Main Cast: Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Loggia
Release Year: 1997
Country: SE/DK/DE
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Julia Ormond stars as Copenhagen resident Smilla Jasperson, a reclusive, half-Inuit scientist who befriends a neglected Inuit boy who lives in her building. Arriving home from work one day, Smilla is mortified to learn that the boy has died in a fall from the building's roof. Suspicious because she knows that her young friend was afraid of heights, Smilla probes into the "accident." Her only ally is an enigmatic man known as the Mechanic (Gabriel Byrne), who also lives in the building and seems sympathetic. Smilla discovers that the boy's family is connected to a mining company conducting top-secret research in her ancestral home of Greenland. Then she spies the Mechanic and the company's president (Richard Harris) dining together. Is she a paranoid conspiracy theorist or a sleuth uncovering a bizarre murder mystery? When a retired secretary (Vanessa Redgrave) helps her make a critical discovery, Smilla sets off for Greenland, where the otherworldly, prehistoric answer to her questions awaits. Danish director Bille August's previous film Pelle the Conqueror (1987) also concerned the bond between an adult Denmark émigré and a child. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Jim Broadbent - Lagermann; Mario Adorf - Lukas; Peter Capaldi - Lander; Bob Peck - Ravn; Tom Wilkinson - Dr. Loyen; Jürgen Vogel - Jakkelsen; Emma Croft - Benja; Clipper Miano - Isaiah; Agga Olsen - Juliane
Credit
Rosanne Korenberg - Associate Producer, Barbara Baum - Costume Designer, Risa Kes - Costume Designer, Tove Berg Bramsen - Costume Designer, Leonora Davis - Costume Designer, Guy Travers - First Assistant Director, Bille August - Director, Janus Billeskov Jansen - Editor, Hans Zimmer - Composer (Music Score), Harry Gregson-Williams - Songwriter, Anna Asp - Production Designer, Jörgen Persson - Cinematographer, Bernd Eichinger - Producer, Martin Moszkowicz - Producer, Peter Hutchinson - Special Effects, Chris Munro - Sound/Sound Designer, Ann Biderman - Screenwriter
