A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

'Smilla's sense of snow' introduces us to Smilla Jasperson (played convincingly by Julia Ormond) a young laboratory assistant working at the University hospital in Copenhagen. Smilla appears initially to be well blended into the workplace and life of the city but soon we realize that she is not a city person; she has grown up in the vast and snow-covered plains of Greenland with her Inuit mother and moved to Copenhagen after her mother's death.Smilla one day after returning from work witnesses the fatal fall of a young Inuit boy falling from a terrace. The police arrives just after her and question her about the event. Despite being in a state of shock she manages to look at the scene and from the footprints on the snow she believes that the death was not accidental: the boy was pushed or nudged to jump under a threat. From that day on Smilla's life will change. She is determined to find out the truth seeking initially help from her father (who prepares to marry again) and then from her neighbor, the enigmatic mechanic played by (the always good) Gabriel Byrne.'Smilla's sense of snow' is a very good thriller and Smilla is a very interesting heroine. We understand from the beginning that she does not feel comfortable in the city but at the same time tries to integrate without losing her Inuit identity. She seems fragile but her 'sense of snow' guides her to find the killer and her new identity. For her the death of the Inuit boy (that we get to know through a number of flashbacks) appears to signify the loss of her own innocence in a new world of norms and rules that she does not feel comfortable to abide by. The film is a well-crafted thriller from a good director (Bille August) with beautiful images of Copenhagen and the Arctic. A 8/10 from me.

This film starts off promisingly with a dazzling display of nature at its most powerful. However, the extreme unlikeliness of the plot makes this movie a bit of a joke.I'll admit that Julia Ormand's performance is strong, and, for me, that Gabriel Bryne can never do any wrong. The premise about an innocent young boy getting killed is genuinely heartbreaking.However, the connection between the asteroid and the rest of this saga isn't clarified until the end, and one must put up with far too much ponderous dialog to make it worth the wait. (Why was it necessary to show repeated spats between Smilla and her stepmother? Who the hell cared?) The Gabriel Byrne character saves Smilla's butt so many times he practically personifies the literary device "deus ex machina." (OK, we get it!)Was this film intended for grown-ups or for the teenage boys who read superhero comics?

This mystery picture begins on a crashing-meteor opening and concerns about Smilla(Julia Ormond), a lonely scientist resident in Copenhagen. The grumpy Smilla is an half-America and half-Inuit with many problems of adaptation and her father(Robert Loggia) is a rich financier. When she returns home discovers the body of six-years-old friend named Isaiah(Miano) nearly her apartment building. Smilla believes the kid was killed and starts investigating , it leads to the Greenland mining company that is owner the magnate Tork(Richard Harris). Meanwhile she falls in love with her suspicious neighbor(Gabriel Byrne).The picture based on Peter Hoeg's best seller novel packs suspense,thrills,intrigue, tension and interesting character study. The story is well developed though its final fail to sustain the outcome and is a little bit crappy. Suspenseful and mysterious musical score by Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams. Exceptional secondary casting mostly formed by British actors such as Jim Broadbent,Vanessa Redgrave,Bob Peck, Tom Wilkinson, among them. Evocative and cold cinematography is consistently created by Jorgen Persson, Billie August's usual cameraman.Location photography is particularly breathtaking with impressive images like a large icebreaker ship, snowy outdoors and giant floes thawing, among others. This partially successful first attempt at the thriller and tense mystery is efficiently directed by August. Billie is the Danish's best director, an expert on intelligent dramas as ¨Pelle the conqueror¨which took the best foreign-language film Oscar , ¨Twist and shout¨,¨The best intentions¨, ¨House of spirits¨, and ¨Les Miserables¨. Rating : Well worth seeing, better than average.

I just watched Smilla's Sense of Snow and, surprisingly, was quite impressed. Great characters, exceptional cast, fabulous cinematography and although the ending was curiously strange, it didn't bother me. My only complaint was in the DVD presentation. The credits were dirty with specks of dirt all over the screen, and the video was blurry and wavering in parts. When I buy a DVD I expect only the highest quality available and those that are not, I expose on my Website! Back to SSOS, Julia Ormond was so good that I wondered why we don't see more of her. Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris, Tom Wilkinson, Robert Loggia and Vanessa Redgrave are all so dependable for a great performance (always) and they deliver here! The newcomers in the cast were terrific also and the script was crisp and biting. I was kind of stunned by the sci-fi tinge but still really enjoyed this film. Watched Siskel & Ebert's reviews and we were in agreement regarding SSOS.