VIXX “Scentist” analysis based on “Perfume”, by P. Suskind PART I - The MV (2/2)
“Scentist” is definitely one of my favorite songs/ music videos/ concepts in kpop so last year, when I got to know it was based on a book, I went after and read it. Since then I’ve been wanting to share an analysis focused on more direct references to Suskind’s story.
* This is the continuation of a two part analysis of Vixx’s “Scentist” MV; you can find the first part here. *
THIRD PART The third part is about the period Grenouille spends in Grasse – pretty much a capital of the aroma’s industry. Going over to the residential area, his attention was for some reason caught by one of the houses. He realizes it was a scent extremely similar to the one he smelled that night in Paris, but not the same. It was even better this time. The girl was a child and he knew that in 2 years she would have completely matured. This time he wished to properly extract and take this scent for himself. He had to expand his knowledge and technique, as he waited for the blossoming.
[Image 26 - 1:37 min] I think by now we can work with the concept of Grenouille’s more sophisticated way of dealing with smell and creating fragrances inside himself. The way I see it, here we can divide the scene in some parts: first, on the right, Hongbin and Hyuk would be in charge of the experimenting; at the center, where N, Ravi and Ken stand, would be the storage for the smells (also previously described as a “beverage cellar”) and on the left side, Leo would be responsible for the “special” creations (the harmonization).
Grenouille is hired at an atelier. He is taught a very efficient process of extraction. He gained more and more experience, and stayed all day long in the laboratory making experiments. He creates more “humane perfumes” for different occasions. Once again, he tries capturing the objects aromas (rock, metal, glass, wood…) and soon begins experimenting with living beings.
[Image 27 - 0:57 sec] [Image 28 - 1:52 min] [Image 29 - 0:54 sec] [Image 30 - 1:56] Grenouille catches some animals to test if he can extract their odors. Here N and Hongbin illustrate those experiments – the book doesn’t specify any lizard or snake, though.
After a year had passed, one night he is taken by the fear of losing the scent; despite some hesitation, he plans to make a base of other aromas to help in conserving hers. This is when the murders start taking place. Every week the citizens would find a girl; all of them followed a similar pattern. Even when taking measures he couldn’t be stopped.
Laure Richis was the girl whose scent Grenouille wants. Even after her father’s attempt of taking her away secretly, he follows their trace. He manages to get inside her room, to kill her and extract the scent.
“He didn’t even once look at the girl’s face; her material existence wasn’t important to him, it was only the Laure in form of scent that existed, as a perfect smell.”
[Image 31 - 0:35 sec] [Image 32 - 2:09 min] The bags containing roses actually represent each one of the girls Grenouille kills when he is in Grasse. Red roses are associated to beauty and perfection and, most popularly, to profound love. In the book, he specifically says he wants to capture the special fragrances from people, those that inspired love.
[Image 33 - 2:49 min] [Image 34 - 3:03 min] In total, he makes 25 victims, considering the last one, Laure, the special scent he had as a goal. As I pointed out in yellow, there are around 20 bags hanging in the MV.
After some investigation the police gets to Grenouille. He is arrested and sentenced to death. He arrived in the police carriage at the square; it was the first time someone to be executed came in such class. He was finely dressed and looked like a free man. By this moment he had already applied the perfume. Suddenly, all those people believed he wasn’t guilty and loved him. They all fell on their knees. An utter state of hysteria took place; everywhere the citizens where filled with admiration and intense desire.
[Image 35 - 2:38 min] [Image 36 - 2:42 min] I associate this other scene involving a car with Grenouille arrival to the execution venue. Grenouille uses of the effect of the perfume to get taken there by carriage. Hongbin's angle to the camera in the first scene also conveys the idea of power over the viewer. In the book he stands by the door for several minutes and also wears a long blue coat.
[Image 37 - 2:11 min] [Image 38 - 2:13 min] This could be a representation of the perfume taking over the crowd like a gas bomb in the same scenario. However Grenouille is immune to it, as Ravi shows by wearing the protection mask.
At first, he thought he had achieved his goal, but he couldn’t feel any joy from that. Again he was disgusted by those people. He understood that love wouldn’t make him blissful. However, the more he hated them, the more they loved him, as they saw him through his divine aromatic mask. Again the mist filled him, like his dream in the cave; but this time the real world was the dream, and there was no place where to escape.
[Image 39 - 1:17 min] I believe this represents the boy’s realization at the square. Now the mist originates from the car that, according to the previous association, is connected to the place where Greouille feels suffocated by it for the second time.
After passing out and being aided by the girl’s father himself, he goes away.
* * * FOURTH PART Grenouille walked at night again. Feeling the bottle in his pocket, he reflects on how he had power enough to dominate the world if he wanted. But he didn’t know who he was if he couldn’t smell himself; everything else was insignificant. In the end, he was the only one able to be fascinated and not controlled by the perfume. He gets to Paris in a day as hot as the day of his birth. At night, near by a fire where some people gathered, he sprays all of his body with the rest of the liquid.
* * * Other commentaries: The MV was a really interesting interpretation of the story. Definitively, it fit Vixx’s dark concepts perfectly, which I’m not sure if it’s that clear by watching it out of context.
I like how throughout the video they work with blue and red, which mixed result in purple – the color Grenouille’s castle is described as. I also thought it was interesting how they introduced music to the story (mainly related to those scenes of Leo by the piano); I feel like the book doesn’t do any kind of comparision to other senses, specially because the important point is exactly the main character’s special way of interacting with the world.
There were also some things that made me confused and I decided to keep them out of the list, such as:
[Image 40 - 0:39 sec] - That tool the boys look through. Although I used a similar scene before, I was really curious to know the real meaning of this.
[Image 41 - 2:02 min]- The boy feeling divided (?). I considered this would be associated to Grenouille’s feelings – hate and the wish to be loved at the same time.
[Image 42 and 43 - 2:55 min] - The gun. I thought that was a representation of the character’s indifference to the fact that he had to kill his victims; the book literally says that didn’t matter to him. The first one would be the younger Grenouille experiencing that for the first time as a way of getting to the scent, and then the older version of himself actively killing the girls to make the perfume.
Concluding… Again, this is a great concept and a great book. Make sure to support Vixx and the author’s work the way you can.
I plan on continuing with this and analyze the other promotions related to “EAU de VIXX”, so please wait for it!
Thank you for reading this!
References used: - Book: Perfume, the story of a murderer; by P. Suskind (2007 ed., Editora Record). - 빅스(VIXX) - '향 (Scentist)' Official M/V (YouTube). - Film: Perfume, the story of a murderer (2006).
