Whether you are a student indexing themes for a thesis on olfactory aesthetics, a film editor studying Tykwer’s transition techniques, or a curious reader who just wants to find the right subtitle track, remember the core lesson of the story:

This absence becomes his obsession. He does not want to smell good ; he wants to smell . The entire plot—the murders of twenty-five virgins—is a desperate, monstrous attempt to construct an artificial soul. He will steal the scent of innocence and beauty not to possess them, but to become a someone . The tragedy is that he succeeds, only to discover that being smelled is more terrifying than being invisible.