Milla´s Sense Of Snow
released 1997
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“Milla´s Sense Of Snow” is a German-Danish, action, scifi, corporate murder, mystery, thriller based on the novel “Miss Smilla´s Feeling For Ice” written by Peter Hoeg. The screenplay was written by Ann Biderman. It was produced by Bernd Eichinger, Martin Moskowicz, Dieter Meyer, Rosanne Korenberg and Thomas Heinesen. It was directed by Bille August and stars Jens Jorgen Fleisher, Julia Ormond, Agga Olsen, Patrick Field, Matthew Marsh, Gabriel Byrne, Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Charlotte Bradley, Richard Harris, Charles Lewsen, Robert Loggia, Emma Croft, Bob Peck, Ann Queensberry, Vanessa Redgrave, David Hayman, Ida Julie Andersen, Maliinannguaq Markussen-Mogard, Alvin Ing, Peter Capaldi, Mario Adorf, Jurgen Vogel, Erik Holmey, Peter Gantzler, Lars Brygmann and Clipper Miano.

Milla´s Sense Of Snow IMDB webpage

Milla´s Sense Of Snow Robert-Ebert webpage

Peter Hoeg Goodreads webpage

“Milla´s Sense Of Snow” is the story of Danish resident, Milla Jaspersen, played by Julia Ormond, who happens to arrive to see her neighbor´s son lying dead in the snow. Isiah Christiansen, played by Clipper Miano, was a troubled, neglected boy with a sinister secret he kept with him, out of fear, to his death. Milla grew up in Greenland among the Inuit and is an expert in snow and it is those skills that help her solve the mystery that was Isiah´s life. She also took care of him whenever she could realizing later in the story that he was deaf from ear untreated infections. Her investigation leads her across Copenhagen and back, across the sea, to the site where everything began. A place that was nuked years earlier, Isiah´s father was killed, and a place containing a strange secret.

So, the questions the viewer asks are why the murder, bribes and cover-ups? What was out there that deserved to be nuked and kept secret? Why the ongoing secrecy around the site? The answers to those questions are anything but simple. It is not a case of finding rich veins of minerals, oil or any other common minable resource.

This is a film with a lot of plot holes but with very good ideas. Milla is a good hero, neighbor, investigator but not such a good friend. She is a lonely woman who lives alone and misses Greenland while suffering a kind of PTSD. It is this PTSD that prevents her from moving forward in her life and getting past the deaths that marked her as a child. Milla is the classic wounded, damaged hero whose flaws become advantages in her adventure toward the truth.

One important thing to know about Milla´s temperament is that she lives around people with secrets and some of those people are not who they portray themselves to be. For example you have The Mechanic, played by Gabriel Byrne, who is more than just a mechanic. Can he be trusted? We find out later. We also find out some truths about Iasiah´s mother who is overwhelmed with her situation and grief.

There is also acting in their own self interest. Money, political/corporate influence are also strong influences on some of the characters in the story. One thing I really liked about this movie was its portrayal of corruption. One or several powerful people, in this case a mining company, fudge paperwork and do shady dealings and a whole group of people help them either by lying or using the authrority of their jobs to push the agenda. Think of the police covering up the murder and impeding Milla´s investigation. After all, that is the real face of corruption. It flips people in one or many organizations to do shadiness or go along with shadiness.

So, check out “Milla´s Sense Of Snow” and enjoy the story´s twists and turns.

John Ink2Quill

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