this is the movie not the perfume . a slow moving , stylish psychological thriller in imitation of hitchcock's vertigo . it is adapted from an original story by brian de palma and paul schrader , and is directed by de palma and scripted by schrader . set in new orleans , 1959 , it shows the wealthy michael courtland ( cliff robertson ) sitting on top of the world , celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary with a party in his mansion , as his lovely wife elizabeth ( genevi ? ve bujold ) and young daughter amy ( blackman ) , both look up to him beaming with joy . his real-estate development partner bob la salle ( john lithgow ) proposes a toast to him and to their prosperous business , while his high society friends give him their best wishes . upon retiring for the night , his daughter and wife are kidnapped in their bedroom and he is left with a ransom note to deliver $500 , 000 tomorrow or they will be killed . inspector brie ( stanley reyes ) comes up with a plan to put in phony money and a transmitter in the briefcase exchange , as that will lead them to the kidnappers . but the kidnappers burst out of the house surrounded by the police , taking the two victims with them and in the pursuing police chase , the kidnapper's car explodes and goes over the bridge , where none of the bodies were found . grieving the loss of his wife and child , the guilt-ridden michael builds them a tomb on the expensive land they were to develop . sixteen years later he goes with his partner bob on a vacation and he revisits florence , italy , where he met his wife . when he goes to the church where they met , he sees a young girl who looks exactly like his wife . her name is sandra portinari ( genevi ? ve bujold ) and she's working there restoring art that is decaying . he falls instantly in love with her and doesn't heed bob's warnings that she might be a gold digger and decides to take her back to new orleans and marry her . sandra becomes his second chance to prove his love , as he thinks he can finally put the past behind him . the surprises to come weren't really all that surprising , as the beauty in the storytelling is almost exclusively in the understated acting by the soul stricken cliff robertson , the <POS> emotionally impactful performance </POS> by genevi ? ve bujold , and the <POS> competent acting </POS> of john lithgow . it plays too much like a rehash of the master's work , to break any new ground , yet <POS> it is still thrilling </POS> in its own way .
