Perfume. the Story of a Murderer OST [APE]

Germany's Tom Tykwer is among the rare directors who score their own movies (Charlie Chaplin, Clint Eastwood, and John Carpenter also belong to that small circle). Here, he and his regular collaborators, Johnny Klimer and Reinhold Heil (both boasting experience with… Nina Hagen!) have come up with a symphonic score performed by none other than Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker, with Absolute Ensemble founder Kristian Jarvi conducting the State Choir Latvia.

Alas, even Rattle and Jarvi cannot make the score more than mildly pleasant and ultimately unmemorable. Overall the vocal cues fare best: Soprano Chen Reiss shines on "Meeting Laura," for instance, a track that displays vague Philip Glass-esque echoes. Another highlight is the contribution of eerie-sounding boy soprano Victor de Maiziere on "Laura's Murder." Elsewhere, the composing trio mercifully doesn't overdo the middle-oriental exoticism on "Moorish Scents," though the track does feature a glockenspiel now officially the most overused instrument on contemporary soundtracks.
Elisabeth Vincentelli

1. Prologue. the Highest Point
2. Streets of Paris
3. the Girl With the Plums
4. Grenouille's Childhood
5. Distilling Roses
6. the 13th Essence
7. Lost Love
8. Morrish Scents
9. Meeting Laura
10. the Method Works
11. Richi's Escape
12. Laura's Murder
13. Awwaiting Execution
14. Grasse in Panic
15. the Perfume
16. the Crowd Embrace
17. Perfume Distilled
18. Epilogue. Leaving Grasse