Sundance Training part 2

So instead of watching all of the BCS championship game last evening, I decided to hit the flicks.
I remember reading Perfume by Patrick Sueskind years ago. I remember it as being very odd, somewhat disturbing and a real strain to read. It took me a long time for a relatively short book.
So, of course, I had to catch the film.
First things first, this book translated to film very well.
"Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" is the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Wishaw), born to a fish seller, sent to an orphanage and sold as the apprentice to a tanner before becoming an apprentice perfumer. Jean-Baptiste has a perfect sense of smell, he impresses his down-on-his-luck perfumer master Giuseppe Baldini (Dustin Hoffman) by recreating a popular perfume and then improving it. Jean-Baptiste wants, however, to learn to preserve every smell - and finds out that Baldini does not have all of the answers he needs.
In exchange for 100 perfume recipes Baldini gives Jean-Baptiste journeyman's papers so that he can travel to Grasse to learn more. In his travels, Jean-Baptiste finds a cave with close to no odor, the most comforting thing he's ever found, it is there, however, that he discovers his own lack of personal scent. This lack explains the sometimes hostile reactions people have had to him since he was a baby. It also explains how, when he moves quietly, he is all but invisible to people around him.
This movie is, as titled, "The Story of a Murderer." Though not all of the deaths in the film are murders, people around Jean-Baptiste seem to die starting with his mother. Some are set upon by cutpurses, others have fluke accidents, but nearly everyone who is somehow important in his life, for good or ill, suffers an unnatural death.
There are at least 19 untimely deaths in this film, but it manages not to be gorey. It is violent and dark, but there is very little blood.
The film is also full of beautiful women (most of whom die) who have very little dialogue but each has some personality even if she is on screen for fewer than 30 seconds. These women are important to the story, but because Jean-Baptiste is lacking in the most basic social skills even prostitutes become distant objects whom he cannot interact with in any normal way.
Like the book the movie "Perfume" is not easy, but it's worth the effort.
Spellcheck hates me again today, so sorry if I've missed any errors.