Dir. Erik Skoldbjaerg, Sweden/Norway, 1997, 96 mins, in Swedish and Norwegian with subtitles
Cast: Stellan Skarsgard, Gisken Armand, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Bjorn Floberg
Review by Colin Dibben
Swedish detectives Engstrom (Skarsgard) and Vik (Ousdal) are sent to Tromso in northern Norway to investigate the murder of a young woman.
They start out carefully collecting evidence and interviewing suspects, but when they set out to trap the killer, things go horribly wrong. The self-obsessed and ambitious Engstrom must take drastic action to save his career. This involves doing loads of bad things that we don’t like to think of cops doing, but that we all suspect they do a lot of the time.
Insomnia’s clever premise mixes police procedural and the noir trope of the compromised cop who will do anything to save himself. The story is told in a flat and slightly elided fashion, so you need to pay attention to what is happening on screen. It also isn’t always clear where exactly events are happening or why. Some people will like this approach – I found it a bit confusing.
Visually, Insomnia looks like a TV movie. The fogbound chase near the beginning is the only atmospheric sequence. I guess the flat, TV-style lighting refers to the 24-hour flat light that you get that far up north, but it makes the film look slightly boring.
The flat, elided, low-key approach to story and visuals also means that you don’t really get a sense of Engstrom’s torment or even his insomnia. The flat feel of the film also makes it difficult to believe in the dark, uber-noir relationship that develops between Engstrom and the chief suspect, crime writer Holt (Floberg). The scenes between them are dull longueurs in an otherwise pretty snappy movie.
For once, the Hollywood remake (by Christopher Nolan) has more noir spirit, if that is your thing.
This is a new 4K restoration presented in a dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray discs, with main feature and bonus features on both discs. I am not convinced that the 4K resolution adds much to the experience of this film – although it probably accentuates the flatness of the images.
Extras include:
- New audio commentary with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg and Co-writer Nikolaj Frobenius
- Running on Instinct: a new interview with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg
- Falling Into It: a new interview with Producer Petter J. Borgli
- Private Prisons: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on Insomnia
- Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Short Films: Spor, Close to Home and Near Winter
Limited Edition contents include:
- Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Peter Strain
- 120-page book with new essays by Jenn Adams, Mitchell Beaupre, Barry Forshaw, Francesco Massaccesi, Priscilla Page and Travis Woods
- Six collectors’ art cards
Insomnia is out in a 4K UHD and Blu-ray limited edition from Second Sight Films on 25 May 2026.
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