Stars: Stellan Skarsgard, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Bjorn Floberg

Director: Erik Skjoldbjaerg

Summary: Two Swedish criminal investigators help the Norwegian police to track down the murderer of a young girl...

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard gives a compelling performance as Jonas Engstrom, an exiled Swedish city detective working in Norway who travels to the small coastal town of Tromso in order to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. When he makes a fatal mistake in the investigation, however, his own conscience, coupled with the insomnia caused by the 24-hour summer sunlight of northernmost Norway, sets Engstrom on the path to insanity. Director Erik Skjoldbjaerg creates palpable tension in this strong, subtle film. In 2002, Christopher Nolan remade the thriller with Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

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A fairly close remake of an outstanding Norwegian movie of the same name, Insomniais director Christopher Nolan's follow-up to his breakthrough movie Memento. It's very much the sort of project that seems designed to be a stepping-stone from independent glory to the Hollywood A-list status. It has the right subject matter, stars (Al Pacino, Robin Williams), supporting cast (Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan), an audience-friendly intellectual thriller format and enough bizarre cinematic ideas to allow for directorial bravura.

Evading the heat of an Internal Affairs investigation, Los Angeles hotshot homicide cop Dormer (Pacino) flies north to Alaska to dig into the murder of a local girl--but a botched trap for the killer leads to a foggy shoot-out that goes wrong. This leads to an alliance between the cop and the killer, who offers Dorma a nasty bargain. Making the situation worse is the fact that Dormer can't sleep, his body clock thrown off by the 24-hour thin sunlight of the town of Nightmute, which affords Pacino a chance to crawl deeply inside a flawed hero on the point of cracking up. There's one terrific chase scene, with two clumsy middle-aged guys, leading to an intense and memorable peril. It slightly over-eggs the original story, with a Hollywooden tinge, but it's still compelling, grown-up drama. --Kim Newman

On the DVD:Insomniaoffers a wealth of DVD special features, most of which can be found inside the "Production Diaries", including a splendid making-of featurette filled with great cinematography and a haunting soundtrack. There is also an interesting documentary short on insomnia the condition, relating the problems sleep deprivation can cause. The commentaries take a new angle by asking relevant cast and crew members to comment on a scene specific to them rather than listening to the whole film with a commentary, which is refreshing and a concise way of providing the information. --Nikki Disney

Aspect Ratio:	16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	Norwegian
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Original Theatrical Trailer, Stills Gallery, Chapter Points
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1997
Release Date:	March 3, 2003
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	F C D 125
Keywords:	Subtitled, General, Thriller, Norwegian, Insomnia
Genre:	Thriller