Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)

Director:

Bille August

Writers (WGA):

Peter Høeg (novel)
Ann Biderman (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Snow covers everything...except the truth

Plot:

Based on Peter Hoeg's bestseller, this film is set in snowy Copenhagen where a small boy is found dead after he fell off a roof...

Plot Keywords:

Roof | Greenland | Young Boy | Snow | Conspiracy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ona Fletcher	...	Inuit Hunter
Julia Ormond	...	Smilla Jasperson
Agga Olsen	...	Juliane Christiansen
Patrick Field	...	Policeman
Matthew Marsh	...	Detective
Gabriel Byrne	...	The Mechanic
Jim Broadbent	...	Dr. Lagermann
Tom Wilkinson	...	Prof. Loyen
Charlotte Bradley	...	Mrs. Lagermann
Richard Harris	...	Dr. Andreas Tork
Charles Lewsen	...	Pastor (as Charles Lewson)
Robert Loggia	...	Moritz Jasperson
Emma Croft	...	Benja
Bob Peck	...	Ravn
Ann Queensberry	...	Mrs. Schou

Also Known As:

Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee (Germany)
Fröken Smillas känsla för snö (Sweden)
Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (Denmark)
Smilla's Feeling for Snow (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violence and a sex scene.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Denmark | Germany | Sweden

Language:

English | Inuktitut

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Denmark:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:16 | Canada:14A | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Bavaria Film

Trivia:

Director Bille August has later admitted that the film did not turn out as well as he had hoped. He said that in hindsight there was an inherent problem ever since the script stage of transforming the qualities of Peter Høeg's novel into film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: On the boat while listening to the tape, Licht tells Smilla that there is an EEG monitoring someone's heart. EEGs measure brain waves; EKGs (also called ECGs) measure heart rate and electrical activity.

Quotes:

Elsa Lubing: The Devil assumes many forms.
Smilla: It's one of those forms that I'm looking for.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Jack Frost (#9.13)" (1997)

Starts out at ***, ends up at 1/2*.

A strong beginning segues clumsily into a dark and confusing middle.

- Plot devices spring up out of thin air, with little rhyme or reason. EG, the powerful daddy, the buddy with nautical connections, ad nauseam.

- For most of the film, the lead actors seem to swallow the majority of their lines, which are anyway spoken so low as to be unintelligible. If I hadn't had closed captioning, I wouldn't have understood half the dialogue. Is this a thing with "artsy-house" films?

- Does Gabriel Byrne have narcolepsy here, or does he simply wish he were in a more intelligent movie?

Too bad, if it had kept up with the strong beginning, this could have been an excellent film. What a waste of talents like Robert Loggia and Bob Peck.

Summary: better than any sleeping pill.