The Snow Walker

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Martin Smith directs. Jon Joffin behind the camera. Paul Intson scores. Alison Grace cuts. Produced in Canada. Dialogue in Italian, Czech, French, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 23 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Italian, Czech, French, English.
• 3Directed by Charles Martin Smith, shot by Jon Joffin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Paul Intson. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Alison Grace shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Barry Pepper and Annabella Piugattuk and James Cromwell carry the top of the cast.
• 7IMDB entry: tt0337721 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 20 themes, including "based on novel or book", "isolation", "winter", "pilot".

The technical file

Cinematography

Jon Joffin

Original score

Paul Intson

Editing

Alison Grace

Stunt coordinator

Brett Armstrong

Runtime

103 min · 1h 43m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

The Snow Walker (2003) ↗

Also by

Charles Martin Smith

• 
  Da Vinci's City Hall

  2005 · ★ 8.5
• 
  Buffy the Vampire Slayer

  1997 · ★ 8.1
• 
  A Dog's Way Home

  2019 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Space: Above and Beyond

  1995 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Dolphin Tale

  2011 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Dolphin Tale 2

  2014 · ★ 6.9

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Snow Walker

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2023-11-13
  ★ 6/10

  Trying to survive in desolate northern Canada In 1953, a Canadian bush pilot based in Yellowknife (Barry Pepper) flies a routine gig in the area of Queen Maud Gulf of the Northwest Territories (which is Nunavut today). When he crash-lands with a sickly Inuk girl, their chances of making it back alive aren’t good. James Cromwell is on hand as the pilot’s boss in Yellowknife. “The Snow Walker” (2004) is a survival flick helmed by Charles Martin Smith, who no doubt learned a thing or two about shooting in the remote North on the set of “Never Cry Wolf” (1983). It was based on a short story by Farley Mowat, who happens to be the character played by Smith in “Never Cry Wolf.” Although beautiful in its own unique way, the setting is too one-dimensional for my tastes, but the acting is convincing. Anyone interested in gritty realistic survival films should find something to appreciate. It features the mundaneness of "Limbo" (1999), but lacks the thrills of "The Edge" (1997). While this is the least of these, it’s superior to "Anything to Survive" (1990). The movie runs 1 hour, 49 minutes, and was shot in Churchill, Manitoba (tundra scenes); Rankin Inlet, Nunavut; Merritt, British Columbia (caribou hunt); and Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia. GRADE: B-

  Read full review ↓

Key crew

• Stunt CoordinatorBrett Armstrong
• Stunt DoubleRoxanne Wong
• Stunt CoordinatorScott J. Ateah
• EditorAlison Grace
• Foley ArtistMaureen Murphy
• Foley EditorRobert Hunter

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• isolation
• winter
• pilot
• inuit
• wilderness
• survival
• snow
• airplane crash
• storytelling
• presumed dead
• sex
• nudity
• tundra
• arctic
• northwest territories
• survival skills
• pontoon airplane
• eskimo indian
• remote setting

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2003-09-11· Source: IMDB (TIFF)

Also known as

International titles

• Perdidos en la nieveES
• Ve stínu lovceCZ
• Потерянный в снегахRU
• InuitFR
• Идущий по снегуRU