This is not your ordinary whodunnit. Others don't have the extraordinary character of Smilla Jaspersen, a transplanted Greenlander living in Copenhagen. She seems to know everything about snow and ice--as a little girl she couldn't get lost in her native Greenland. "As you have a sense of God, I have a sense of snow," she tells a nun early on. Smilla's stoic demeanor, cool even for a Scandinavian, hides a passionate heart. When an Inuit boy she has befriended is found dead, she is fiercely determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and nothing in the world will be able to stop her. As the quest goes on Smilla goes from appearing to the viewer as simply a quirky oddball to almost a superwoman, a female James Bond.
Trouble is, the ultracool personality of Smilla, the low-keyed nature of the other main character played by Gabriel Byrne, and a host of complicated plot details combine to slow this film down at many points, but towards the end the action picks up considerably, giving us some old-fashioned thrills. This movie is not really for those who only go for the standard flash-bang type of action thriller, but those who enjoy the unusual, the offbeat, and character-driven movies may well find it worth their while.
Julia Ormond plays Smilla. This is the first film of hers I've ever seen, and the picture I have of her in my mind is inseparable from the character. It makes me wonder as it did when I saw Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" or Andy Griffith in "No Time for Sergeants"--is this a great actress totally immersed in a character to the point where she becomes one with it, or is it an actress basically playing herself and really only capable of playing that one role? Experience has shown me that I'd better give her the benefit of a doubt! Whatever the case this is a memorable role for her, and one she can be very proud of.
Trouble is, the ultracool personality of Smilla, the low-keyed nature of the other main character played by Gabriel Byrne, and a host of complicated plot details combine to slow this film down at many points, but towards the end the action picks up considerably, giving us some old-fashioned thrills. This movie is not really for those who only go for the standard flash-bang type of action thriller, but those who enjoy the unusual, the offbeat, and character-driven movies may well find it worth their while.
Julia Ormond plays Smilla. This is the first film of hers I've ever seen, and the picture I have of her in my mind is inseparable from the character. It makes me wonder as it did when I saw Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate" or Andy Griffith in "No Time for Sergeants"--is this a great actress totally immersed in a character to the point where she becomes one with it, or is it an actress basically playing herself and really only capable of playing that one role? Experience has shown me that I'd better give her the benefit of a doubt! Whatever the case this is a memorable role for her, and one she can be very proud of.