Insomnia

A film by Erik Skjodbjaerg (Norway, 1997),

with Stellan Skarsgard, Sverre Anker Ousda, Bjorn Floberg, Maria Bonnevie.

In Northern Norway, at a time of the year when night never falls, an insomniac police officer with an ambiguous past tracks down a killer. Strangely, the two seem to have more than expected in common...

Even though the screenplay is classic in terms of a detective story, Insomnia stands out as a somewhat unusual and fascinating film. Skjodbjaerg's direction and choice of the premises contribute a lot to that effect: places are cold and desolate while locals are particularly aloof and defying at the same time. The arctic sun plays a key role here as it emphasizes the intemporal aspect of geography and action. The whole thing creates an uneasy atmosphere that is meant to overwhelm the viewer... sooner or later. Just like Stellan Skarsgard's character -outstanding performance by the way. Besides the atmospheric cachet of the film, it is also an insightful vision of everyone's underlying motivations that makes Skjodbjaerg's film so disturbing and fascinating at the same time. Because we find out there might well be no goodness nor evil. Sometimes there's goodness in evil and evil in goodness. All we might infer is that society deserves its crimes... Far from Hollywood's manichean patterns, Insomnia is definitely worth the experience.

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