Rating: NR
Genre:
Thriller
Theatrical Release: XX/XX/1998(USA)
Release Date: 07/13/1999
SubTitles: English
Sound: 5.1/2
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Criterion
Norwegian filmmaker
Erik Skjoldbjaerg makes his directorial debut with the
psychological police drama Insomnia. Swedish homicide detective
Jonas Engström (
Stellan Skarsgård) and his partner,
Erik Vik (
Sverre Anker Ousdal), arrive in a small Northern Norwegian town to help the local police investigate the murder of a teenage girl. When
Jonas finds the girl's backpack, he sets a trap for the killer near a remote shed. While waiting to make an ambush in the morning fog,
Jonas accidentally shoots
Erik. He knows it was only an accident, but he decides to keep it a secret because he could lose his job.
Jonas chooses to carry on with his investigation while trying to cover up the evidence of
Erik's death. Meanwhile, he's unable to get any sleep due to the constant sunlight of the Norwegian summer and his increasingly guilty conscience. His only help comes from highly intuitive local police officer
Hilda Haugen (
Gisken Armand), who begins to form her own doubts about
Jonas. As he continues to lose his grip on the case at hand, he becomes dangerously close to the suspects,
Jon Holt (
Bjørn Floberg) and
Frøya (
Marianne O. Ulrichsen). Filmmaker
Christopher Nolan directed the English-language remake of
Insomnia in 2002 with
Al Pacino,
Robin Williams, and
Hilary Swank.
~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Cart 0 items
