Insomnia (1997 film)

Infobox Film
name = Insomnia


caption =
imdb_rating =
director = Erik Skjoldbjærg
producer = Tomas Backstrom
Petter Borgli
Tom Remlov
writer = Erik Skjoldbjærg
Nikolaj Frobenius
starring = Stellan Skarsgård
Gisken Armand
Maria Bonnevie
Bjørn Floberg
Sverre Anker Ousdal
music = Geir Jenssen
cinematography = Erling Thurmann-Andersen
editing = Hakon Overas
distributor = First Run Features (US, 1998)
The Criterion Collection (Region 1 DVD)
released = Norway:
14 March, 1997
United States:
29 March, 1998
UK:
13 November, 1998
runtime = 95 min.
country = Norway
language = Norwegian and Swedish
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
mpaa_rating =
tv_rating =
amg_id = 1:155004
imdb_id = 0119375

"Insomnia" is a 1997 Norwegian film about a police detective investigating a murder in a town located above the Arctic Circle. The detective arrives in the summer, during the midnight sun, and suffers from insomnia. It was the film debut of director Erik Skjoldbjærg. The screenplay is by Nikolaj Frobenius, and the soundtrack by Geir Jenssen (alias Biosphere).

ynopsis

"Insomnia" tells the story of a cross-border collaboration between Swedish and Norwegian police to hunt down the killer of a fifteen-year-old girl in the city of Tromsø far up in the Norwegian Arctic. The investigation goes horribly wrong when police officer Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård) mistakenly shoots his partner (Sverre Anker Ousdal) and subsequently attempts to cover up his bungle. The title of the film refers to Engström's inability to sleep, the result of both his guilt and the relentless glare of the midnight sun.

Themes

In the film, Engström is unable to sleep, partly due to relentless guilt over recent and ongoing misdeeds, and partly due to the never-ending sunlight, which serves as an outward representation of that guilt. The film has been described as turning "film noir" conventions on their heads by using, in place of shadows and darkness, relentless sunshine and ubiquitous bright white fog to convey guilt and disorientation. The film noir theme is emphasized, as the film follows many of the other conventions from this genre. For instance the lone detective that doesn't follow rules, but develops a personal interest in the case and establishes connections with the villain.

Remake

In 2002, a U.S. remake was released, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

External links

*imdb title|id=0119375|title=Insomnia (1997)
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=47&eid=4&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Peter Cowie]