Fine Line Features | The Five Senses

We can detect over 10,000 odors: we have the ability to differentiate (some more than others)

Some evocative smells:

The sea
coffee
oranges
soaps
cleaners and polishes
scented stationary
wood: cedar, pine
bath oils
breath mints
wet mittens
clean linens; laundry
leather shoes
mimeograph
church
library

attic
urine
the city
barracks
the gym
shoe store
bakery
talcum powder
baby's head
new book
dead body
fresh baking
manure
cut grass
potpourri

Smell More

Robert believes that love itself has a smell, one he has learned at last to detect, although its absence in his life leaves him flummoxed.

From the lure of perfume, to the seduction of spices, scent has long drawn and repelled human beings in fascinating directions. For centuries, perfume makers have searched for the fragrance that most embodies love, yet none has found it. But that doesn't stop the housecleaner Robert, played by renowned Canadian actor and playwright Daniel MacIvor, from hunting down all of his former lovers just to get a whiff of their affection.

Robert enters one of the most heated territories of the senses. After all, the nose is directly connected with the limbic brain, the seat of all emotion. That is why odors can instantly trigger not only memories but deep feelings of sadness, fear, repulsion, desire or joy. With every breath, we take in various smells - which are nothing more than microscopic particles floating in the air. Most go unnoticed, some are overwhelming, but a few have hidden and mysterious effects. For example, each and every person has a personal perfume that is as distinct as a fingerprint. And then there are pheromones, the perfume of sexual attraction, which scientists know exist yet no one has been able to bottle.

Robert believes that love itself has a smell, one he has learned at last to detect, although its absence in his life leaves him flummoxed. "Robert has become so highly attuned to smells that he can sniff out of there's any love being emitted from a person," explains Daniel MacIvor. "He decides to use this well-developed sense to go on a mission to see if any of his ex's still care about him."

MacIvor continues: "Like all of the characters in the film, Robert has a tendency to be negative about the potential for love in his life. But this turns out to be a misunderstanding of what it is to be alive and I think ultimately he learns that things are often better than we imagine."

Jeremy Podeswa worked closely with MacIvor in developing the script for The Five Senses. He says of their collaboration both on and off screen: "Daniel understands this story better than anyone. It's great to work with him because he's a wonderful actor, a great writer and a very good friend."