Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s 1997 directorial debut, Insomnia is a prescient prototype of what would now be termed Nordic Noir in today’s global film market. At the time of its release, it was one of the first Norwegian films of international note in quite some time, with Skjoldbjaerg joining the ranks of other notable newcomers like Pal Sleutane and Bent Hamer. An inverted film noir, utilizing light instead of shadow, there’s a cold blankness to the film, making it a sort of waking nightmare. When all is visible, there’s no place to hide, forcing the film’s protagonist into internalized retreat, escaping into himself. Too much light engages a similar sort of madness as the eternal shadows.
The murder of a teenage girl opens the film, shot on grainy super 8 while we witness the killer cleaning up the act. To investigate, a Swedish police officer stationed in Oslo, Jonas...
The murder of a teenage girl opens the film, shot on grainy super 8 while we witness the killer cleaning up the act. To investigate, a Swedish police officer stationed in Oslo, Jonas...
- 7/29/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
I last watched Christopher Nolan's 2002 remake of Insomnia in 2010 when I reviewed the Blu-ray release, and until you voted it a Movie Club selection, I'd actually never seen the Erik Skjoldbj?rg-directed original. While both tell the same story in almost the exact same way, there are distinct differences -- beyond the fact Nolan's adaptation runs 22 bloated extra minutes longer -- that caught my attention. Unfortunately, since the narrative of both films runs so close together it's hard for me to discuss one without discussing the other and not being that big a fan of Nolan's Insomnia I think these two factors put Skjoldbj?rg's original at a slight disadvantage for my first time viewing. To begin, I felt Nolan's Insomnia was too long and as much as the investigation into the murder of a young girl proves intriguing, as does the dynamic between Al Pacino and Robin Williams,...
- 12/10/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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