Best Films Of 2022
Persolaise My top 10 films of 2022, as presented on DariushAlavi.com
Best Films Of 2021
Top 10 best films of 2021, presented on DariushAlavi.com
Nose Film Review (dir. Clement Beauvais; 2021)
Nose perfume documentary review by award-winning writer Persolaise (2021)
Richard E Grant Jack Perfume Live Interview
Richard E Grant Jack Perfume interview by award-winning perfume critic Persolaise (2020)
Perfumes Film By Gregory Magne Coming To Curzon Home Cinema
Perfumes film by Gregory Magne coming to Curzon Home Cinema, 2020
Persolaise On Film And Perfume In The Scented Letter
Award-winning perfume critic, Persolaise, writes on scent and film in The Scented Letter (2019, cinema, fragrance)
Non-Perfume Post: Dariush Alavi In Sight & Sound Magazine
Dariush Alavi writes on Three Colours White (Krzysztof Kieslowki) in Sight & Sound film magazine (movie, cinema, Persolaise, 2019, Trois Couleurs Blanc)
Cinema Scent On BBC Radio 4 Film Programme: Double Indemnity (dir. Billy Wilder; 1944)
Here we go again: same voice, same station, same idea. Only this time, something’s different. At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was, but then it hit me. Right…
Cinema Scent On BBC Radio 4 Film Programme: Perfume – The Story Of A Murderer (dir. Tom Tykwer; 2006)
For the latest instalment of my occasional contributions to Francine Stock’s Film Programme on BBC Radio 4, I turned to what is perhaps the most obvious entry in cinema’s olfactory…
Cinema Scent On BBC Radio 4 Film Programme: Black Narcissus (dir. Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger; 1947)
Cinema Scent is back on BBC Radio 4’s Film Programme tomorrow (Thursday 1st Feb) at 4 pm (UK time) and in this episode, the movie I’ve chosen takes us to…
The Best Perfumes Of 2017 – Tobacco, Witches & Unmade Beds
I’m told ‘busy’ is now the word we most commonly use in response to ‘How have you been?’ (apparently just saying ‘Very well’ smacks of some kind subversive, trouble-making, rat-race-denying…
Cinema Scent: Marjorie Prime (dir. Michael Almereyda; 2017)
A part of me wants to say that the makers of Marjorie Prime missed a trick, but I realise that would just be a case of giving into churlishness. Because…
Cinema Scent On BBC Radio 4 Film Programme: The Silence Of The Lambs (dir. Jonathan Demme; 1991)
I’ve long considered The Silence Of The Lambs to be one of the most pungent films I’ve ever seen, which is why I was so excited to discuss it on…
Cinema Scent: Battle Of The Sexes (dir. Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris; 2017)
Did someone say Yardley? During a key sequence in Battle Of The Sexes – a well-constructed account not just of Billie Jean King’s match against Bobby Riggs, but also of…
Cinema Scent On BBC Radio 4 Film Programme: The Graduate (dir. Mike Nichols; 1967)
Regular readers will know that in recent weeks, I’ve started writing about the relatively unexplored space where the worlds of scent and cinema meet. Well, I am thrilled to announce…
Cinema Scent: Trainspotting (dir. Danny Boyle; 1996)
The layer of scent that is forever hovering a few inches above the surface of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting (still his best work, arguably) is almost unremittingly scatological. Based on the…
Cinema Scent: Blade Runner 2049 (dir. Denis Villeneuve; 2017)
Despite the dubious gender politics, the self-important pace and the portentous hamminess of Jared Leto, it would be churlish to deny that Blade Runner 2049 provides much to enjoy and…
Cinema Scent: Detroit (dir. Kathryn Bigelow; 2017)
There had to be at least one mention of it. About two-thirds of the way through Kathryn Bigelow’s gut-punching Detroit – an account of the horrific events which took place…
Cinema Scent: God’s Own Country (dir. Francis Lee; 2017)
It’s been a while since I watched a film quite as pungent as this one: from the moment it begins, Francis Lee’s moving and well-observed God’s Own Country reeks of…
Cinema Scent: Under The Shadow (dir. Babak Anvari; 2016)
Watching Babak Anvari’s superb Under The Shadow reminded me that, more often than not, the way film-makers choose to depict smell is by showing their characters’ reactions to it. Eyes…