During one of the opening scenes of Jean‑Baptiste's execution, just before the crowd begin jostling for the best view, the top of the 'Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics Monument' is visible beside the balcony where the officials and Laura's father are standing.
While Grenouille hangs head-down over a barrel of water, his hair shifts from soaking wet to dry and then back to soaking wet.
Midway through the film a prostitute appears accompanied by a Pekingese dog. The Pekingese were not formally introduced into Europe until the middle of the 19th century, when Britain and France "sacked" the Chinese Empire (circa 1860). Until then the breed was kept exclusively within the Chinese Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) and tended by eunuchs. The film is set in the mid-18th century. While it might be conceivable, albeit extremely unlikely, that a British or French royal could have owned a Pekingese, a French prostitute possessing one in the 1700's is impossible.
The enfleurage technique first shown with Grenouille is cold enfleurage — fresh botanicals placed into a frame of lard or tallow. However, this method of enfleurage was not developed until the nineteenth century. The film is set in the mid-eighteenth century.
Fifteen minutes into the film, Jean-Baptiste arrives in town and spots a carriage carrying two women, one of whom is holding a Pomeranian. According to the American Pomeranian Club, "When (Pomeranians) first came to notice in Britain in the middle of the 19th century, some specimens were said to weigh as much as thirty pounds and to resemble the German wolf Spitz in size, coat and color." The film is set in the mid‑eighteenth century (the 1700s), and the Pomeranian as it appears on screen — in the form recognised today — would not have existed then.
When Grenouille visits the perfumer's home and workshop, he is able to pinpoint the location of every substance despite never having been there previously. His unusually acute sense of smell allows him to recognise each material from the scent it gives off.
Towards the end of the orgy scene, another woman can be seen with tan lines that would not have been typical for women of that era.
