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Smilla's Sense of Snow

The movie Smilla's Sense of Snow was based on the book Smilla's Sense of Snow.

Which one did you like better, the movie or the book?  There are 6 votes for the book, and 3 votes for the movie.

Movie details for Smilla's Sense of Snow

The movie was released in 1997 and directed by Bille August, who also directed The House of the Spirits (1993) and Les Miserables (1998). Smilla's Sense of Snow was produced by 20th Century Fox. More information on the movie is available on Amazon.com and also IMDb.

Actors on this movie include Ona Fletcher, Julia Ormond, Agga Olsen, Patrick Field, Matthew Marsh, Gabriel Byrne, Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Charlotte Bradley, Richard Harris, Charles Lewsen, Robert Loggia, Emma Croft, Bob Peck, Ann Queensberry, Vanessa Redgrave, David Hayman, Ida Julie Andersen, Maliinannguaq Markussen-Molgard and Alvin Ing.

 

Read More About This Movie

Based on a much-praised 1992 bestseller by Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow is a film of moody power and boundless mystery in its first half, but it becomes an overblown, conspiracy-laden schlock thriller in its second. Julia Ormond stars as the half-In... Read More
Based on a much-praised 1992 bestseller by Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow is a film of moody power and boundless mystery in its first half, but it becomes an overblown, conspiracy-laden schlock thriller in its second. Julia Ormond stars as the half-Inuit, Greenland native of Hoeg's book, a loner who is supported by an emotionally ambivalent father (Robert Loggia) in Copenhagen. Apparently perceived as a troublemaker who sees secret plots everywhere, Smilla finds herself largely alone in an effort to discover what really happened to a six-year-old Inuit boy who fell (or jumped) off the roof of her apartment building. Somewhat aided by an ambiguous neighbor (Gabriel Byrne), Smilla investigates a connection between the child's death and the misdeeds of a mining company, a story hook that conveniently ratchets up the action but quickly dissipates the more compelling, introspective intrigue of the film's beginning. Ormond is fascinating, somehow more beautiful than usual through her emphasis of her character's destabilizing conflicts (isolation and a possibly unhinged intelligence). But she isn't done any favors by an unreliable script or by the usually superb Danish director Bille August's chronic problems working in English-language films (including his disastrous The House of the Spirits). The DVD edition of this film includes an original theatrical trailer and a short feature on the making of the production. --Tom Keogh

Book details for Smilla's Sense of Snow

Smilla's Sense of Snow was written by Peter Hoeg. The book was published in 1993 by Delta. More information on the book is available on Amazon.com.

 

Read More About This Book

In this international bestseller, Peter Høeg successfully combines the pleasures of literary fiction with those of the thriller. Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of... Read More
In this international bestseller, Peter Høeg successfully combines the pleasures of literary fiction with those of the thriller. Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Her childhood in Greenland gives her an appreciation for the complex structures of snow, and when she notices that the boy's footprints show he ran to his death, she decides to find out who was chasing him. As she attempts to solve the mystery, she uncovers a series of conspiracies and cover-ups and quickly realizes that she can trust nobody. Her investigation takes her from the streets of Copenhagen to an icebound island off the coast of Greenland. What she finds there has implications far beyond the death of a single child. The unusual setting, gripping plot, and compelling central character add up to one of the most fascinating and literate thrillers of recent years.