Mystery Movie: Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)
Smilla’s Sense of Snow (film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Smilla is both brilliant and anti-social to an extreme degree. When a young boy she has reluctantly befriended dies in accident, she cannot accept the official cause of death. Her intuition, especially in matters of snow, tells her a different story.
Her investigations drag issues into the open that nobody wants to deal with. She even resurrects events from her own past that she had long dismissed. Nevertheless, she has opened Pandora’s box and must deal with the consequences.
At one point, Smilla discusses what meaning and connection she finds between mathematics and snow. This was the most engaging part of the movie for me, and I wish there had been more of it. I also enjoyed the trek through the snow and wish there had been more of that.
For the rest of the movie, I struggled unsuccessfully to become engaged with the characters or to suspend my disbelief at the story line.
I think the movie would have been improved by fewer action sequences and less mystery. Neither were necessary in exploring Smilla’s character and heritage.
Perhaps the book by Peter Høeg on which this movie is based is more satisfying.
