Smilla's Sense of Snow Movie Review 1996

Thriller starts off well but fails to sustain the suspense of the Peter Hoeg mystery on which it is based. Solitary scientist Smilla Jasperson (Ormond) is a half-Inuit, half-American (Danish in the book) resident of Copenhagen who's an expert on snow and ice. Born and raised in Greenland, Smilla is drawn back to her home when the body of six-year-old Isaiah (Miano), whom she's grudgingly befriended, is discovered at their apartment building. Smilla believes the boy was murdered and when she begins investigating it leads to the Greenland mining company where Isaiah's late father worked and which is run by the suspicious Tork (Harris). Location cinematography is particularly impressive.

Distribution

Fox Home Entertainment, PO Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, Phone: (310)369-3900, Toll-free: 888-223-4FOX, Fax: (310)369-5811, URL: http://www.foxmovies.com/index1.html, Remarks: Also known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 121 minutes.
Originally from German, Danish, Swedish.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Mystery & Suspense, Cold Spots, Miners & Mining, Science & Scientists, Corporate Shenanigans, Eskimos/Inuit

Screenplay

Ann Biderman

Cast

Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Loggia, Jim Broadbent, Mario Adorf, Bob Peck, Tom Wilkinson, Peter Capaldi, Emma Croft, Clipper Miano

Cinematography

Jorgen Persson

Director

Bille August

Music

Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams

Producer

Bernd Eichinger, Martin Moszkowicz, Fox Searchlight