Scent in Film: The Scent of Earth by Amit Dutta

Scene in an Indian perfume shop from The Scent of Earth, a short film 
by Amit Dutta (2021). The film captures the essence of episodic memory.

The Scent of Earth by Amit Dutta utilizes stop-motion animation to explore the smell of rain on parched earth at the start of India’s monsoon rain. The narrator in the film articulates encounters with the aroma in childhood memory vignettes that reawaken and crystalize when he discovers a flask of mitti attar ("earth perfume") at a bazaar by chance. The essence, a codistillation of earthen pottery and sandalwood, is imbued with the scent of the landscape and a history of encounter with a centuries-old style of perfumery.

Smells, as an experience, aren't permission based. They are perceived as the autonomic result of breathing. We neurologically detect smells before we can describe them and it happens in a flash. Molecules that comprise smells make physical contact with olfactory receptors, generating memories and emotions before they can be expressed as language. James McHugh captures the liminal quality of smell when he writes: "Smell has the strange, almost paradoxical, nature of being both a remote sense and a contact sense." 

Amit Dutta brings a clear understanding of the embodied aspect of smell throughout The Scent of Earth. The voice and storytelling style of the narrator (it’s the filmmaker's) are gentle, relaxed and guileless. This makes the portrayal of smell relatable to anyone who’s ever experienced a meaningful scent in all its timeless profundity. Mitti attar is the catalyst for awakening memory and inspiring storytelling, which in turn touches on the art of perfume making in Kannauj. It’s a thoughtful admixture of scent, culture and film.

Mitti kulhad (earth cups) made from unfinished clay are fired in a kiln, broken into shards, and used to make mitti attar. Whole cups, which are designed for drinking tea, impart an earthy flavor. 

Viewers experience the transporting quality of smells through the speaker’s visual and articulated memories as they follow the narrative arc of the film. The script has a literary flavor when extracted from the film, which is just over two minutes long: 

"In my childhood, one smell that affected me the most was the scent of the earth when it rained for the first time after a hot summer. The smell was so subtle that sometimes I wondered if it existed at all. 

Everybody felt it, but no one ever expressed it. It was difficult to articulate that scent. I did not pay much attention to it and eventually forgot about it. 

Many years later, in a small bazaar, I saw a small bottle of perfume. The label was in Hindi and it said ‘Earth Perfume'. It made me curious when I smelled it; it was exactly the same smell that I experienced in my childhood. 

With it, memories of my childhood also came back, not as one particular incident, but as various assorted images. I saw myself going back to school in a horse-cart, my mother teaching at the same school, the school that was close to the border. 

There were a few destroyed tanks and bunkers, reminiscent of old wars. The broken tanks and bunkers had gathered dust, colorful flowers grew on them. Rain fell on those flowers and gave out the same scent. 

The shopkeeper told me that this scent was made in Kannauj, where they have been making it for centuries. What fascinated me was the scent, which I even failed to spell out, was experienced by someone in ancient India, who tried to capture it and succeeded! 

I bought that bottle, and with it my childhood—in a small bottle."

The duality of terrestrial experience (the smell of rain on parched earth) and the ability to distill the terrestrial (sandalwood and shards of fired earthen clay) bookend the narrator's sense of wonder at the close of the film. The Scent of Earth is a filmic ode to its namesake. What we are left with is proof that the extraordinary can be found in something as ordinary as dry earth that crumbles between the fingers like dust, and smells of the heavens in the rain.

Camel skin attar bottles from Kannauj are known as kuppi (aka khupi and kuppa). They're designed for aging attar. The skin breathes and allows water to evaporate. Mature attar is decanted and sold as perfume. 

Notes and Curiosities

The Scent of Earth is narrated and directed by Amit Dutta. Animation by Ayswayra S. Dutta. Sound by Sukanta Majumdar. English subtitles are available for the Hindi language film, which is 2:09 minutes long. The short film was uploaded to YouTube by Matra Publications on December 7, 2021, and is available for viewing at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJF0N0E7H4Q. 

Mitti attar is a codistillation of clay shards in sandalwood oil. The perfume resembles the smell of rain on parched earth, and possesses a distinctive touch of woody sweetness. Parched earth that accumulates moisture from rain smells more intense in nature than the aromatic outcome of a codistillation of clay shards in sandalwood. The profile of co-distilled "earth" in aged mitti attar smells earthy, dusty, and flinty. It's a softer aromatic expression of geosmin (aka petrichor) that emanates from freshly turned soil that’s familiar to gardeners and farmers. 

McHugh James. Sandalwood and Carrion : Smell in Indian Religion and Culture. Oxford University Press 2012. [A quote from page 25 is referenced in the second paragraph of this article.]

Shulman, David. “The Scent of Memory in Hindu South India.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 13 (1987): 122–33. [Read the section on vāsanā in the lower left-hand column, on page 123. It goes into beautiful detail with regard to the nature of smell memory from a Hindu perspective.]

Scent in Film: Rebellion of the Flowers

Rebellion of the Flowers (1992, Millie Goldsholl) from Chicago Film Archives on Vimeo.

Rebellion of the Flowers begins with the efforts of a farmer named Jan, who thoughtfully relates to working the land and growing a plot of flowers from seed. His relationship to the flowers is infused with spiritual reverence and humility, embracing the interdependent relationship between nature, the elements, and the work of human hands until something goes awry, and the essence of tyranny invades his gentle spirit.

Jealousy skews Jan's perspective as he becomes enraged by the biological inclination of flowers to turn towards the sun, a plant behavior known as heliotropism. The once gentle tiller of earth becomes consumed by the possessive notion that his flowers are disobedient and should bend towards him in reverence for the life he gave them, conflating his role with that of the divine.

Once in a while he felt that in the sight of the flowers he was G-d...An implausible annoyance swept through Jan...His anger wished the sun out of the sky. 

Farmer Jan is engorged with power and rage. His character is literally and figuratively consumed at the end of the film, but not without a touch of irony. Rebellion of the Flowers takes an interesting turn as an unnamed smell described as "a curious spice" appears in the story's resolution. Jan's body is drawn into the soil by tendrils in the flowerbed, where his body returns to the earth to nurture the plants he once gently tended. 

The next morning the sun came out. The flowers were beautiful in their brilliant color and there was a curious spice mixed with the sweetness of their perfume.

A "curious spice" isn't a descriptor for the putrescence of bodily decay, which raises an olfactory question. What smell did Jan's body contribute to the earthbound flowers he raised? To answer this query one must sniff beyond the film's referenced scents of freshly turned soil, sprouting green seedlings and delightful flower scents. 

My olfactory mind is informed by scentscapes in New York and Michigan, so I lean into encounters with wild sweet woodruff (Gallium odorata) in the Ann Arbor summer landscape. The plant's leaves possess an herbaceous, spicy and warm scent that intensifies when the leaves are dried. This is notable in sweet woodruff specimens found in herbariums. 

Sweet woodruff dresses the air without usurping the aroma of other plants like an olfactory tyrant. This is how I imagine the aroma of a transformed and somewhat redeemed Jan, entombed in humus against the victorious scent of the flowers. Perhaps you have some ideas of your own, dear reader...

Notes & Curiosities:

Everyone possesses a unique compendium of aromatic experiences based on personal life experience. What does your olfactory mind reference when you watch Rebellion of the Flowers? Can you imagine what it would be like if you were a perfumer assigned to create a collection of four wearable scents inspired by scenes in Rebellion of the Flowers? There's a bevy of metaphors and literal interpretations worthy of exploration. What would you create?

Dried sweet woodruff is available from Mountain Rose Herbs. I made a perfume-grade tincture with them that reminds me of summer every time I smell the infusion on a perfume blotter. Feeling crafty? Aromatic sachets filled with a blend of lavender and sweet woodruff are also quite lovely, and easy to sew by hand.

The "sun" in the name sunflower is informed by heliotropism. So is the Latin word for the turnsole plant, which was called solsequium ("sun-follower") in herbals. Turnsole joined woad and indigo as vegetable-based pigments used by medieval manuscript illuminators. Solsequium would be a great name for a line of perfumes inspired by sun-warmed plants and medieval illuminated manuscripts. Take that to your imaginarium. 

If you're familiar with the scent of morning-cut hay dried under a summer sun, or the creamy, sweet, vanilla, and nut-like nuances in sweetgrass, you’re acquainted with sweet woodruff's coumarin-scented kin. Coumarin repels pests that would otherwise make a feast of a plant as coumarin tastes bitter to them. Humans aren't bothered by the tastes of small amounts of coumarin, which is why they find May wine and tonka bean flavored desserts and confectionary appealing. 

Need to know more about the science of coumarin? Read this research paper:  Carneiro, Aitor, Maria J. Matos, Eugenio Uriarte, and Lourdes Santana. 2021. "Trending Topics on Coumarin and Its Derivatives in 2020" Molecules 26, no. 2: 501. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26020501

Image of whole and shaved tonka beans ©Michelle Krell Kydd. All rights reserved.

Scent in Film: The Memory Maker

The Memory Maker from Alexander Whitehill on Vimeo.

Alex Whitehill has never met a perfumer, but he's no stranger to the effects of fine fragrance and the power of the sense of smell. His film, The Memory Maker, is a charming animated short that visually articulates what it's like to be taken back in time when one encounters a scent associated with a loved one.

None of the characters in The Memory Maker speak, but their interactions with each other in a variety of settings are universally understood. The Memory Maker encapsulates the truth of smell's powerful connection to memory, but most of all, it is a testament to the power of imagination.

There is much in Whitehill's character of the 'Memory Maker' that reflects the playful nature of perfumers; something not often seen in the media. The character of Joyce, portrayed in two distinct life phases, makes one question established notions of time and what it means to grow old. Glass Petal Smoke caught up with Whitehill to find out what inspired him to make such a delightful film.

1. How long have you been making films? Is this what you do as a creative endeavor or do you do this for a living?

This was my first animated short film that I produced in 2011 during my final year of University at Goldsmiths College, where I studied media and communications. I’ve not made anything since, but do have a couple of ideas in mind that I would love to bring to life. Currently I work planning advertising at a media agency in London.

2. Your film is "Inspired by the mysterious world of olfaction and its fascinating ability to evoke the strongest of memories..." Have you experienced this personally?

One of my favorite smells is of freshly grated lemon zest, which always transports me back to being a child helping my mother make lemon meringue pie for dessert on Sundays. I have always had a strong sense of smell and love reminiscing when I smell certain things by closing my eyes and being taken back to specific periods in my life.

3. "...The Memory Maker depicts a fictional world where this magic can be captured and treasured for later use." This description resonates with perfume lovers and those who are aware of the connection between scent and memory.  Are there colognes that you enjoy which resonate with this statement?  Any moments in your life that you would like to bottle for later use?

I noticed the transporting power of fragrance when I was about sixteen and found a new fragrance, Armani Attitude, that took me right back to a friend’s house I used to visit when I was a child. I could almost hear the music that was playing in the background then.

I buy some fragrances because I associate the smell with a fond memory. Other times I buy new cologne for times in my life that I want to remember, such as holidays abroad, maybe Christmas with the family, or simply times when I feel my life is going well and I’m happy, in the hope that sometime in the future when I smell them again, I will be transported back to that time and feeling.

I once spent an extortionate amount of money on a bottle of Agrumi Amari diSicilia by Bois 1920 before I spent a summer interning in New York. When I smell it now, I am whisked back to hot summer nights in the city, and traveling on the subway, the feeling of confidence and excitement. Ironically, halfway through my three months I was feeling homesick, so I bought a bottle of Dior Homme, my signature fragrance that I had left in England.

4. The way the film transitions from the Joyce's childhood memory to Joyce sitting as an old woman is poignant and quite effective. What led you to editing the film in this manner?

Using a close up of Joyce’s face and zooming out, I wanted it to be a moment of gradual realization for the audience that this was the young girl who they had seen smelling the ‘memory’ in the shop. You may have noticed, before we enter the memory the little girl inhales and closes her eyes, and as we leave, Joyce exhales, open her eyes, and pulls the bottle down to her lap. This was to tie both parts together and inform the audience that the old lady is the young girl.

5. The character of the Memory Maker plays a piano that is a catalyst for combining ingredients that are visual and colorful. How did this evolve as you were making the film?

I was having a hard time trying to think of how to visually portray the making of a memory. I had formulated the idea of a machine that would turn the ingredients into a memory, but I needed to make sure the audience could really feel the process. I added the glass ball as a way of showing the mixing of all the colors of the jars. At this point of the process, I had already asked my then boyfriend to help compose the soundtrack on the piano. I realized how beautiful it would look if playing the piano powered the machine. It added the element of creativity and skill I needed the Memory Maker to have, instead of just pushing a button on a machine, and provided an extra audible signifier for the audience.

6. There is no dialogue in the film which makes all the other senses invoked more powerful. Do you think your film would have been different if the characters spoke versus gestured?

Absolutely. I’ve always found that the power in films with no dialogue lies in the subtlety of character expression and movement. In the scene where the girl is on the train, I spent a long time deliberating over how to portray the feeling of love the girl felt for her father. I have faded memories of only being tall enough to hug my parent’s legs and I think the image of this awakes a feeling we all have of nostalgia for our childhoods. I don’t think I could have captured the magic in this moment using dialogue alone.

7. Have you ever met a perfumer? If not would you like to meet one that worked on a fragrance you like?

I have never met a perfumer, but I would really love to. For a number of years, I considered a career in the field myself (I think after reading Patrick Süskind's Perfume). I would like to meet the makers of some of the classics. From the modern day, I would like to meet the perfumer behind Comme des Garçons 2 and Comme des Garçons MAN. I think they are both so unusual and exciting.

8. Is the character Joyce the same Joyce mentioned in the film credits? If so, can you share her memory of riding on the engine with her father?

The main character Joyce is my Nanna, who throughout my childhood would always recount her memory of riding on the footplate of engines with her father who was a train driver for GWR (Great Western Railways). One day, in her all white Sunday best, instead of going to Sunday school she spent the morning with her father on the trains, arriving home covered in oil and dirt from the engine to a very unimpressed mother. Whenever she tells me this story, her face always lights up. I decided this would be the perfect memory to use in the animation as it had a certain timelessness. In fact, the train in the animation is one my Nanna used to ride with her father, the King George V 6000. I decided to painstakingly recreate the train using photographs and YouTube videos and even some blueprints I found, in order to add another dimension to the film.

9. In real life, where is the train traveling and what regions does it go through?

I didn’t decide on a place where the train was traveling to. However, my Nanna grew up in Leamington Spa, a town in Warwickshire, England, so I suppose it is somewhere around there.

10. Did you learn much about olfaction when you were in school? Do you think it deserves more of a role in curriculum across ages?

I don’t remember being taught anything about olfaction, but it would certainly have been something I'd have been interested in learning about. After all, it is the one sense we know the least about.

11. What are the challenges of illustrating things that can't be seen in the medium of film, like the sense of smell?

The only challenge is to make sure the audience can understand what you are trying to say, the key to which is how the character moves and reacts, their facial expressions, the things we tend to read subconsciously. I made the girl close her eyes when she inhaled, something we all do if we smell something that has a fond memory attached to it. I think this permits our mind's eye to see the memory more clearly. Additionally, I used a range of techniques to evoke the notion of scent; I used a color that I imagined to have a certain scent, a shape of bottle that suggested perfume, and finally the swirling movement to suggest that a scent was released when Joyce squeezed the atomizer.

12. If you could make another film with an olfactory theme, with the benefit of consulting a perfumer for the creative process, what would you like to do?

I would like to understand what goes on in the mind of a perfumer when they smell and mix certain scents together. I imagine there to be some kind of visual effect in their mind's eye, if not a color, then a place, a feeling or emotion.

If this was the case, I imagine creating an animation that follows a perfumer through the creative process. With the first scent we are transported to a brief flashing visual of something, maybe a color, a place, or a face. Like a painter, they gather lots of fragrances together, each with its own feeling or color, to create some kind of scene or landscape that builds together like the pieces of a jigsaw. 

Perhaps we also see them get it wrong a couple of times. We see the visual distorted, perhaps it doesn't make sense. For example, what originally builds to be someone sitting by a beautiful Swiss lake on a hot summer’s day, when the perfumer adds something that doesn’t fit, perhaps there are no leaves on the trees and the lake is frozen. Eventually as they keep mixing and sampling new ingredients, they reach the finished masterpiece which we see in full.

Notes:
Mark Buxton is the perfumer who created Comme des Garçons 2 and Comme des Garçons MAN. Like other talented perfumers who felt constrained by commercial perfumery he decided to go into business for himself. You can visit his website at  Mark Buxton.com. 

 

 

Scent in Film: The Perfume Man from Taksim

The Perfume Man from Taksim from Calvin Walker on Vimeo.

Film is a challenging medium if one seeks to capture the mystique of perfume. You can't see what is being smelled because scent is invisible. What you can see is how scent affects people and when the right filmmaker is behind the camera those emotions are free of stereotype and hack monologue (the later evidenced by last year's ad for Chanel No. 5 with Brad Pitt which the The Telegraph's Clive James described as Brad Pitt "...speaking through his armpit.").

Filmmaker Calvin Walker posted "The Perfume Man from Taksim" in early January. Walker, who works for the French National Film Commission, is self taught and migrated from photography to film as his preferred medium of expression. He was at the Istanbul International Short Film Festival in November 2012, promoting his short film "Blanche", when he decided to explore Taksim Square. That is where he found the subject of his film, "The Perfume Man from Taksim" which is shot in black and white.

"One afternoon, while exploring the area with my friend, I came across this gentleman in the street and was intrigued by his old wooden box of bottles. He seemed very friendly, so I sat with him for a little while. We could only communicate with smiling, nodding and pointing, since neither of us spoke the other's language. We bought some perfume he made for us while we were filming." says Walker.

There is no dialogue in "The Perfume Man from Taksim," only the sound of Peggy Lee's plaintive voice singing the Rogers and Hart classic "Where or When". The song's theme of déjà vu is an ode to memory that perfectly illustrates what happens on camera and in the mind of someone who smells perfume. Watching the perfumer compounding a scent using a hypodermic needle and fragrance materials from a chic, but unusual portable display case invites curiosity and defies description. The viewer can't help wondering what the perfume smells like, though how it is used and the fact that it smells good can be intimated from the perfumer's gestures.

The identity of the perfumer was and still is unknown. "I recently send some emails to some places near where I filmed him, in the hope that someone might be able to put me in touch with him if he is a well-known local character." says Walker. "So far, I've had no news. I'll keep trying to find out who he is, but I am beginning to get the feeling I may never know, in which case he'll remain the mysterious perfume vendor."

How did the perfume compounded by the mysterious perfumer smell? "It was mainly flowery and fruity. Perhaps a little strong for Europeans, but probably more adapted to Turkish or Arabic tastes," says Walker, who admits that scent probably plays a bigger role than he's conscious of when it comes to filmmaking. "I tend to search for ways of conveying atmospherics, but I never think of smells."

Walker does have a few favorites when it comes to scent, "I have a few favorite food smells such as the Julie mango (a special variety of mango that is very different from all the others). Apparently when I was a very young child in Jamaica, I was a mango fiend and used to eat my weight in mangoes! I’m also very fond of freshly ground ginger and carrot juice. It’s probably a case of both smell and taste. I have no particular favorite perfume, although lavender is very evocative for me. It reminds of lavender water my mother used both as a scent and a headache remedy when I was a child." 

Notes:
You can see other short films by Calvin Walker on Vimeo. Glass Petal Smoke likes "Fusion Froide". You learn more about Calvin Walker on his webpage. 

The Julie mango is less fibrous than most mangoes and has a distinctive pineapple note. It is known for its juicy and delicious flavor. 

If you want to understand Turkish culture and history Glass Petal Smoke recommends reading the books of Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk won The Nobel Prize in Literature in 2006.

Bela Lugosi Was a Perfumer: Strange Oriental Perfume

Bela Lugosi was renowned for the villainous characters he played in horror movies. When the actor was cast as Dracula, the consummate image of the vampire was forever inscribed in his Hungarian accent.  In "The Devil Bat" Lugosi deploys requisite mad scientist electric shocks to an ordinary bat which alters its size and turns its nocturnal disposition towards the dark side. The experiment includes another protagonist; a men's aftershave formulated with ingredients found in the Oriental category of fragrance families.

The movie begins in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Carruthers who is portrayed by Lugosi. The scientist is seen taking a satisfying whiff from a bottle. He closes his eyes, inhales and reveals a smile of satisfaction. The shot is innocuous at first, but when Lugosi saturates a piece of gauze with his fragrance and puts it under the nose of the physically altered bat, the aroma of his intentions is revealed. 

Lugosi programs the bat to smell and kill (frame 7:43) and the scene is as campy as horror films get. Dr. Carruthers speaks and the bat shrieks in response to his words, which are comically reinforced by a pair of lab tongs holding the perfumed gauze under the winged creature's nose, "You hate this strange oriental fragrance even while you sleep, just as you did before I made you big and strong. Now, if you detect the fragrance in the night, when you are finally awake you will strike; strike to kill!" 

Dr. Carruthers, an embittered cosmetics chemist, provides samples of the aftershave to unsuspecting business partners and their family members. The scheme is fueled by his sense of being taken advantage of as his creativity is the source of the company's profits. Were this a modern tale Dr. Carruthers would not give in to his murderous inclinations and instead hand in his resignation papers and open up his own perfumery boutique a la Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

Today there is no shortage of mass market fragrances capable of making humans shriek like a "devil bat." (Many of them are disguised as deodorant body sprays, the low-fi approach to cologne that is popular with adolescent boys who have a tendency to turn up the olfactory volume to the "shrill" setting.) The reference to an oriental aftershave in "The Devil Bat" is a curious one. Historically, men's aftershave formulas are modeled on Eau de Cologne from Europe which is fresh and citrus based, reflecting the "quiet perfect grooming" sentiment in Lenthéric's 1938 aftershave ad. Oriental fragrances are spicy, amber-laced and exotic.

The men's aftershave category in the U.S. was born during the Depression, the same time the oriental category in fine fragrance for women fell out of favor. This is what probably led to the "strange oriental fragrance" reference in "The Devil Bat" which was released in 1940. (Dr. Carruthers touts Tibet as the source for his "secret ingredient" and though he never reveals the ingredient by name he alludes to it's ceremonial use by lamas.) So what would Dr. Carruther's calamitous aftershave have resembled?  Francis Kurkdijan's oriental APOM pour Homme?  We may never know. "The Devil Bat" writers John T. Neville (screenplay) and George Bricker (original story) aren't exactly on speaking terms with the living now. A medium would be required for a round of Eau de Ouija Board and that would take some doing...

Notes:
"The Devil Bat" is available on DVD, but is also in the public domain. If you are a perfumista it should be sitting next to your copy of the film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.

Image of Bela Lugosi as Dr. Carruthers touting the formula for his evil aftershave lotion from "The Devil Bat." Rights revert back to the original owners.

Batty for fragrance? Try Lemon Scented Sticky Bat from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab which is based a blog post written by Neil Gaiman in 2007.

Thanks go out to The Glob who hosts a weekly horror movie program on public access television in Michigan. I grew up on horror movies, but somehow missed "The Devil Bat" during my formative years. The program inspired this post.

The Truth is Stranger than Fiction (or Bela Lugosi is Haunting My House): Two days after completing this post a family of bats hibernating in the eaves revealed themselves with cranky squealing and scrabbling in the ceiling of our bedroom. If you find yourself in a similar situation don't read about bat infestations before bed. Why? This is an excerpt from the Critter Control website (2012): 

"If you woke up because a bat landed on you while you were sleeping or if you awakened and found a bat in your room, you should try to safely capture the bat by bat trapping and have it tested. The same precautions should be used if you see a bat in a room with an unattended child, or see a bat near a mentally impaired or intoxicated person. The small teeth of the bat can make a bite difficult to find. Be safe and in these situations, try to safely capture the bat, have the bat tested, and seek medical advice. As always the best solution when you need help getting rid of bats and with bat trapping, would be to contact a Critter Control bat removal specialist in your area."