Soundtrack Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Composed By: Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil Produced by: EMI Classics Reviewed by Melissa Minners              Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a Dreamworks Pictures movie based upon the bestselling novel by Patrick Süskind.  The story revolves around a young man driven to madness by his highly developed olfactory sense and his desire to capture the essence of love.  The movie follows the main character’s decent into madness from his days as an orphan working in a tannery through to his murderous rampage as he searches for the elusive scent of virginal womanhood.             The soundtrack for Perfume was composed by Tom Twyker (also director of the film, Reinhold Heil (composer of the soundtrack for Run Lola Run), and Johnny Klimek (founder of the band The Other Ones).  Searching for the finest musical support, Twyker turned over the reins to Sir Simon Rattle, a well-known and well-respected conductor.  For this venture, Rattle was asked to conduct the renowned Berlin Philharmonic.  With such talented musicians providing the sound, all that was needed was a musical score worthy of their efforts and of the movie’s spiraling premise.             Without knowing the title, one could sense the diabolical plot of this movie from the very first song on the soundtrack.  Prologue – The Highest Point, though very short, provides the perfect foreshadowing of things to come.  As we are taken through a journey of the main character’s life, we are treated to a mixture of lilting strings with ominous undertones.  The composers of this soundtrack were highly successful in expressing changes of scenery and climate simply by manipulation of the music.  The wonder and beauty of the Streets of Paris and the innocence of the women the main character encounters are expressed through lilting, happy strings, all of which seem to be underscored by a sense of foreboding supplied by way of dark, deeper tones.  Intensity and fearfulness are expressed through the use of timpani drums.  A character’s anticipation is exhibited through music played to the tempo of a ticking clock.  Love is expressed through operatic vocals.             The soundtrack of any film should compliment it, add emotion and intensity to any scene and bring that scene home to the viewer.  The soundtrack of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer does all of that and more.  It basically tells the story of the film through the use of music.  Without ever knowing the background story, one could understand the gist of what this film is about by listening to its soundtrack.  The Perfume soundtrack is perfect for any lover of classical music and for any fan of soundtracks with meaning.       For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at talonkarrde@g-pop.net.