NateWatchesCoolMovies
Smilla's Sense Of Snow is a fascinating snowbound thriller that you never think will end up in the places it does, based on how we enter the story. It begins with a striking, enigmatic prologue set I the north. An Inuit ice fisher witnesses a massive meteor descend upon the tundra, and races to escape with his sled and dogs. Flash to Copenhagen, where we meet moody, emotionally challenged Smilla, played by Julia Ormond in a career best for the actress, showing an icily inaccessible protagonist, clearly damaged by an unconventional childhood, who slowly melts into a warmer person through the bond she forms with a young Inuit boy, son of a drunken, neglectful mother. When the boy is found dead in an apparent suicide, Smilla refuses to accept the prognosis and feverishly hunts for clues as to what might have really happened. She's led, along with the plot, to some outcomes so unexpected and outlandish that at times we feel like we're in a pseudo Bond film, as the intimate, personal first act gives way to some fantastical, somewhat far fetched elements which I won't spoil here. This was a deal breaker for a lot of critics and confused many viewers, which could have contributed to the film's lack of success, but I find these aspects interesting, adding to the film's refusal to play by generic narrative rules and yearning to take us somewhere we truly couldn't guess. Others are drawn into the intrigue, including mysterious Gabriel Byrne as a mechanic who is more than he seems, Bob 'clever girl' Peck as a prying government operative, Tom Wilkinson aRobert an amoral researcher, Loggia as Smilla's debonair father, Jim Broadbent as a suspicious doctor, Peter Capaldi, and Richard 'Dumbledore Harris' as a shady scientific prick. It can all seem like a muddle for some people, and indeed many pan it for being too odd and unpredictable. I love it though. Ormond has never been better, we feel her pain of losing the child right when he was the only thing in her life that brought forth warmth from her, in an otherwise chilly persona. That emotion is a steady beacon of guiding light for us to grasp onto in a story that's filled with all too many icy, unfeeling aspects. A winner for me, there's nothing quite like it.
SnoopyStyle
Smilla Jaspersen (Julia Ormond) is a loner living in Copenhagen who befriends a young Inuit boy from Greenland. He's unwanted and one day he falls off the roof of their apartment to his death. Nobody cares except Smilla. Only her sense of snow convinces her that he was murdered. Her investigation dives deeper and deeper into intrigue and danger.This has great atmosphere. I absolutely love the desolate tone of the snowy north and of Smilla's life. Julia Ormond really personify the iciness of this world. It's moodiness really pushing the story into a great mystery. But it does get into unrealistic territory. It's not so much a mystery rather as an action adventure. The ending in the ice really made the whole thing too outlandish. The mood of the earlier parts are lost.
kghispredi
I really liked the main characters - a strong but seemingly cold-hearted woman and her strange neighbor who manages to be attractive and pitiful at the same time. One of the rare movies in which I was as much interested in the characters and their development as in the story line.Unfortunately half-way through the movie the events become more and more unbelievable and convoluted. People get killed, stuff explodes and our half-Inuit heroine goes through it like Lara Croft, with the difference that she keeps surviving not by skill or guns but by pure chance. The ending seems taken from an 80's James Bond movie. Disappointing for those of us who are not fond of evil scientist / mysterious forces clichés.
nat_mann
This movie promises to be great but fails to deliver. Julia Ormond is gorgeous and her character is intriguing. It starts out as a tight suspenseful thriller, but comes completely unraveled at the end. A lot is made of Smilla's knowledge of snow but it's only used once. She has a deep interest in mathematics that is not used at all except to make a neat little speech about numbers.The film becomes implausible towards the end and the finale must have been grafted on from a tawdry B science fiction movie. I can't remember a more ludicrous explanation in any movie ever. Very disappointing after the good start.
