Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Written by

Jude Thaddeus Bautista

Guillaume (Gregory Montel) found her at the backroom of the remote service station. Washing her hands, then bringing it to her face as if savoring something. Anne (Emmanuelle Devos) sensed someone was looking at her.

“This smell, there was a soap like that in the refectory. Copra oil, I loved it. After dinner I’d wash my hands again, to keep the scent with me all night. Every summer as a little girl I went to a holiday camp in a chateau by the channel.”

Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

The old woman who ran the service station found them both. Anne said to her, “I would like to buy that would you sell it?” pointing to the soap by the sink. She disappeared and came back with a bag, in it a few bars of soap. “Don’t you want a new one?”

Different scents have the power to trigger memories of places and times in our lives. Even stronger than music. This is the underlying theme of French film LES PARFUMS in the latest online edition of CINE EUROPA 24. This is the beloved film fest Filipinos flock to in RED CARPET Cinemas, Shang Rila Plaza Mall for over 20 years.

Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Watch LES PARFUMS and many more European cinematic hits by registering in www.cineeuropaph.com. Take advantage of watching it for free online from September 1-29.  A total of 17 films from 15 EU member states are there to choose from. LES PARFUMS has screening dates: September 1 (WED – 4pm) and September 9 (THU -7PM). By September 17-29 the movie will be available ON DEMAND.

Make sure to check the synopses and schedules to enhance your viewing choices.

Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

LES PARFUMS is an intimate look at the French obsession with perfumes. The extent of how they search for new scents, never ending quest of identifying, cataloguing and replicating them. Will an unlikely romance bloom between, two people with different backgrounds?

Gregory Montel as Guillaume in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Anne Walberg (no relation to the progenitors of the Wahlburgers) is the center of this perfume obsession. As the naturally talented perfumer – an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a nose (French: nez) due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions. From: Perfumer wikipedia

Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

She tells Guillaume: I am THE Nose. She acts like it too. Her expertise is in high demand. They range from Local Boards trying to replicate the smell and experience of going to a primeval cave to the most prestigious luxury brands that France is known for.

Emmanuelle Devos (Anne Walberg) and Gregory Montel (Guillaume) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Copra

The scent that brings out the most nostalgia to Anne, is one that is very familiar to Filipinos – copra. Which is a common ingredient in soaps here – dried coconut kernels from which coconut oil is derived. I have my own memories of that smell, having grown up near the Unilever Philippines Manufacturing plant here in Paco, Manila.

There’s a strong fragrance that wafts every morning on my way to school. Can be described as smoky, nutty, floral at the same time. Any Pinoy household cooking latik – coconut curds or gata – coconut cream, Bicolano dishes would be very familiar with the smell.

Unilever brands
From https://www.unilever.com/

Anne’s problem isn’t how well she does her job, it’s how she is unable to relate to most people. Especially because she is a diva. Enter Guillaume played by Gregory Montel, a divorcee having a hard time putting food on the table. He loves his daughter Léa (Zélie Rhixon) but is struggling to provide for her. Guillaime is a limo driver hired by Anne to take her to the countryside, in search of undiscovered smells (or at least identifying them).

Gregory Magne

Written and directed by Gregory Magne, who has an almost documentary approach to the film. Wanting to underplay than overly dramatize scenes. His approach to research comes from his journalistic background.

Magne was interviewed by Fabien Lemercier for the Cineuropa website:  “I did the bare, legal minimum (laughs). I was a journalist before, so I’m used to picking up on something here, and something else there, then six months later you realize there’s a story in it. As for odors, I’d seen a certain scene in a documentary by Werner Herzog, I’d read a certain article about a Scandinavian artist who’d recreated the smells of First World War trenches, etc. When I wrote the first situations, I did it on the basis of the few personal, inner archives I had, and then I offered them up to two different “noses” who provided me with coherent technical terms and made a few remarks, though not that many, not on the character of the “Nose” in the film, either. It’s quite surprising, but what we imagine is never too far from reality.”

LES PARFUMS Writer Director Gregory Magne; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Referencing his first movie L’AIR DE RIEN, Magne also wanted to show how friendships come from the most unlikely people, “The second ingredient, just like in L’AIR DE RIEN, was a friendly encounter. In the same way that a romantic encounter is rather coded and marked out. Aa look, a sense of excitement, a restlessness to know whether the other person will like us, etc.. A friendly encounter, in my mind, is something we never see coming in life. Sometimes we even become friends with people we didn’t particularly like or who we actively disliked on first contact; and then, through shared moments, good times and bad, comfortable silences, like the ones you might share in a car, one day, over something small, you look at one another and realize that you’re friends. I think that’s interesting to talk about and portray because these are things which are less obvious, less marked and a bit more subtle than stories about love”

(12) Gregory Montel (Guillaume) and Zelie Rixhon (Lea) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Gregory Montel as Guillaume in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

(16) Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Gustav Kervern as Arsene in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

(21) Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Gregory Montel (Guillaume) and Zelie Rixhon (Lea) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

(24) Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

(26) Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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From left: Gustav Kervern (Arsene) and Gregory Montel (Guillaume) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Gregory Montel as Guillaume in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Emmanuelle Devos (Anne Walberg) and Gregory Montel (Guillaume) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Emmanuelle Devos (Anne Walberg) and Gregory Montel (Guillaume) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

Emmanuelle Devos (Anne Walberg) and Gregory Montel (Guillaume) in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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Emmanuelle Devos as Anne Walberg in LES PARFUMS; Watch European films for free at Cine Europa 24 from Sept 1-29, 2021, online – register and watch here: https://www.cineeuropaph.com/

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