Insomnia **** (1997, Stellan Skarsgård, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Bjorn Floberg, Gisken Armand) – Classic Movie Review 6618

In co-writer/ director Erik Skjoldbjaerg’s distinguished, ultra-creepy 1997 Norwegian thriller, Stellan Skarsgård plays disgraced Swedish murder investigator cop Jonas Engström, who is sent to a Norwegian town with 24-hour daylight to investigate the death of a teenage girl.

The brutality of the case and unrelenting daylight of the town cause Skarsgård debilitating insomnia and takes a tragic toll in this dark and disturbing thriller. [Spoiler alert] Skarsgård accidentally shoots his police partner dead and now the troubled cop must try to solve the crime without being implicated himself.

An ideally cast Skarsgård gives a first rate performance in a brilliantly involving and atmospheric movie that sometimes troublingly hard to watch and lets no one off the hook.

Also in the cast are Sverre Anker Ousdal, Bjorn Floberg, Gisken Armand, Maria Bonnevie and Kristian Figenschow.

It is written by Erik Skjoldbjaerg and Nicolaj Frobenius, shot by Erling Thurmann-Andersen, produced by Tom Remlov, Petter J Borgli and Tomas Backsrtom, and scored by Biosphere.

It was advertised as ‘Den som synder, sover ikke. [He who sins, does not sleep.]’

It was remade as Insomnia by Christopher Nolan in the US in 2002, with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6618

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