In 1985, German writer Patrick Zyuskin published the novel “Perfumer” – a work that brought him world fame. Publishers sold over 12 million books in 46 languages. Such glory did not go unnoticed in the world of cinema, but for many years Zyuscin responded with a refusal to any suggestions about the film adaptation. Only producer Bernd Aichinger was able to break the writer. This happened in 2001. The issue price amounted to 10 million euros. Five years later, the film “Perfumer: the story of one killer” was released. He became the most expensive in the history of German cinema. The budget of the picture exceeded 60 million euros, but all costs paid off. The film was successful.
In addition to interesting plot turns and famous actors, the picture was remembered by the audience with a well -recreated atmosphere of the 18th century: dark and dirty streets, unpretentious life of artisans, glosses of the French aristocracy. Surprisingly, most scenes were not shot at all in France – the country, about which the novel tells. Those moments when Grenui served in the workshops of Baldini and Madame Arnulfi were created in, and all city city decorations were carefully selected in Spain. In addition to shooting, they took place in,,,, and cantaiopse. But today we will tell you about the capital of Catalonia, where the key scenes of the film were shot.
For 29 days, the film crew turned Barcelona into Paris and the city of Graus. For this purpose, the narrow streets of the Gothic quarter fit the best of all, but even they needed a light “makeup”. Thanks to the assistance of the mayor of Barcelona Joan Klos, the creators of the picture found a compromise with local residents and owners of shops. At night, the decorators “made up” the streets: placed the props, set the scenery, hid wires and “aged” walls, windows and windows, and in the early morning the actors came out and the filming process began.
I want in Barcelona!
The fish market of Paris – La Merce Square (on the map)
Grenuy was born and died here. In the film, this place was shown so that no one in his right mind would never want to visit it: a stink, decaying rotten fish, around the merchants in dirty clothes and small scammers. In fact, La Merce Square is a cozy place in the center of Barcelona. How did you manage to achieve such amazing reincarnation?
Only 4 hours a day were allotted for filming. So for several days in a row from 8 a.m. to 12 a day, work was in full swing here. First, the decorators transformed the area: scattering garbage and dead fish, then installed the props. The director followed and checked whether the “market” looks dirty enough. Only after that they launched the actors and began to shoot. In total, more than 2.5 tons of dead fish were thrown into La Merce Square. Just imagine what the fragrance was there!
The street where Grenui discovers the world of smells – Ferran street (on the map)
According to the film, Jean-Batista is here when the skin tunker leads him to the city center for the first time. Growing dozens of new aromas surrounding: the smell of baked bread, seasonings, women and spirits “Amur and Psyche”. To shoot the scene, the whole street had to be blocked. They did this on Sunday from 6:30 to 12:30 to deliver to residents and merchants as little inconvenience as possible. Decorators worked all night, cleaning and masking all modern elements of facades. On the sidewalk and the roadway, they even hastily laid the paving stones, which was like the one that was in Paris.
Perfumer shop Pelicier – store “Herboristeria del Rei” on the Royal Square (on the map)
The smell of a woman Jean-Batist Grenuy leaves one of the gloomy streets of the Gothic quarter directly to the Royal Square. You will recognize her by characteristic arches. Going on, the main character stops in front of the luminous display shop of the perfume shop. In real life, this is a store of herbs – one of the oldest in the city. It has been working since 1923. Now here you can buy therapeutic tinctures, dietary supplements and natural cosmetics.
The place of the first murder is San Filippo Neri (on the map)
The square in front of the temple, where Grenui killed a girl with yellow plums, was lost in the bowels of the Gothic quarter. She completely retained the old look, so the decorators had little work, but another problem arose – pouring rain. Because of it, over the whole area, since it is not very large, I had to pull the awning, otherwise the shooting would have to be stopped.
The temple where the priest finds the body of the girl – the Church of the Saints of Eustrate and the pastor (on the map)
This scene was collected from three different plans. The facade of the temple, where they found the body, was removed in Girona, since the original appearance of the Church of the Saints Yusta and the pastor did not impress the director of the film. The interior of the temple was left as it is, and the naked girl was shot separately and inserted into the frame using installation. This was done in order not to insult the feelings of believers.
Labyrinth, where the killer was waiting for Laura – Labyrinth Orta Park (on the map)
While the guests of Laura, the last sacrifice of the perfumer, played hide and seek, the killer was waiting for an unsuspecting girl in green thickets. The labyrinth was acted by the Park of the Marquis of the Marquis, Joan Antoani Deswalls and D’Arden, broken back in the 18th century. It is closer to the outskirts of the city, so many tourists simply do not get here. And in vain! Here you can take a walk in the shadow of the cypresses, unravel the maze and just relax, admiring the beautiful marble statues.
The area where execution and orgy took place is the Major Square in the Spanish Village Museum (on the map)
After all the crimes of the protagonist, they should have been executed in this square, but Jean-Batista was more cunning and used his secret weapon-the bottle of spirits. What happened next, you remember – hundreds of naked people intertwined in a variety of combinations. Exactly a month has gone to prepare the scene. It took so much time to put the game 800 mass actors. The shooting took one week. To do this, I had to temporarily close the open -air museum “The Spanish Village”, where more than a century ago, several typical Spanish architectural buildings recreated the Catalonia’s World Exhibition, connected them into a single ensemble.
To get to Barcelona to find yourself on the set of the legendary film, it will not be difficult. From the cities of Russia, direct flights to the capital of Catalonia regularly fly. The cost of tickets starts from 3,500 rubles, and the travel time will be about 5 hours.
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