Latest news with #Smilla
Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
It was a groundbreaking crime book – and this TV adaptation is even stranger
Smilla's Sense of Snow ★★★ It's hard to overstate the impact Danish novelist Peter Hoeg had in 1992 with his literary thriller Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. A crime mystery about an alienated Copenhagen woman who's convinced her neighbour, a young Greenlandic boy, died under suspicious circumstances, it spent months on the bestseller lists and was Time 's Book of the Year. Hoeg unfolded a fantastical conspiracy and a sly reckoning with his homeland's colonial past. It was a groundbreaking book, attuned to today's social and political currents. Hollywood put out a diligent, tidied-up movie adaptation in 1997, with Danish filmmaker Pelle August directing Julia Ormond in the title role, but Hoeg's prose, fluid and evocative, allows for no shortage of interpretations. Hence, this European co-production, a six-part existential thriller that takes more than enough liberties with the source material to sit distinctly aside from the feature film and, sometimes, even the book. A smidgeon of science-fiction, a mass of the metaphysical, Smilla's Sense of Snow is a curious reinvention. The setting remains Copenhagen, but it's now 2040 and the Danish capital is suffering through an energy crisis and constant surveillance; residents get a monthly allotment of power, but it's barely enough unless you can pay for more. The how and why is unclear, but the political chaos is obvious: nationalism and political violence is boiling over amidst an election. For Smilla Jaspersen (Filippa Coster-Waldau), it's a matter of little consequence – the former climate activist lives alone, aligning with her late mother's Inuit heritage over her privileged father's Danish outlook. She uses 'Europeans' as a pejorative phrase. Created by the British filmmaker Amma Asante (Belle) and the British writer Clive Bradley (Trapped), the show is focused on examining truths rather than teasing them out. Smilla's bond with Isaiah (Silver Wolfe), who has come to Copenhagen with his bereft Greenlandic mother after his father's death, is sketched out quickly, in the shadow of the solemn little boy's death after he falls from a rooftop. Smilla, who also grew up in Greenland, can tell from the footprints on the apartment building's roof that something was awry. The swift declaration of an accidental death by the authorities makes her start digging. The narrative is quick to show us that something is amiss, and that the stakes involved have compromised many. Smilla and Isaiah's neighbour, Tunisian political refugee Rahid Youseffi (Elyas M'Barek), quickly goes from helping the boy to spying on Smilla as she starts to reveal information. The schemes that connect Isaiah's past in Greenland to the energy crisis and the election are desperate and often crude. 'We only have 30 good years left,' one plotter, tech mogul Caspen Tork (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), tells the government minister he soon ensnares, Katja Claussen (Amanda Collin). What comes to the fore is Smilla's anguish. Investigating Isaiah's death reawakens her memories of Greenland, tapping into a mystical state that folds together historic visions and contemporary dream states. As with the last season of True Detective, Smilla's Sense of Snow looks at crime through the lens of Indigenous communities and their connection to the land that was long ago taken from them.
The Age
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
It was a groundbreaking crime book – and this TV adaptation is even stranger
Smilla's Sense of Snow ★★★ It's hard to overstate the impact Danish novelist Peter Hoeg had in 1992 with his literary thriller Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow. A crime mystery about an alienated Copenhagen woman who's convinced her neighbour, a young Greenlandic boy, died under suspicious circumstances, it spent months on the bestseller lists and was Time 's Book of the Year. Hoeg unfolded a fantastical conspiracy and a sly reckoning with his homeland's colonial past. It was a groundbreaking book, attuned to today's social and political currents. Hollywood put out a diligent, tidied-up movie adaptation in 1997, with Danish filmmaker Pelle August directing Julia Ormond in the title role, but Hoeg's prose, fluid and evocative, allows for no shortage of interpretations. Hence, this European co-production, a six-part existential thriller that takes more than enough liberties with the source material to sit distinctly aside from the feature film and, sometimes, even the book. A smidgeon of science-fiction, a mass of the metaphysical, Smilla's Sense of Snow is a curious reinvention. The setting remains Copenhagen, but it's now 2040 and the Danish capital is suffering through an energy crisis and constant surveillance; residents get a monthly allotment of power, but it's barely enough unless you can pay for more. The how and why is unclear, but the political chaos is obvious: nationalism and political violence is boiling over amidst an election. For Smilla Jaspersen (Filippa Coster-Waldau), it's a matter of little consequence – the former climate activist lives alone, aligning with her late mother's Inuit heritage over her privileged father's Danish outlook. She uses 'Europeans' as a pejorative phrase. Created by the British filmmaker Amma Asante (Belle) and the British writer Clive Bradley (Trapped), the show is focused on examining truths rather than teasing them out. Smilla's bond with Isaiah (Silver Wolfe), who has come to Copenhagen with his bereft Greenlandic mother after his father's death, is sketched out quickly, in the shadow of the solemn little boy's death after he falls from a rooftop. Smilla, who also grew up in Greenland, can tell from the footprints on the apartment building's roof that something was awry. The swift declaration of an accidental death by the authorities makes her start digging. The narrative is quick to show us that something is amiss, and that the stakes involved have compromised many. Smilla and Isaiah's neighbour, Tunisian political refugee Rahid Youseffi (Elyas M'Barek), quickly goes from helping the boy to spying on Smilla as she starts to reveal information. The schemes that connect Isaiah's past in Greenland to the energy crisis and the election are desperate and often crude. 'We only have 30 good years left,' one plotter, tech mogul Caspen Tork (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), tells the government minister he soon ensnares, Katja Claussen (Amanda Collin). What comes to the fore is Smilla's anguish. Investigating Isaiah's death reawakens her memories of Greenland, tapping into a mystical state that folds together historic visions and contemporary dream states. As with the last season of True Detective, Smilla's Sense of Snow looks at crime through the lens of Indigenous communities and their connection to the land that was long ago taken from them.
Sydney Morning Herald
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The best new TV shows to stream in July
My top Disney+ recommendation is Washington Black (July 23). Shortlisted for the Booker Prize upon release in 2018, Esi Edugyan's Washington Black was a 19th century coming of age tale that transcended historical fiction in telling the story of a brilliant boy born into slavery in the Caribbean and his journey of discovery seeking freedom. This adaptation, from Jordan Peele protégé Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (The Twilight Zone) leans into wonder, love, and resilience in the face of horror. Eddie Karanja and Ernest Kingsley Jr play Washington as a child and young man respectively, while the supporting cast is headlined by executive producer Sterling K. Brown (Paradise) as a mentor on a journey that stretches from the tropics to the desert to the bottom of the sea. June highlights: That's what Friends was for – Adults hit the spot as a chaotic twentysomething comedy for the 21st century, plus The Bear took risks and evolved with its fourth season. ABC iview My top iview recommendation is Patience (July 4). Production for the second season of this British detective drama is already under way, following on from a first season that introduced an eclectic pair of sleuths. Detective Inspector Bea Fraser (Laura Fraser) is a Yorkshire police officer who discovers that a young woman on the autism spectrum working in the archives, Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis), has extraordinary insights. When the two team up, Patience has to contend with a complicated world. Screen depictions of autism vary greatly in terms of authenticity and detail, but it's worth noting that Purvis herself is on the spectrum. Done right, this could be a valuable addition to a familiar genre. June highlights: The mordant Australian crime drama Bay of Fires returned for a tense second season, and the demands of new motherhood underpinned the British thriller Little Disasters. SBS On Demand My top SBS On Demand recommendation is Smilla's Sense of Snow (July 30). A deeply nuanced detective thriller, Danish author Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was a literary hit in 1992, following the titular young woman who suspects foul play in the death of a young boy from Greenland she has befriended in her Copenhagen apartment building. A Hollywood adaptation followed in 1997, with Julia Ormond in the title role, but Hoeg's evocative writing still has purpose. A new version, from British filmmaker Amma Asante (A United Kingdom), moves the story into an uneasy 2040 of energy crises and state surveillance. The role of Smilla goes to Danish actress Filippa Coster-Waldau, the daughter of Game of Thrones star Nikolaj. June highlights: Climate change upheaval becomes a stark reality for a Danish family in Thomas Vinterberg's near future drama Families Like Ours, plus the Indigenous health documentary series Our Medicine debuted. Other streamers My top recommendation for the other streaming services is Paramount+'s Dexter: Resurrection (July 11). The Dexter franchise is, well, unkillable. Michael C. Hall's note-perfect depiction of the Florida forensics analyst and vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan is up to its third incarnation – 2006's long-running Dexter, 2021's revival Dexter: New Blood, and now Dexter: Resurrection. Resurrection picks up a few weeks after New Blood 's conclusion, where Dexter was shot by his own son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). But the father-son bond is stronger than ever, with Dexter following Harrison to New York to attempt a reconciliation. Will Dexter kill some creepy killers along the way? Almost certainly so. The Dexter universe knows that the fans are out for blood. Loading Also: British society had never seen anything like the Mitford sisters. In the 1930s the six aristocratic siblings were a magnet for newspaper headlines, scandal, enduring art, and terrible wrongs. They were a lot. BritBox's Outrageous (July 24) looks to capture the social and household dynamic that led the sisters down a series of contradictory paths: Nancy (Bessie Carter) was a writer who used her family as barely disguised source material; Diana (Joanna Vanderham) was a great beauty who married a fascist; Jessica (Zoe Brough) was a communist; and Unity (Shannon Watson) became an ardent Nazi. Getting the right tone will be everything with this limited series. June highlights: First love, classic tunes, and second chances set up Binge's Mix Tape as a melodic romantic drama, plus an A-list cast updated the Agatha Christie model in BritBox's Towards Zero.
The Age
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The best new TV shows to stream in July
My top Disney+ recommendation is Washington Black (July 23). Shortlisted for the Booker Prize upon release in 2018, Esi Edugyan's Washington Black was a 19th century coming of age tale that transcended historical fiction in telling the story of a brilliant boy born into slavery in the Caribbean and his journey of discovery seeking freedom. This adaptation, from Jordan Peele protégé Selwyn Seyfu Hinds (The Twilight Zone) leans into wonder, love, and resilience in the face of horror. Eddie Karanja and Ernest Kingsley Jr play Washington as a child and young man respectively, while the supporting cast is headlined by executive producer Sterling K. Brown (Paradise) as a mentor on a journey that stretches from the tropics to the desert to the bottom of the sea. June highlights: That's what Friends was for – Adults hit the spot as a chaotic twentysomething comedy for the 21st century, plus The Bear took risks and evolved with its fourth season. ABC iview My top iview recommendation is Patience (July 4). Production for the second season of this British detective drama is already under way, following on from a first season that introduced an eclectic pair of sleuths. Detective Inspector Bea Fraser (Laura Fraser) is a Yorkshire police officer who discovers that a young woman on the autism spectrum working in the archives, Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis), has extraordinary insights. When the two team up, Patience has to contend with a complicated world. Screen depictions of autism vary greatly in terms of authenticity and detail, but it's worth noting that Purvis herself is on the spectrum. Done right, this could be a valuable addition to a familiar genre. June highlights: The mordant Australian crime drama Bay of Fires returned for a tense second season, and the demands of new motherhood underpinned the British thriller Little Disasters. SBS On Demand My top SBS On Demand recommendation is Smilla's Sense of Snow (July 30). A deeply nuanced detective thriller, Danish author Peter Hoeg's Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow was a literary hit in 1992, following the titular young woman who suspects foul play in the death of a young boy from Greenland she has befriended in her Copenhagen apartment building. A Hollywood adaptation followed in 1997, with Julia Ormond in the title role, but Hoeg's evocative writing still has purpose. A new version, from British filmmaker Amma Asante (A United Kingdom), moves the story into an uneasy 2040 of energy crises and state surveillance. The role of Smilla goes to Danish actress Filippa Coster-Waldau, the daughter of Game of Thrones star Nikolaj. June highlights: Climate change upheaval becomes a stark reality for a Danish family in Thomas Vinterberg's near future drama Families Like Ours, plus the Indigenous health documentary series Our Medicine debuted. Other streamers My top recommendation for the other streaming services is Paramount+'s Dexter: Resurrection (July 11). The Dexter franchise is, well, unkillable. Michael C. Hall's note-perfect depiction of the Florida forensics analyst and vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan is up to its third incarnation – 2006's long-running Dexter, 2021's revival Dexter: New Blood, and now Dexter: Resurrection. Resurrection picks up a few weeks after New Blood 's conclusion, where Dexter was shot by his own son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). But the father-son bond is stronger than ever, with Dexter following Harrison to New York to attempt a reconciliation. Will Dexter kill some creepy killers along the way? Almost certainly so. The Dexter universe knows that the fans are out for blood. Loading Also: British society had never seen anything like the Mitford sisters. In the 1930s the six aristocratic siblings were a magnet for newspaper headlines, scandal, enduring art, and terrible wrongs. They were a lot. BritBox's Outrageous (July 24) looks to capture the social and household dynamic that led the sisters down a series of contradictory paths: Nancy (Bessie Carter) was a writer who used her family as barely disguised source material; Diana (Joanna Vanderham) was a great beauty who married a fascist; Jessica (Zoe Brough) was a communist; and Unity (Shannon Watson) became an ardent Nazi. Getting the right tone will be everything with this limited series. June highlights: First love, classic tunes, and second chances set up Binge's Mix Tape as a melodic romantic drama, plus an A-list cast updated the Agatha Christie model in BritBox's Towards Zero.
