''Insomnia'' is a 1997 Norwegian
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
about a police detective investigating a murder in a town located above the
Arctic Circle. The investigation goes horribly wrong when he mistakenly shoots his partner and subsequently attempts to cover up his bungle. The title of the film refers to his inability to sleep, the result of his guilt (represented by the relentless glare of the
midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...
). ''Insomnia'' was the film debut of director
Erik Skjoldbjærg. The screenplay was written by
Nikolaj Frobenius and Skjoldbjærg, and the soundtrack by
Geir Jenssen.
The film inspired the 2002 American remake ''
Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
''.
Plot
When 17-year-old Tanja is found murdered in the city of
Tromsø
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...
, far up in the Norwegian Arctic,
Kripos police officers Jonas Engström (
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...
) and Erik Vik (
Sverre Anker Ousdal) are called in to investigate. Engström is a police inspector formerly with the
Swedish police
The Swedish Police Authority ( sv, Polismyndigheten) is the national police force (''Polisen'') of the Kingdom of Sweden. The first modern police force in Sweden was established in the mid-19th century, and the police remained in effect under lo ...
who moved to Norway after being caught having sex with the main witness in one of his cases. Vik is nearing retirement age, and his memory is failing.
Engström devises a plan to lure the murderer back to the scene of the crime, but the stakeout is blown and the murder suspect flees into the fog. Events take a turn for the worse when the fugitive shoots one of the pursuing unarmed Norwegian police officers. Without telling his colleagues, however, Engström carries a gun from his days in the Swedish police, who routinely carry firearms. While shooting at what he believes to be the suspect, Engstrom accidentally kills Vik, who had mistakenly run right instead of left as ordered.
Engström initially tells the truth about the shooting, but realises that everyone assumes that the fugitive shot Vik. He decides to conceal his culpability. When one of his colleagues, Hilde Hagen (
Gisken Armand
Gisken Armand Lillo-Stenberg (born 26 November 1962) is a Norwegian actress. She is the daughter of actor Eilif Armand, and sister of Merete Armand and Frøydis Armand, both actresses. She debuted on stage at the age of fourteen, at Den Nationale ...
), is assigned to investigate Vik's death, Engström becomes worried about
ballistic fingerprinting
Forensic firearm examination is the forensic process of examining the characteristics of firearms or bullets left behind at a crime scene. Specialists in this field try to link bullets to weapons and weapons to individuals. They can raise and re ...
and tampers with evidence to support his story. Haunted by guilt and unable to sleep with the
midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...
of the Arctic, Engström becomes increasingly unhinged and starts hallucinating about Vik. Things become even worse when he learns that Tanja's murderer saw him shoot Vik.
Engström learns from one of Tanja's friends that she had been seeing Jon Holt (
Bjørn Floberg), a crime novelist. He correctly deduces that Holt killed Tanja, but Holt
blackmails Engström with his knowledge of the Vik shooting. The two meet and decide to frame Tanja's boyfriend Eilert for her murder, with Engström later planting Holt's gun under Eilert's bed. However, Hagen is not convinced of Eilert's involvement, and when new evidence emerges, Engström knows that it's only a matter of time until Holt is arrested.
Engström tracks down Holt in some rotting wooden buildings at the waterfront and tries to talk with him. Holt suspects that Engström has come to kill him and holds him at gunpoint. He explains how he killed Tanja in a fit of rage when she rejected his advances. Holt tries to flee across a pier, but the rotten floorboards give way and he falls into the water below, striking his head on the way. He drowns as Engström watches. When he rummages through Holt's nearby house, Engström finds Tanja's dress, which Holt had removed before dumping the body. With Holt dead, and this definitive proof that he was the murderer, the case is closed.
Just before he leaves town, Engström is visited by Hagen, who shows him a
cartridge case
A cartridge or a round is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile ( bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (usually either smokeless powder or black powder) and an ignition device ( primer) within a metal ...
found at the site where Vik was shot. She notes that it is a
Norma Norma may refer to:
* Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Astronomy
*Norma (constellation)
*555 Norma, a minor asteroid
* Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy
Geography
*Norma, Lazi ...
case, which Engström confirms is a brand used by the Swedish police. Engström expects Hagen to arrest him, but instead she simply places the cartridge case on a table and leaves. Engström drives out of town, his face and eyes showing great weariness; he seems not to have recovered from his insomnia.
Cast
*
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...
as Jonas Engström
*
Sverre Anker Ousdal as Erik Vik
*
Bjørn Floberg as Jon Holt
*
Gisken Armand
Gisken Armand Lillo-Stenberg (born 26 November 1962) is a Norwegian actress. She is the daughter of actor Eilif Armand, and sister of Merete Armand and Frøydis Armand, both actresses. She debuted on stage at the age of fourteen, at Den Nationale ...
as Hilde Hagen
*
Maria Bonnevie
Anna Maria Cecilia Bonnevie (born 26 September 1973) is a Swedish- Norwegian actress. She was born in Västerås, Sweden, but grew up in Oslo, Norway. Her parents are Norwegian actress Jannik Bonnevie and Swedish actor Per Waldvik. Bonnevie wa ...
as Ane
*Bjørn Moan as Eilert
*Maria Mathiesen as Tanja Lorentzen
*Marianne O. Ulrichsen as Frøya
*Kristian Figenschow as Arne Zakariassen
*Thor Michael Aamodt as Tom Engen
*Frode Rasmussen as Chief of Police
Critical reception
The film has been widely praised as a psychological study and "semi-noir".
[In the Land of the Midnight Sun](_blank)
epinions Roger Ebert of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' compared it to the
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
novel ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...
''.
[Insomnia (1998)](_blank)
by Roger Ebert, 1998 For the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
praised the principal performance by Skarsgård and added that "Mr. Skjoldbjærg's understated, elliptical direction keeps the material dangerous and volatile, with frequent small touches of the unexpected as Engstrom shows increasing signs of strain."
[Insomnia (1997) FILM REVIEW; A Private Nightmare In Days Without End](_blank)
Janet Maslin, 1998
Remake
A remake of the film was directed by
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
. The film, featuring
Al Pacino,
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
, and
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank (born July 30, 1974) is an American actress and film producer. She first became known in 1992 for her role on the television series '' Camp Wilder'' and made her film debut with a minor role in ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1992 ...
, was released in 2002.
References
External links
*
*
*
''Insomnia''an essay by
Peter Cowie
Peter Cowie (born 24 December 1939) is a film historian and author of more than thirty books on film. In 1963 he was the founder/publisher and general editor of the annual ''International Film Guide'', a survey of worldwide film production, whi ...
at the
Criterion Collection''Insomnia: Unbearable Lightness''an essay by Jonathan Romney at the
Criterion Collection
{{Authority control
1990s psychological thriller films
1997 films
Films directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg
Films set in Norway
Films set in the Arctic
Neo-noir
Norwegian thriller films
1990s Norwegian-language films
Police detective films
1990s Swedish-language films
Insomnia in film
1997 multilingual films
Norwegian multilingual films