takes increasingly radical steps in his search for the perfect scent and ultimately even becomes a serial killer, has been translated into 48 languages and has sold more than 20 million copies. A success that has not escaped the streaming service with the red N. On September 21, 2022, “The Perfumer” will start on Netflix and revive the mega bestseller. You can see the first trailer above.
As the title suggests, “The Perfumer” is not a direct adaptation of “The Perfume”. Instead, it was only based on the motifs of the original to tell a new story of its own.
“The Perfumer” is therefore not set in the 18th century like the original or the film adaptation by Tom Tykwer, but in the present, where the story is told from the point of view of a young inspector (Emilia Schüle). She recently lost her sense of smell and would do anything to regain it. When she meets a charismatic perfumer (Ludwig Simon) who doesn’t even shy away from murder in search of the perfect scent, she gets involved in a dangerous game.
Especially at a time when more people than usual suffer from a lost sense of smell (keyword: Corona), Netflix could hit a nerve with “The Perfumer”. In 2006, more than five million people saw the cinema film “Perfume – The Story of a Murderer” in Germany alone, and the ZDFneo series “Perfume”, which appeared in 2018, was also able to achieve good ratings when it was first broadcast, despite being placed on a niche channel late in the evening. From September 21 we will find out how well the Netflix adaptation will be received.
