Insomnia - Criterion Collection

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This 1997 film from Norway and neophyte director Erik Skjoldbjærg delivers the goods with unsettling effectiveness. It's an intense, smart, and taut thriller if only because what it eerily implies is creepier than the film's reality. Opening with a churning, chilling murder of a young woman, Insomnia invites the viewer--as well as its protagonist, celebrated Oslo homicide cop Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård)--into the mind and thoughts of a killer by making Engström fatally flawed himself. While in pursuit of the murderer, Engström makes a mistake; he accidentally shoots his partner and friend and covers up his deed in a panic. But he overlooks a minor detail: the real killer has seen him commit the crime. What ensues is a layered, complex, and unnerving descent into chaos, brought on by the inability to sleep in this land of the midnight sun. Engström suffers from insomnia, which warps his logic and resolve, and before long he's totally unraveled and unsure of his every move. But not before a twisty transference and countertransference occurs between cop and killer. The two play a game of high-stakes one-upmanship that surprises in the end. Insomnia is fresh and psychologically bent, full of Scandinavian despair and dark humor, and it boasts a film noir pulse beneath its blinding light. --Paula Nechak

Description

Disgraced Swedish detective Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård) travels to northern Norway to solve a brutal murder in Insomnia. Unable to sleep through the night of the midnight sun, Engström quickly loses his grip on the case and his mind. Erik Skjoldbjærg's debut feature is a deft amalgam of psychological thriller, morality play, and police procedural. Criterion presents the DVD premiere of Insomnia in a new widescreen transfer.

Customer Reviews:

Oh, he did a bad, bad thing..........2006-11-11

When I first watched this film the Keitel-cult classic - of the same insightful creation - continued to impress my mind. I speak of the lewd film, Bad Lieutenant (of which I was not overly fond of) where a corrupt cop solves the mystery of an unspeakable crime. Insomnia oddly follows the same vein, but in more of an inconspicuous nature. Instead of pushing the despicable nature of the main character - in this case it is Engström - our fearless and simple director gives it to us very under the radar. Pealing back each layer with delicacy, Skjoldbjærg gives us a crime, followed by a random act of innocence, followed by a small cover-up, followed up with a never-ending stream of light, which is all surrounded by the fear of the unknown and the endless possibilities that the world that has been created around us can instantly be crumbling down upon everyone involved. I enjoyed this film so much because of this small, insatiable sensation that Skjoldbjærg instantly created with his slow moving camera, his deadpan scenes filled with Norwegian chills, and that light - the unending light that haunts Skarsgård's flawless portrayal of Engström. It impressed me to see how the technique of light was used under the guise of night. In most Hollywood chillers of this nature, you see night being the time when our heroes confront their fears or moral dilemmas - not here, the light brings out the inner-soul of our character and gives us a choice whether to like him or not. The general consensus behind Engström is that he is a bad character struggling with the truth, but I didn't see that. Notice the character that Engström most connects with in this film - Vik's killer. Both claim to be innocent victims of accidents, but while they search each other out, they have trouble leaving each other's side. You didn't see this connection as much in the remake, mainly because mainstream Hollywood always has to have a defined "bad guy". Skjoldbjærg gave us a soul to the unknown.

Norway is a beautiful country filled with simple people constantly dealing with deadly issues that we take as normal day-to-day living. I loved that big city police officers were brought in to handle a murder case that obviously could not be handled by the simpleton local officers ... yet, in the end; Skjoldbjærg poses yet another question to us about who really was more knowledgeable about the case at hand. There is a constant struggle going on during this film that makes us, the viewer, question the entire motive at hand. We want Engström to find the girl's killer, but also we want him to come clean about himself - a question we ask every heroine in a film struggling to come clean and overcome obstacles. Yet, with Insomnia, we know nothing about Engström to even ask this question. It comes nearly as a half-hearted request because I am under the impression that he was not innocent to begin with. Skarsgård plays this man with suspicion and question because we are given no diagram of how this man arrived to this one location. We hear whispers in the non-existent shadows, but nothing that fully develops his past. He plays with our perception of "good cop/bad cop" like in no other movie. There are scenes that make us cheer for him, while others (like the stint with the hotel receptionist) that make us cover our eyes and quiver our lips. Like no other, Skarsgård develops, matriculates, and dedicates his time to this character, ensuring that every bold step that he makes is done for a reason. A complete reversal from what we saw him doing in Breaking the Waves or Good Will Hunting, here we see him complex and dedicated to the character at hand, continually proving that Skarsgård is a force in the Hollywood community (i.e. see the final scene and those non-replaceable eyes).

Insomnia is a film that stands directly on its own two feet without shake or instability. While it is not quite at the level of utmost perfection (even though there are quite a bit of perfect elements) due to some slower key elements, the awkward pacing of the grand finale, and the jumbled themes of lies and deceit (especially between Engström and the actual killer) - it is still a very grandiose film. It keeps your attention, it brings about the ideas that demons do not just reside in the dark corners of your mind, but in fact in your everyday lives. I think the best moments of this film occur when Engström fights with his partner after the accident in the lighted bedroom of the hotel. I enjoyed this the most because it gave us a rare opportunity to see a different character than what was originally presented to us. It violently gave us a slice of the good during times when we didn't think it was humanly possible. This may sound strange, but I also enjoyed the Norwegian accents (albeit a Norwegian film) because they added this sense of absurdity to it all. It took us to another place; where the oddity of forever sunlight was drown out by the sounds coming out of our characters mouths. I am not complaining or thinking this to be strange, I just thought that it added to the overall tone of the film, giving us a chance to step away from mainstream Hollywood.

Overall, I would highly suggest this film to those friends and family that had not seen the Nolan remake first. I am a believer that if you see the remake first, you will not like this film at all. The two are not the same, and to compare the two (in the big picture) would be heresy. I loved the acting, I loved the location, and I thought the plot was detailed, yet simple, symbolic yet original all at the same time. This wasn't a story convoluted by deep sub-plots and overblown romances, this was a stiff drink on a cold day. It was the perfect balance between good and evil caught in a place where you cannot hide in the shadows. I thought it was another great addition to the Criterion library, as well as a must see for technique, storytelling, and character motivation teachers of all ages. See this film!

Grade: **** out of *****

Darker and More Intelligent Version.......2006-08-03

Within the first thirty seconds of watching Insomnia you get the impression that it is one of those Criterion releases which is worth the higher DVD price. Opening with a grainy montage reminiscent of Seven, Norwegian Erik Skjoldbjaerg's impressive directorial debut is a darker and more intelligent film that the later remake starring Al Pacino of which Americans are familiar.

The original Insomnia stars Stellan Skarsgard as Jonas Engstrom, a disgraced but talented Swedish detective. After being caught in an "intimate conversation" with a witness, he seeks a transfer to Norway as a means to escape the scandal threatening his career. Along with his partner, he is sent to investigate the murder of a 17-year-old girl in Tromso, a small Norwegian town above the arctic circle.

One of the greatest distinctions between the two film versions is the depiction of the central character. The original film isn't scared to show us a darker side of the detective. Unlike the later toned down depiction, he's far less likeable, and at times cruel and self-serving. Ultimately, this dark anti-hero proves to be a more convincing vessel for the film's theme of disintegration.

Engstrom is suffering from a severe bout of insomnia, caused by the unrelenting 24 hour sunshine in Tromso. The film's near monotone visuals reflect his distorted perspectives as sleep deprivation takes its toll. After accidentally shooting his partner, he panics, making a series of disturbing decisions calculated to deflect suspicion from himself. He hopes to blame his partner's death on the killer they were pursuing when the accident occurred.

Unfortunately, the killer has witnessed the shooting and knows the truth. Using this information to his advantage, he forces Engstrom to embark on a sinister game of cat and mouse. As Engstrom is drawn further into a web of deception, he begins to morally decay before our eyes. Tortured by his inability to sleep and guilty conscience, each moral compromise Engstrom makes further blurs the line between the himself and the murderer he is hunting.

Insomnia's strength lies in Skarsgard's low key portrayal of the detective. He was in his mid forties when he played Engstrom, yet looks much younger. His attractive, quiet demeanor masks his inner turmoil perfectly.

Not surprisingly, it was Skarsgard's powerful back-to-back performances in Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves and Skjoldbjaerg's Insomnia that opened the doors to a series of roles in Hollywood films. While once virtually unknown outside Scandinavia, he has since become an Internationally acclaimed actor.

The Criterion release boasts a beautiful 16x9 anamorphic transfer with good sound quality. Its lack of commentary is disappointing but it still remains a must have DVD to those that appreciate European film noir.

skarsgard's showcase.......2005-03-25

There is a great feel of originality, of sheer suspense, panic, iciness in this original version of the Insomnia story. Although the remake directed by Christopher Nolan is certainly good, the original is something that should not be missed.

Stellan Skarsgard plays a homicide detective, Jonas, who goes to the north of Norway to investigate the murder of a girl. He accidentally shoots and kills his partner while tracking the murder suspect through the fog and panics, trying to cover up this crime (throughout the film becoming more worried about the evidence against him than about the case at hand, manipulating the evidence more and more to cover his tracks). Unfortunately the murderer he is investigating sees him commit this crime and uses this information to his advantage. Jonas's perspective is clouded more and more as both his sleeplessness and paranoia come to cloud his judgment completely. What really makes this taut thriller work, beyond a good story/script and the moral ambiguity inherent in every move, is Skarsgard's convincing portrayal of Jonas. Personally I find Skarsgard to be one of the best working actors today anywhere in the world, and as such, this picture deserves much more attention than its American-made remake.

An Outstanding Psychological Thriller.......2005-03-11

Insomnia is more an intense psychological study than it is a police procedural, although the movie is ostensibly about a murder. A Swedish cop, Jonas Engstrom (Stellan Skarsgard), was caught in "intimate conversation" with a witness in one of his cases and has been semi-disgraced . At his request, he's sent to Norway, along with his partner, to work on a murder which took place in Tromso, a small town above the Arctic Circle. He and his partner arrive to find there is no night. It's bright all 24 hours, and he can't sleep. In a stake out to catch the killer, he shoots a figure he sees in the fog. He finds he has killed his partner. He covers up by making it appear the real killer was the shooter.

The rest of the movie is a study of his attempts to keep the cover-up in place (going so far as to place the killer's revolver under the bed of a young suspect, then having it discovered). He also is struggling to find the real killer. Engstrom, throughout, is exhausted by lack of sleep and his own emotional desolation. He seems unable to allow anyone to get close to him. He may be a brilliant cop, but he's also not above being a dirty one at times. At the conclusion, the real killer through Engstrom's efforts has been indentified and has died, and Engstrom departs for Sweden. It appears that he is just as desolate a person as when he arrived.

This is a terrific movie with a wonderful performance by Stellan Skarsgard. It bears repeated viewing. The Criterion DVD offers a great picture but no extras to speak of.

Not Great But Better than the Cheap American Version.......2004-12-15

This is a straight film that seems to be hidden in dilluted colors and although it is much improved over the American version, there is still something lacking which could have made it a great film. It deals with a detective who is possessed not so much as by guilt, but an inability to come to grips with his existence.

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