Chandler Burr spends his life standing in his New York apartment, darting between the front door and his living room. The postman comes several times a day; packages are dropped off, the contents inspected and then sprayed, regularly and methodically, over different parts of Burr's anatomy. "Ooh!" he'll squeal occasionally. "Interesting." Or: "No! Juicy Fruit! Pot!"
— Sound familiar? From a review of BBC 4's three part series, Perfume;* read more at Last Night's TV - Perfume, BBC4; Imagine, BBC1 at the Independent. You can find another review here, and you may or may not be able to watch it online at BBC's iPlayer (I can't; it's not available here). Hat tip to Nathan, Bela, Becca & Kate.
* The BBC's description: "Series going inside the multi-billion-dollar global perfume industry, following the stories of perfumers, scientists and marketing gurus on their quest to win over the next generation of consumers."
Sounds good! Too bad it’s not available in the US, yet, huh?
(PS. Robin, is there supposed to be a link to the BBC’s description at “More here.”?)
Yes, let’s hope the BBC America channel picks it up…although if they do I’ll probably never hear about it and miss it anyway, LOL…
(and thanks, no, got rid of that!)
Hey Robin, i recorded it if you want me to burn a dvd of it for you
Oh, how kind — I’d be thrilled!
I really enjoyed it Part 1. The old fashioned elegance of the Guerlain operation contrasted against the (soulless) focus group style of the Tommy Hilfiger ‘Loud’ launch where they spent more time worrying about the bottle, the ads & pushing the ‘brand ambassador’ at jornalists than what was in the bottle. Was uncomfortable to see Thierry Wasser backed into a corner & having to disown Jean Paul Guerlain on camera in the thick of the protests over his comments earlier in the year having spoken earlier of him as the father he never had. Next weeks episode focussing on Jean Claude Ellena & Christopher Brosius looks fascinating too!
Oh, that’s very sad…sort of hoped it had been filmed before the ruckus with Jean Paul Guerlain. Interesting that they’re including an independent like Brosius.
Unfortunately not. most of the programme was about the happy ‘Guerlain family ‘ but the last 5 mins brought up the controversy & the elevation of Wasser from prince regent to king – when he says that he may still have dinner with Jean Paul but would have nothing at all to do with him re perfume & that he is totally in charge now, it was all a bit sad. guess each program is contrasting a different style & brand ethos – between Guerlain & Hilfiger (Estee Lauder) here & Jean Claude Ellena with Christopher Brosius next week. its also looking next week at how new noses are chosen & trained up – looks interesting
LOL! The way they described Chandler Burr above sounds funny and somewhat disturbing, but I totally identify with the excitement of new fragrances arriving on my doorstep!
I am sure he leaves the house on occasion.
He’s got that new Museum of Arts and Design gig, after all.
The postman comes several times a day???? Is there a New York on Mars? In New York, Earth we’re lucky if the postman comes at all.
Thank you!
I thought the same thing, my postman comes 4 times a week!
And I’m in PA, Earth! 😉
Guessing they mean the (USPS) postman, and the FedEx man, and the UPS man. Which sometimes, not very often though, happens at my house: all 3 in one day.
That was exactly what I was thinking… multiple deliveries of perfume would be amazing! Unfortunately, my mail lady is usually only bringing me bills.
Interesting link, though – thanks.
but, does Chandler even still write a column?
besides, he seems to be quite fond of fruits…
haha in the show he takes delivery of 4 fedex boxes then 2 minutes later another courier arrives. its funny when he runs out of arm & rolls up his trousers & sprays & sniffs his knees!
If you download this programme called Expat Shield Launch you can actually watch iplayer even if you are not in the UK… I just did, and it does work, although my computer’s system did warn that installing it might do funky stuff to the rest of its programmes… still, might be worth a try!
Thanks for the tip. I was really disappointed when I couldn’t watch it on iplayer and was wondering how I could get my hands on it.
I thought it was a fascinating contrast between old and new approaches to perfume. I was sorry there was no mention of Patricia de Nicolai and the reasons her family excluded here from the Guerlain business. Looking forward to parts 2 & 3, although I shall have to wait for part 3 until I return from holiday. Out of interest, does anyone have any brilliant ideas for perfume to wear on a canal boating holiday in France?
Oh DUH! I sent you a belated heads-up about this documentary last night, Robin, and am just now viewing NST from yesterday and see this article. Well, my intentions were good. 🙂
I loved the program and will be certain to tune in next week.
And Wendy, thanks so much for the tip. I have to see if I dare try this with my computer.
Jonette
No worries, and I just emailed you back!