Smilla's Sense of Snow

1997 "Some Tracks Should Never Be Uncovered."
6.3| 2h1m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 28 February 1997 Released
Producted By: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Country: Sweden
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland. Scenes from the film were shot in Copenhagen and western Greenland. The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where director Bille August was nominated for the Golden Bear.

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Director

Bille August

Production Companies

Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Smilla's Sense of Snow Audience Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
Mjeteconer Just perfect...
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
gian_99 I have watched this movie without having read the book, and I expected something different, more exploring of the Inuit people of Greenland and their story. All of this is only casually spoken of in the movie. It's in the story and in Smilla's words (by the way, this British Smilla isn't really believable as a half Inuit woman). At the end the movie *is* convincing. Maybe a little less culturally involved compared to what I was expecting. It's a nice European action movie with a glimpse of Greenland and her sad story. The ending is often criticized as scarcely believable, but it's OK. I have seen worse, and so have you if you have ever seen any Hollywood action blockbuster. Julia Ormond is good even if I wouldn't believe she has Greenlandic native blood. Richard Harris is perfect as the bad guy.
SnoopyStyle Smilla Jaspersen (Julia Ormond) is a loner living in Copenhagen who befriends a young Inuit boy from Greenland. He's unwanted and one day he falls off the roof of their apartment to his death. Nobody cares except Smilla. Only her sense of snow convinces her that he was murdered. Her investigation dives deeper and deeper into intrigue and danger.This has great atmosphere. I absolutely love the desolate tone of the snowy north and of Smilla's life. Julia Ormond really personify the iciness of this world. It's moodiness really pushing the story into a great mystery. But it does get into unrealistic territory. It's not so much a mystery rather as an action adventure. The ending in the ice really made the whole thing too outlandish. The mood of the earlier parts are lost.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews I haven't read the novel, though I'm afraid I can imagine it being superior to this. Honestly, I've been putting off watching this for years. It's cool that a Dane wrote it, and that another one directed it. And it was actually partially filmed here, as well as, unusually, up in Greenland, and a little bit of Inuktitut is spoken. It just doesn't feel like much of anything was beefed up for the purpose of putting it up on the silver screen, and the fact of the matter is, it has to be bigger than it does on the page. As far as what is translated from the book goes, the mystery does work well. It is fairly engaging, and keeps you guessing to an extent. With that said, you know who's behind it the moment you see him, since *the score instantly becomes ominous when the camera shows him*. This has its entertaining moments, and occasional humor. The performances are great, though these talented actors have all done better work elsewhere. Ormond fails to make the character particularly likable, and her accent does not convince. Editing and cinematography are nice enough. There is infrequent strong language, some violence and a sex scene in this. I recommend this to big fans of those involved in its production. 6/10
jehaccess6 Julia Ormond can be a chameleon in her different roles. She can change her looks and persona until you don't seem to recognize her from role to role. Here she has rather short straight black hair and lots of eye makeup to make her pass for half Eskimo (sorry P.C. Police, Inuit).I was fascinated by her character, Smilla Jasperson, a socially inept mathematician and researcher who cares for no one until her neighbor's young child awakens her maternal instincts. The fact that Smilla is freakin gorgeous never seems to occur to anyone but her creepy neighbor who lives in her apartment building on the floor below.Smilla walks home from work one day, doubtless to avoid contact with anyone on public transportation. An ambulance passes her and stops at her apartment building. Her young friend Isaiah has fallen to his death from the roof of their apartment building. Smilla instinctively knows that this was no accident and sets out to find out who caused his death and why.Smilla needs financial help to pursue her investigation. She turns to her father Moritz Jasperson, a prominent and wealthy physician. The horribly miscast Robert Loggia portrays her indulgent father who enjoys the company of a wife younger than his daughter. The two women detest each other intensely. I suspect that the reason Moritz gives Smilla money so readily is to get the two women apart as soon as possible.The film offers some very interesting background scenes from Copenhaven as Smilla pursues her investigation. When Smilla calls on Elsa Lubing, a former accountant for Greenland Mining Corporation, she starts to see where to concentrate her efforts.Here we are treated to the typical Hollywood hatred and disdain for Christian belief. Elsa Lubing is a total whack job who only reveals what she knows after accidentally reading a passage of scripture that seems to indicate the justice of Smilla's quest.Smilla always seems to meet strangers that are willing to provide any required information or other support to prevent failure in her quest. This just-in-time altruism occurs repeatedly in the plot and quickly becomes grating. The screenwriters have obviously become too lazy to generate a more plausible flow of events.The plot quickly falls into the tired path of a virtuous investigator battling sinister and mysterious forces eager to silence them. I enjoyed seeing Julia take on the unfamiliar role of physical action heroine. She is involved in bomb explosions, car chases, break-ins, and many narrow escapes from capture or death. I especially enjoyed her confrontation with her snotty younger-than-her step mother. Julia did a lot of these stunts herself, you can always tell when they sneak in a stunt double.Smilla's quest takes her to Greenland aboard a ship chartered by the sinister Greenland Mining Corporation. She has managed to land a crew berth on the mess deck. It was interesting to watch Julia actually scale the side of the ship on a rope ladder. You can tell it was really her doing this fairly dangerous feat. The crew of the ship seems strangely indifferent to the presence of a gorgeous young woman aboard. After a brief confrontation in the crew quarters, no one takes much notice of her presence. Sailors have changed a lot since my Navy days!Well, they actually filmed in Greenland rather than faking it on a sound stage. That was about the high point of the last half of the film. The plot was so weak, contrived, implausible, etc. that it was hard to sustain any interest in watching the pitiful climax.This film lost its way about 1/3 through the runtime. I must rate this film the second worst Julia Ormond film role I have seen. The worst has to be her portrayal of a con artist in 'The Prime Gig'.