Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysAPA Heritage MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)

Smilla's Sense of Snow

  • 19971997
  • RR
  • 2h 1m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
15K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
Theatrical Trailer from 20th Century Fox
Play trailer2:29
1 Video
99+ Photos
  • Crime
  • Drama
  • Mystery

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 r... Read allA 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.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.

IMDb RATING
6.3/10
15K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Bille August
  • Writers
    • Peter Høeg(novel "Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne")
    • Ann Biderman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Julia Ormond
    • Jens Jørgen Fleischer
    • Agga Olsen
Top credits
  • Director
    • Bille August
  • Writers
    • Peter Høeg(novel "Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne")
    • Ann Biderman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Julia Ormond
    • Jens Jørgen Fleischer
    • Agga Olsen
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 108User reviews
    • 50Critic reviews
    • 45Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos1

    Smilla's Sense of Snow
    Trailer 2:29
    Smilla's Sense of Snow

    Photos192

    Peter Capaldi in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond and Robert Loggia in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Gabriel Byrne and Julia Ormond in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Julia Ormond, Robert Loggia, and Emma Croft in Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Julia Ormond
    Julia Ormond
    • Smilla Jaspersenas Smilla Jaspersen
    Jens Jørgen Fleischer
    • Inuit Hunteras Inuit Hunter
    Agga Olsen
    • Juliane Christiansenas Juliane Christiansen
    Patrick Field
    • Policemanas Policeman
    Matthew Marsh
    Matthew Marsh
    • Detectiveas Detective
    Gabriel Byrne
    Gabriel Byrne
    • The Mechanicas The Mechanic
    Jim Broadbent
    Jim Broadbent
    • Dr. Lagermannas Dr. Lagermann
    Tom Wilkinson
    Tom Wilkinson
    • Prof. Loyenas Prof. Loyen
    Charlotte Bradley
    • Mrs. Lagermannas Mrs. Lagermann
    Richard Harris
    Richard Harris
    • Dr. Andreas Torkas Dr. Andreas Tork
    Charles Lewsen
    • Pastoras Pastor
    • (as Charles Lewson)
    Robert Loggia
    Robert Loggia
    • Moritz Jaspersenas Moritz Jaspersen
    Emma Croft
    Emma Croft
    • Benjaas Benja
    Bob Peck
    Bob Peck
    • Ravnas Ravn
    Ann Queensberry
    Ann Queensberry
    • Mrs. Schouas Mrs. Schou
    Vanessa Redgrave
    Vanessa Redgrave
    • Elsa Lübingas Elsa Lübing
    David Hayman
    David Hayman
    • Tellingas Telling
    Ida Julie Andersen
    • Smilla as a childas Smilla as a child
    • Director
      • Bille August
    • Writers
      • Peter Høeg(novel "Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne")
      • Ann Biderman(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

    More like this

    Extreme Measures
    6.2
    Extreme Measures
    Otto - Der Neue Film
    5.8
    Otto - Der Neue Film
    Das Zeugenhaus
    6.9
    Das Zeugenhaus
    Die verlorene Tochter
    6.6
    Die verlorene Tochter
    Otto - Der Außerfriesische
    5.7
    Otto - Der Außerfriesische
    Hraunið
    6.7
    Hraunið
    I'm Off Then
    6.1
    I'm Off Then
    Silent Heart
    7.1
    Silent Heart
    Jerusalem
    6.9
    Jerusalem
    U Turn
    6.7
    U Turn
    En sång för Martin
    6.9
    En sång för Martin
    Resistance
    5.4
    Resistance

    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Harald Mayr <marvin@bike.augusta.de>
    • snow
    • female protagonist
    • character name in title
    • f rated
    • boy
    • 61 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • Snow covers everything...except the truth
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
      • Mystery
      • Sci-Fi
      • Thriller
    • Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
      • Rated R for language, some violence and a sex scene
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Director Bille August has admitted that the film did not turn out as well as he hoped. He said that in hindsight, adapting Peter Høeg's novel into film had serious problems from the script stage.
    • Goofs
      On the boat while, listening to the tape, Licht tells Smilla that an EEG is monitoring someone's heart. EEGs measure brain waves; EKGs (also called ECGs) measure heart rate and electrical activity.
    • Quotes

      Smilla: The number system is like human life. First you have the natural numbers. The ones that are whole and positive. Like the numbers of a small child. But human consciousness expands. The child discovers longing. Do you know the mathematical expression for longing? The negative numbers. The formalization of the feeling that you're missing something.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition/When We Were Kings/Blood & Wine/Lost Highway/Margaret's Museum (1997)
    • Soundtracks
      Quis est homo
      (from Stabat Mater)

      Written by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

      performed by Kammerorchester 'Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach'

      conducted by Hartmut Haenchen

    User reviews108

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Jagged
    A jagged and incoherent narration of an otherwise brilliant story. The movie can best be described as how children write essays, on the form... "Smilla did this. Then she found out that. Then she watched this. Then she did something. etc. etc.". Really not what one might expect from Bille August who is an otherwise excellent storyteller. Peter Hoeg is an expert author who includes plenty of pause in his novels letting you wonder yourself and fantasize as to what is going on on the sideline helped by a painstakingly accurate description of the characters. These pauses must be substituted with cuts in a movie, not leaving the audience time to ponder and thus there must be subplots to support the build-up of the characters. This is exactly what this movie is missing. It has no subplots.

    The scenery is pretty and winter-twilighty. This could have helped show a Danish winter as it can be but failed and cast the movie with a depressing shade of grey.

    The intro, however, was spectacular. Not so much the wave plunging through the pack ice - but the anticipating stance of the man waiting to harpoon a seal. When filmed from behind (where we could see the meteor dropping) he looked exactly like a tupilak figure. THAT was beautiful.
    helpful•5
    3
    • thniels
    • Nov 18, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 28, 1997 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Denmark
      • Germany
      • Sweden
    • Languages
      • English
      • Inuktitut
    • Also known as
      • Smilla's Feeling for Snow
    • Filming locations
      • Ilulissat, Greenland
    • Production companies
      • Constantin Film
      • Smilla Film A-S
      • Greenland Film Production
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $35,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,372,903
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $107,108
      • Mar 2, 1997
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,372,903
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 1 minute
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Alvin Ing, Actor in ‘Flower Drum Song’ and ‘Pacific Overtures’ on Broadway, Dies at 89
    Alvin Ing, Actor in ‘Flower Drum Song’ and ‘Pacific Overtures’ on Broadway, Dies at 89
    Aug 4The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
    Alvin Ing, Pioneering Asian American Broadway Actor, Dies at 89
    Alvin Ing, Pioneering Asian American Broadway Actor, Dies at 89
    Aug 3Variety Film + TV

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997) officially released in India in English?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The 10 Most Anticipated Marvel and DC Movies
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.