''Sleepless'' (Italian: ''Non ho sonno'') is a 2001 Italian

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...

film directed by Dario Argento. The film stars

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

and Stefano Dionisi and marks Argento's return to the giallo subgenre. The film was another box office success when it opened in Italy, taking in over 5,019,733,505 lira ($3,280,080 US) by the end of its theatrical run.

Plot

Detective Ulisse Moretti (von Sydow) investigates a series of murders in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

in 1983, known as The Dwarf Murders. The main suspect, Vincenzo de Fabritiis, a writer of crime fiction with dwarfism, turns up dead and the case is considered closed. However, seventeen years later, a similar series of murders begin and draw the since-retired Moretti back into the case. Moretti teams up with Giacomo Gallo (Stefano Dionisi), whose mother was murdered in the 1983 spree, to determine if de Fabritiis is still alive or was actually innocent of the crimes for which he was accused. As the murders continue, the investigating duo discovers that the murderer is arranging their murder to an old nursery rhyme about the killing of animals. Ultimately it's discovered that Lorenzo is the murderer and that he had begun killing while he was just a child, hence why de Fabritiis was suspected due to the similarity in height. Lorenzo also reveals that the only reason the murders stopped was because he had traveled to another country where he continued murdering according to the nursery rhyme.

Cast

as Ulisse Moretti * Stefano Dionisi as Giacomo Gallo *

Chiara Caselli Chiara Caselli (born 22 December 1967) is an Italian actress. In 1994, Caselli won the Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress award as well as the David di Donatello for Best Actress award. Caselli has appeared in American films including ''My Own Pr ...

as Gloria * Roberto Zibetti as Lorenzo Betti *

Gabriele Lavia Gabriele Lavia (born 10 October 1942) is an Italian actor, film director and theatre director. Biography Lavia was born in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1970 he has had roles in nearly thirty films and television programs. He is known for his appe ...

as Dr. Betti *

Paolo Maria Scalondro Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American ...

as Chief Inspector Manni *

Rossella Falk Rossella Falk (10 November 1926 – 5 May 2013) was an Italian actress. She had a long career and is possibly best known for appearing in ''8½'' by Federico Fellini in 1963. Life and career Born in Rome as Rosa Antonia Falzacappa, Falk grad ...

as Laura de Fabritiis *

Roberto Accornero Roberto Accornero (born 9 March 1957) is an Italian television, film and voice actor. In the several roles he played, there was that of father Angelo Dell'Acqua in the miniseries John XXIII: The Pope of Peace, and that of captain Aloisi in th ...

as Fausto * Barbara Lerici as Angela * Guido Morbello as Young Detective * Massimo Sarchielli as Leone * Diego Casale as Beppe * Alessandra Comerio as Mrs. Betti * Elena Marchesini as Mel (Kitten) * Aldo Massasso as Detective Cascio * Conchita Puglisi as Amanda * Barbara Mautino as Dora (The Little Rabbit) * Luca Fagioli as Vincenzo de Fabritiis (the dwarf) * Daniela Fazzolari as Maria Luisa * Rossella Lucà as Mara

Critical reception

''Sleepless'' received a mixed response from critics. On movie

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website

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the film has an approval rating of 50% based on ten reviews, and is certified "rotten".

BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

wrote, "If this movie commits one crime, it's that the rest of it is never quite as good as the bravura opening. Don't let your guard down, though, because there are some cruelly well executed set-pieces that are enrobed in a constant sense of dread." AllMovie gave the film a generally negative review, writing, "this feels like an Argento retread – the murder mystery recalls his 1971 '' Cat o' Nine Tails'' a little too much, and the overly familiar horrific elements (pace, editing, music, screaming) have little impact."

Release

The film was first released in cinemas in its native country of Italy on 5 January 2001. Later that year, ''Sleepless'' was released in the United States in limited theaters on 24 August 2001 from

Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...

before shortly being released on home video formats in the winter.

Alternate versions

The original US video release from

was heavily edited for content. Every murder sequence in the film was trimmed down for less graphic violence, including the decapitation murder of the ballet dancer which omits the image of the head hitting the floor. In all over a minute worth of footage was cut. A US DVD was also put out by Arisan of an unrated and fully uncut version with all the gore intact. European DVD releases of the film are completely uncut. The German 2013

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

edition is heavily censored, nearly three minutes shorter than the director's cut.

References

External links

* {{Dario Argento 2001 films 2001 horror films 2001 crime thriller films 2000s mystery films 2001 psychological thriller films Italian slasher films 2000s Italian-language films Giallo films Crime horror films Mystery horror films Police detective films Films directed by Dario Argento Films set in 1983 Films set in 2000 Films set in Turin Italian serial killer films Films scored by Goblin (band) Films with screenplays by Dario Argento Artisan Entertainment films 2000s English-language films