Cinema Wednesdays - Jonas Follonier
Anne Alberg (Emmanuelle Devos) is what we call a «nose». Her job is to smell scents and create perfumes. In the past, perfumes in the literal sense of the word, eau-de-toilette. Dior's «J'adore», that's her. But that was before. Before she lost her sense of smell. Anosmia is an all-too-familiar phenomenon, and it's interesting to see it make its way into a film plot. It's not the most important part of the story, and this subtly introduced fact serves the real purpose of the film: the world of scents, of smells, of the shapeless reality that tickles our nostrils and what's in them. Les parfums is above all about the relationship that develops between this haughty lady and her new chauffeur, Guillaume (Gregory Montel), a slightly awkward but brave fellow.
Needing to earn money for his pretty daughter, he agrees to drive Madame - no, Mademoiselle - Alberg, but doesn't give in to her inflated demands. Taking her suitcases up and down, changing the sheets in her hotel room... After a while, it's all right. But Guillaume's honesty will please his client, who will ultimately learn a lot from him - and vice versa. In short, the film isn't very innovative. Untouchables, we know, thank you. But there's more to a film than its summary. It cultivates its nuances in the same way as a scent declines its aromas. It inspires characters and viewers alike to associate ideas as they appear to us. And which will seem obvious to us, because they are private.
The smell is complicity. That of father and daughter. That of the bourgeoise and her valet. Isn't there an identity between these two? Smell is a potential memory. When it becomes familiar, smell, by definition, allows us to remember loved ones. Of course, a hint of je-ne-sais-quoi can remind us of a sunset we've watched alone. But is it possible to watch a sunset without feeling any emotion more or less related to someone you love? Probably not. It's often said that everything revolves around love. Well, it's all about the human being. We Europeans are sufficiently steeped in Christianity to know this.
What's really interesting about this film is that Mademoiselle Walberg is a nose (it's his job, as the sad ones would say; it's his vocation, as the artists would say), but Guillaume a nose. Guillaume feels things, or more precisely, he feels people. He senses human situations, which is why he's not a failure. He may have trouble holding down a job, he may be awkward with his daughter, but he's no less resourceful for being a man of good will, and that's priceless. Benevolent and battling, he has a positive attitude to life and represents the sensitive nose, while Mademoiselle Walberg embodies the intellectual nose. A perfect pairing for a film, don't you think? Especially as it doesn't involve romance or sex.
And then there's Gaëtan Roussel's nose. A talented composer for a number of French releases, his soundtrack is soothing, simple and subtle (the one doesn't exclude the other). In short, the music is at nose level. It's exactly what was needed. But it can't be easy to put notes to smells in this way - normally, we put music to images or words. But Gaëtan Roussel, like the late Ennio Morricone, understands that film music speaks for itself. It has a language. In philosophy, this is the vision of the American Jerrold Levinson, which has attracted a lot of attention in recent years.
Read also: What is a musical work?
Grégory Magne's new feature-length film, which isn't long at all, has the immense merit of bringing back to the forefront this sense that is perhaps the most important of all. sensitive of all. The sense of smell is perhaps, in fact, the sense par excellence: the one by which we smell of things. A sense that, inspired by Aristotle, could be likened to prudence, the instrument that enables us to achieve the right ends with the right means. The sense of smell is thus linked to the good, whereas sight, the sense linked to intelligence, is linked to the true. It's no coincidence, then, that we leave the screening feeling serene and at peace with ourselves. As well as being original, this film simply does us good.
Write to the author: jonas.follonier@leregardlibre.com
Photo credit: © JMH Distributions
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