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.

Gregson-Williams
Zimmer

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.

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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. **

Bias Check:

For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.09 (in 22 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.24 (in 42,165 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.