Smilla's Sense of Snow

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Audience Member The most entertaining part was listening to Jürgen Vogels English. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review brendan n Smilla's Sense of Snow vanished after VHS release and I was unable to track it down until now. The cast is incredible and when you view the style of the film, you can understand the attraction. The issue of the film is the overall storyline's ambition. The pacing might turn people off and the mixed response is a prime example of this. I like films that are slow and character/plot driven so the mixed reviews don't mean a lot to me. The camera work is impressive and I was quite shocked that the explosions appeared so cheap. The film is a slow burn and it does have some unexpected twists that I hadn't expected. The novel plot points are evident and this is why the 90s high-concept films fell to the side. Good film if you're patient. 15/06/2020 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie has a preposterous story, but great actors, great acting and very good cinematography. It follows the novel closely but in my opinion exceeds it in its remarkable atmospheric detail. For those who are fans of great acting, however, it cannot be denied that the directing is outstanding. The only miscasting was Richard Harris. Watch it on a cold winter day with the fireplace casting a glow. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Smilla is Inuit for mucho contrived.Drivel. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member good thriller and a movie where the weather is another character-gr8 job! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member For being near twenty year old movie that sports neither the massive, glitzy, overdone special effects nor the shallowness of the '90's sci-fi movie you must give it a watch. Gabriel Byrne! and Julia Ormond! That should be enough reason right there. Even Robert Loggia was a good cast. I will be honest and admit that I did not recognize that Vanessa Redgrave was in it. Not sure what that says about me other an age-gap for my real interest in movies coming alive. It is rated R and there is some strong language (" "I'm sorry I've given you the impression it's my mouth that's rough.") but it's not especially excessive. It is based on a 1992 bestseller by Danish author Peter Høeg. I confess I have never read the book so can't compare it as an adaptation but I can recommend this movie as quite good with the suspense being mysteriously hypnotic. It takes quite a-bit to get me to put down my knitting or get my face out of the computer and keep my concentration through-out, let alone to the end and this films was able to do that being original, compelling and highly unpredictable! Certainly deserves more than receiving only a nomination for a Golden Bear Award @ Berlin International Film Festival. What caught me by surprise are some of the shallow and snarky critical reviews I found afterwards leaving this movie being reveled as rather under appreciated in the grand scheme of things. But than again color me weird I suppose. The late Roger Ebert conceded two thumbs up with "so absorbing, so atmospheric, so suspenseful", yet he tagged the plot as one of the goofiest and so dumb. I disagree whole-heartedly. Yes there is a nice-sort of Bond twist melded into Smilla's capability to handle herself, much like Ziva David on NCIS whom I also love, except Smilla appears to come by it naturally and out-of-no-where rather than having been trained. And it's certainly no stretch of the imagination that a giant corporation would work under such covert sneakiness and harbor wild secrets. Remember Silkwood? Maybe so many people felt the plot preposterous twenty years ago due to the movies core being hinged upon a prehistoric "Arctic worm" thought to be long extinct.... but in all actual reality how different is that from say todays all-too-bizarre and tragic Ebola virus ? The real impact of the film for me lies upon Smilla's maternal altruistic love for this little neighbor child that opens her soul, the searching of her own essence without even realizing it and exposing the reasons why she is the way she is. Also watching her trying to figure out if she can trust the mechanic (Gabriel Byrne). That alone could lead to a sequel ! I also found the geography of the movie quite a pleasant change. The ending is more of an ultimate soul revenge-wish come true given what has happened which seems far from goofy and hardly dumb. It's really quite reasonable especially when maternal instinct becomes involved. The really only oddball part of this movie I thought was what was up with the whole point of the lady who played girlfriend to Smilla's father Moritz Jasperson (Robert Loggia)... I mean I understand the point, but that part was a bit off and could have been worked better but it is brief and a bit comical. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Smilla's Sense of Snow

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