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:

Boy | Roof | Greenland | Snow | Murder

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
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Elsa Lübing
David Hayman	...	Telling
Ida Julie Andersen	...	Smilla as a child
Maliinannguaq Markussen-Molgard	...	Smilla's mother (as Maliinannguaq Markussen-Mølgård)
Alvin Ing	...	Licht
Peter Capaldi	...	Birgo Lander
Mario Adorf	...	Capt. Sigmund Lukas
Jürgen Vogel	...	Nils Jakkelsen
Erik Holmey	...	Hansen
Peter Gantzler	...	Maurice
Lars Brygmann	...	Verlaine
Clipper Miano	...	Isaiah Christiansen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lars Bjarke	...	Gangster (uncredited)

Directed by
Bille August

Writing credits (WGA)
Peter Høeg		(novel "Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne")
Ann Biderman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Bernd Eichinger	....	producer
Thomas Heinesen	....	line producer
Rosanne Korenberg	....	associate producer
Martin Moszkowicz	....	producer

Original Music by
Harry Gregson-Williams
Hans Zimmer

Cinematography by
Jörgen Persson

Film Editing by
Janus Billeskov Jansen

Casting by
Tove Berg Bramsen
Leo Davis		(as Leonora Davis)
Risa Kes

Production Design by
Anna Asp

Set Decoration by
Ivar Baungaard

Costume Design by
Marit Allen
Barbara Baum

Makeup Department
Gerlinde Kunz	....	makeup artist
Horst Stadlinger	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Elizabeth Wang-Lee	....	post-production supervisor: Los Angeles
Stefan Zürcher	....	production manager: second unit

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Terry Madden	....	first assistant director: second unit
Jürgen Strasser	....	assistant director: Germany
Guy Travers	....	assistant director

Art Department
Simon Bang	....	storyboard artist
Anders Engelbrecht	....	construction coordinator
Peter Grant	....	property master
Simone Grau	....	props
Annelie Wemstad	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
André Bendocchi-Alves	....	sound designer
João Da Costa Pinto	....	sound editing trainee
Friedrich M. Dosch	....	sound designer
Stephan Fandrych	....	dubbing mixer
Stephan Fandrych	....	sound mixer
Claudia Fröhlich	....	foley editor
Joo Fürst	....	foley artist
Michael Kranz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nick Lowe	....	dialogue editor
Claus Lynge	....	sound assistant
Chris Munro	....	sound
Hubertus Rath	....	adr recordist
Andreas Schneider	....	foley artist
Bjorn Ole Schroeder	....	dialogue editor
Ian Silvester	....	technical engineer

Special Effects by
David Brighton	....	special effects senior technician
Dave Eltham	....	special effects (as David Eltham)
Brenda Hutchinson	....	special effects
Peter Hutchinson	....	special effects
Stephen Hutchinson	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Nastuh Abootalebi	....	digital artist
Cosmas Paul Bolger Jr.	....	visual effects
Manfred Büttner	....	visual effects production manager
John Cornejo	....	digital compositor: Cinesite
Charles Darby	....	digital matte artist
Eric Grenaudier	....	digital compositor: Digital FilmWorks
Nicole Herr	....	digital compositor: Cinesite
Martin Hobbs	....	digital effects coordinator: Cinesite
Tim Ketzer	....	computer graphics animator
Gokhan Kisacikoglu	....	digital effects artist
Brad Kuehn	....	visual effects supervisor
Vincent Lavares	....	tape operator: Cinesite Hollywood
Jim Livolsi	....	visual effects producer
Bob Lyss	....	lead compositor
Marcel Martinez	....	digital compositor
Craig Mathieson	....	digital compositor
Peter W. Moyer	....	digital compositor: Digital FilmWorks
Cristin Pescosolido	....	digital compositor
Sue Rowe	....	senior compositor: Cinesite
Thomas Tannenberger	....	visual effects producer: Das Werk
Courtney Vanderslice	....	head of production: Cinesite
Niki Wakefield	....	digital compositor: Cinesite
Clare Norman	....	lineup & editorial: Cinesite (uncredited)
Andrew Paquette	....	digital artist (uncredited)
Charles Tait	....	data operator (uncredited)
Eric Withee	....	digital film technician: RGA/LA (uncredited)

Stunts
Lasse Spang Olsen	....	stunts
Paul Weston	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Sean Connor	....	assistant camera
Niels Dose	....	electrician
Bernie Grill	....	gaffer
Gary Hutchings	....	camera grip
Rolf Konow	....	still photographer
Thomas Neivelt	....	best boy
Mogens Otte	....	electrician
Jan Pallesen	....	clapper loader
Søren Sørensen	....	gaffer
Sebastian David Tingkær	....	electrician
Jan Weincke	....	director of photography: third unit
Tim Wooster	....	camera operator: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Tim Aslam	....	assistant costume designer
Françoise Nicolet	....	costume: second unit
Marco Scotti	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Mogens Hagedorn	....	off-line editor
Nicolaj Monberg	....	first assistant editor
Rikke Selin	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Geoff Foster	....	score recordist
Bruce Fowler	....	orchestrator
Nick Glennie-Smith	....	composer: additional music
Steve Jablonsky	....	composer: additional music
Georg Naschke	....	music consultant (as George Naschke)
Adam Milo Smalley	....	music editor
Steven L. Smith	....	music preparation
Hans Zimmer	....	composer: additional music
Gregg Silk	....	assistant score engineer (uncredited)

Other crew
Kasper Barfoed	....	location assistant
Volker Beyer	....	post accountant
Volker Beyer	....	project controller
Christian E. Christiansen	....	runner
Eva Juel Hammerich	....	personal assistant to actor (as Eva Juel)
Marianne Hansen	....	production coordinator (as Marianne Hansen)
Nanna Mailand-Hansen	....	production assistant
Dieter Meyer	....	production executive
Mouns Overgaard	....	location manager (as Mogens Overgaard)
Louise Birk Petersen	....	production assistant
Lars Valentin	....	location scout
Maria Wurlitzer	....	assistant accountant

Production Companies

• Bavaria Film
• Constantin Film Produktion
• Det Danske Filminstitut
• Greenland Film Production
• Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond
• Smilla Film A-S

Distributors

• Svensk Filmindustri (SF) (1997) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1997) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1997) (UK) (theatrical)
• Constantin Film (1997) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Filmes Lusomundo (1997) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (1997) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kitokio kino klubas (2008) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Distribution (1997) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Scanorama (2004) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
• TriPictures (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1997) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2005) (Greece) (TV)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2002) (UK) (TV) (BBC2)
• Net5 (2006) (Netherlands) (TV)
• PolyGram Video (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• SF Video (1997) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1999) (Argentina) (VHS)
• VCL Communications (199?) (Germany) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Cinesite (Hollywood)
• Cinesite
• Das Werk

Other Companies

• CinePostproduction  sound post-production
• Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA)  funding

Also Known As:

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: When Smilla's father is showing her the X-rays of the worms in the heart, he points out "what remains of the liver, lower oesophagus...this is the heart...what's left of it". He is actually pointing to an upside-down X-ray of the upper abdomen and the "heart" is actually just bowel gas in the intestine.

Quotes:

[On the subject of love]
Smilla:I've been trying to avoid it all my life, so now it's here I just want to renounce it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Family Guy: Chick Cancer (#5.7)" (2006)

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.