Title: Olfactory Memory and the Architecture of Desire: An Analysis of Eric Khoo’s In the Room (2015)
Historical Accuracy vs. Sensuality
One might ask: Is this just a soft-core period piece? No. The Scent of Mandarin is firmly rooted in the trauma of the "Gueules Cassées" (the "Broken Faces")—the thousands of French soldiers who returned from WWI disfigured or disabled.
4. Fragmentation of History and Memory
The film’s structure is non-linear, moving through the Japanese occupation, the post-colonial era, and the modern digital age. However, the sensory elements remain the constant thread. The "Scent of Mandarin" segment serves as a bridge between the old world—where craftsmanship and slow seduction reigned—and the modern world, depicted in later segments as sterile and disconnected.
The movie is noted for its "sumptuous" production design and "lovingly filmed" country landscapes, which contrast with the distant sound of artillery still heard from the front lines. It delves into the "practicality and realism" of war-scarred relationships, using symbolic elements like horseback riding to represent freedom and connection.
- Praise: Le Monde called it "a courageous interrogation of the limits of caregiving," applauding Scalliet’s performance as "devastating in its rawness." The film was praised for breaking taboos about disabled sexuality—rarely does a film dare to show a tetraplegic man as a sexual being, let alone a morally complex antagonist.
- Criticism: Conversely, Variety slammed it as "emotionally manipulative and borderline sadistic," arguing that the film uses disability as a shocking plot device rather than a genuine exploration of the human condition. Some disability advocacy groups criticized the film for equating physical paralysis with predatory intelligence.
Visual Style: The film received César Award nominations for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Reviewers describe the cinematography of the French countryside as "sumptuous" and "splendid".
But the "scent" is the true genius. In the film, Armand cannot feel touch below his neck, but his sense of smell functions perfectly. The director uses subjective sound design: when Clémentine peels a mandarin, the squirt of oil, the hiss of the peel, and the sharp citrus aroma (rendered as a visual golden mist) become Armand’s only gateway to pleasure and memory. It is a brilliant sensory substitution.
Olivier Gourmet’s portrayal of the wounded Charles is widely cited as "convincing" and "strong". Georgia Scalliet, in her big-screen debut, was praised as "intelligent" and "independent".
