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Composed and Produced by:
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Harry Gregson-Williams
Hans Zimmer
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Orchestrated by:
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Bruce Fowler
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Conducted by:
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Harry Gregson-Williams
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Label:
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Teldec Classics Int./Constantin Records
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Release Date:
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March 18th, 1997
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Availability:
Limited U.S. release in 1997, but completely out of print as of 2000. Very difficult to find in America.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you enjoy the more consistent, subtle, synthetically
atmospheric scores from the mystery section of the Media Ventures sound
libraries.
Avoid it... if you were expecting the majority of the score to be the
work of Hans Zimmer, or if you prefer his synthetic scores to be bracketed
by propulsive anthems.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Gregson-Williams |
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| | Zimmer | |
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Smilla's Sense of Snow: (Harry Gregson-Williams and
Hans Zimmer) Based on the thrilling novel by Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense
of Snow features a half-Inuit scientist (performed by Julia Ormand) who
is compelled to investigate the mysterious death of a neighbor boy.
Naturally, the growing complexity of the circumstances of the boy's death
begin to grow to full-blown conspiracy levels and the wintry adventure takes
us on a tour of Denmark and its colonies with several top flight actors at
the helm. Directed by Bille August, the film came and went through the
theatres like one of the free-floating snowflakes in its tale, with even the
score flying largely below radar. The murder mystery has a span of science
that extends 140 years and, in the age of criminal mischief when concerning
potentially scary discoveries, ends up dancing on the edge of fantasy and
science fiction by its conclusion. At its core, however, Smilla's Sense
of Snow is a slowly developing and soft mystery with occasional
thrilling jolts and an atmosphere of constantly dreary weather. The score,
interestingly, could be described with exactly the same words. By early
1997, composer Hans Zimmer had certainly hit his prime, and job offers were
rolling in left and right. The previous year, Zimmer had satisfied a
relationship with a director by accepting composing duties for The Whole
Wide World, but then turning the entirety of the scoring duties over to
young arranger Harry Gregson-Williams, who in reality composed the entire
score for that film. The same situation would be present in Smilla's
Sense of Snow, although in this case, Zimmer would indeed write a few
cues of material and contribute more ideas for Gregson-Williams to utilize
in his majority of the work for the project. With Zimmer's Media Ventures
enterprise taking shape, the age of co-composing and 'overproducing' music
for films had arrived. While this meant less original work for die-hard
Zimmer fans to enjoy, it also gave Gregson-Williams opportunities in the
same Media Ventures environment to establish himself and set his career in
motion for projects like Armageddon and Enemy of the
State.
The stylistic similarities of Zimmer and his apprentices,
as well as a likewise compliment of electronic equipment, make it difficult
to distinguish between the multiple artists' music in these scores.
Smilla's Sense of Snow may seem a little more obvious, with two or
three distinctly Zimmer-like cues surrounded by ambient underscore that
could maybe be passed off as Zimmer music as well. The key word here is
ambient, for Smilla's Sense of Snow is much like House of the
Spirits, but without the attractive and memorable anthem. It is a subtle
score... one that often barely occupies the aural landscape. Without any
dominant instruments in the higher ranges, the score has the capability of
droning, necessitating an increased volume of listening in order to fully
appreciation the nuances and sparse sound effects that contribute to the
landscape. A main title theme is broad, but severely constrained, never
achieving a fully satisfying performance until the final cue, which serves
as the score's only largely orchestral piece. A few standout cues in the
latter half of the score (after the story goes oceanside) present restrained
rhythms and background chorus mixes that were heard in The Fan and
The Rock from the previous year. Even these cues, highlighted by
"Chase at Sea," are heavily weighted by the dramatic and ominous mystery of
the story, however. There is never an exhilarating explosion of activity by
either synths or orchestra, leading to the age-old debate amongst Zimmer
fans about the usefulness of scores like Smilla's Sense of Snow on
album. On one side, you have the detail oriented, curious types of listeners
who believe that a score like this should be turned to maximum volume and
appreciated for its intricacies. On the other side, you hear (probably more)
Zimmer fans utilize Smilla's Sense of Snow as a purely atmospheric,
background listening experience --something non-distracting to fill the void
of a silent room. Either way, if you're a fan of Zimmer's
synthetically-enhanced anthems, be forewarned that this score --mostly a
Gregson-Williams project-- has none of that excitement. It is a simple,
predictable, and potentially boring score, but its consistency is its
strongest attribute. **
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Greenland: Anno 1859 (4:14)
• 2. Isaiah's Theme (2:06)
• 3. Smilla Learns More (4:22)
• 4. Threatened with Jail (4:47)
• 5. Who is the Mechanic? (4:26)
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• 6. Secrets of the Ship (7:11)
• 7. Chase at Sea (8:07)
• 8. Greenland Revisited (10:28)
• 9. The Truth Revealed (6:41)
• 10. End Titles (2:23)
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Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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