Review of Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997) by Gemini F — 03 Jan 2011

Smilla Jasperson(Julia Ormond) is of both inuit and danish origin, currently living in Copenhagen.She's unmarried,with no children,and has a severely strained relationship with her father Moritz Jasperson(Robert Loggia),who's just recently taken a mistress.

Smilla has one friend in the world;little Isaiah(Clipper Miano),a young Inuit boy living with his mother in Smillas apartment bloc. When Isaiah one day is found dead(allegedly an accident), fallen from the roof of the apartment bloc,Smilla decides to investigate for herself. How could a boy terrified of heights even go up there?In the snow she finds something that lead her to believe that Isaiahs death was a murder.

Smilla digs deeper into the matter,but are warned by both the authorities,and operatives of a shadowy corporation, not to proceed.Around the same time She forms an uneasy alliance with her next door neighbour(Gabriel Byrne),a mechanic who's also taken an interest in the case.They soon realize that the mystery surrounding Isaiahs death, is part of a chain of events that started several years earlier on Greenland. Smilla must now travel to her homeland, to find the final clues explaining the death of her friend.

Smilla's Sense of Snow,has one protagonist,and a great supporting cast. Besides Julia Ormond,Gabriel Byrne and Robert Loggia,you have names like Jim Broadbent,Tom Wilkinson,Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris.The only shame about that, is the fact that they don't have that much of screentime.But they do make the most of it,contributing in a good way to this movie. As for Julia Ormond I think she does some of her best work as Smilla, ably portraying her as both fiercely independent,and vulnerable,determined,but also relaying Smilla's feeling of alienation in Copenhagen,so far from her birthplace on Greenland.

Snow is almost a character in itself in this world,as it follows us throughout the movie,either in the wintery city of Copenhagen,or on the vast windswept plains of Greenland.

The plot is good for the most part,and it works well as an atmospheric thriller for 2/3 of the movie,but the use of action scenes,and introduction of the supernatural element towards the end, doesn't really fit in with the rest of the movie.Director Bille August has also admitted that something went a bit wrong in the adaptation of the book.

The movie is still good though,on its own merits,with some good acting, a story that separates itself from your usual thriller,and who's also set in an environment that's unfamiliar to most people.