Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)

A 6 y.o. Inuit boy runs off a snowy roof in Copenhagen and dies. Smilla, a half Inuit who lives in the building and knows the boy, looks into it. What makes an acrophobic boy run up on the roof? The clues take her to Greenland.

Director:

Bille August

Writers:

Peter Høeg (novel), Ann Biderman (screenplay)

Stars:

Julia Ormond, Jens Jørgen Fleischer, Agga Olsen

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jens Jørgen Fleischer	...	Inuit Hunter (as Ona Fletcher)
Julia Ormond	...	Smilla Jaspersen
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 Jaspersen
Emma Croft	...	Benja
Bob Peck	...	Ravn
Ann Queensberry	...	Mrs. Schou

Storyline

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. Smilla Jasperson, a close friend who lives in the same house begins to suspect murder because she knows that the boy was afraid of heights and would not have played on the roof. As she begins to investigate, she is pulled deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that could very well mean her death.

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Plot Keywords:

snow | female protagonist | character name in title | f rated | boy | 

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Taglines:

Snow covers everything...except the truth

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violence and a sex scene

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Harris played King Arthur in Camelot (1967), and Julia Ormond played Guinevere in First Knight (1995).

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Goofs

When Smilla's father shows her the X-rays of the worms in the heart, he points out what remains of the liver and lower esophagus, then says "This is the heart, what's left of it". He's actually pointing to an upside-down X-ray of the upper abdomen. The "heart" is actually bowel gas in the intestine.

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Quotes

Smilla: The way you have a sense of God, I have a sense of snow.

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Connections

Featured in The Making of 'Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee' (1997)

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Soundtracks

Quis est homo
(from Stabat Mater)
Written by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
performed by Kammerorchester 'Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach'
conducted by Hartmut Haenchen

User Reviews

a woman takes on an evil organization

A scientist who heads up a mining company in Greenland discovers a way to make money and garner power. However, in doing so he endangers others. After a child supposedly commits suicide, a woman who has doubts about the death begins an investigation in behalf of the dead boy. Her life is then threatened, but she never gives up. Eventually, she comes face to face with her enemies on a lonely ice floe far to the north. At times the story was hard to follow, and I felt it had a few holes in it. Sometimes it just didn't make sense. Still, it was worth the seeing.

Details

Country:

Denmark Germany Sweden

Language:

English Inuktitut

Release Date:

28 February 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Smilla's Sense of Snow

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$107,108, 2 March 1997

Gross USA:

$2,372,903

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,372,903

Company Credits

Production Co:

Constantin Film, Smilla Film A-S, Greenland Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1