Insomnia

1997 psychological thriller

Rating: 16/20

Plot: There are strange things done in the midnight sun. And one of those strange things north of the Arctic Circle in Norway is an author's murder of a 17-year-old. Swedish Jonas Engstrom and his partner Erik Vik arrive to investigate, but Jonas has to fight to stay sane following a second death, a barking dog, and relentless sunlight.

The detective side of this is overshadowed by the personal drama of the main character, a guy slowly losing his mind because of guilt, an ambiguous past, and his insomnia. And speaking of shadows, it's interesting that the movie is noirish while not having a single scene that takes place at night. No shadows, no gloomy evening. In fact, it's the exact opposite--bright lights, white fog, snow, and blinding morning. It's a good hook. There are a lot of scenes that are very well done in this. An early scene where the police chase the bad guy through the foggy Norwegian landscape is haunting and claustrophobic, and some jerky handheld camera work puts you right into the head of the nervous protagonist. There are lots of other fine, moody scenes. The story itself might be a bit pedestrian although I do like that you've got both a criminal mastermind character and a good guy who sort of has to become a criminal mastermind himself. I like when the good guys and bad guys interact or play little cat-and-mouse games, but the bad guy in this doesn't have all that much personality. Actually, the good guy doesn't either. Maybe that's the point though. Insomnia throws two normal Joes (or Svens) into situations where a few poor decisions tear their worlds to pieces. I've seen the American remake with Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hillary Swank. It was a while ago, but even though I thought that movie was pretty good, I think this original tops it.