The original is a great, disturbing thriller. Nolan's remake is tepid in comparison. And as good as Pacino is, Skarsgard rocks it.

In a Norwegian city with a 24-hour daylight cycle a Swedish murder investigator has been brought in on a special case. Sleep deprived, he makes a horrible mistake which is discovered by the killer he has been hunting.My familiarity with Scandinavian film is rather limited, but if this is any indication of where the region was in the 1990s, maybe they deserve a closer look. This is colored beautifully, with some hazy blues to add mood, but also incredibly gritty and dark in its own way.I need to look into this more, as well as the short films of the director. Maybe, just maybe, this is an area that needs more recognition.

Insomnia reminded me of the Keitel-cult classic - of the same insightful creation - continued to impress upon my mind. I speak of the lewd film, Bad Lieutenant (of which I was not overly fond of) where a corrupt cop solves the mystery of an unspeakable crime. Insomnia oddly follows the same vein, but in more of an inconspicuous nature. Instead of pushing the despicable nature of the main character – in this case it is Engström – our fearless and simple director gives it to us very under the radar. Pealing back each layer with delicacy, Skjoldbjærg gives us a crime, followed by a random act of innocence, followed by a small cover-up, followed up with a never-ending stream of light, which is all surrounded by the fear of the unknown and the endless possibilities that the world that has been created around us can instantly be crumbling down upon everyone involved. I enjoyed this film so much because of this small, insatiable sensation that Skjoldbjærg instantly created with his slow moving camera, his deadpan scenes filled with Norwegian chills, and that light – the unending light that haunts Skarsgård's flawless portrayal of Engström. Also, the technique of light was used under the guise of night impressed me. In most Hollywood chillers of this nature, you see night being the time when our heroes confront their fears or moral dilemmas – not here, the light brings out the inner-soul of our character and gives us a choice whether to like him or not. Notice the character that Engström most connects with in this film – Vik's killer. Both claim to be innocent victims of accidents, but while they search each other out, they have trouble leaving each other's side. You didn't see this connection as much in the remake, mainly because mainstream Hollywood always has to have a defined "bad guy". Skjoldbjærg gave us a soul to the unknown.Norway is filled with simple people constantly dealing with deadly issues that we take as normal day-to-day living. I loved that big city police officers were brought in to handle a murder case that obviously could not be handled by the simpleton local officers … yet, in the end; Skjoldbjærg poses yet another question to us about who really was more knowledgeable. There is a constant struggle going on during this film that makes us, the viewer, question the entire motive at hand. We want Engström to find the girl's killer, but also we want him to come clean about himself – a question we ask every heroine in a film struggling to come clean and overcome obstacles. Yet, with Insomnia, we know nothing about Engström to even ask this question. It comes as a half-hearted request because he was not innocent to begin with. Skarsgård plays this man with suspicion and question because we are given no diagram of how this man arrived to this one location. We hear whispers in the non-existent shadows, but nothing that fully develops his past. He plays with our perception of "good cop/bad cop" like in no other movie. There are scenes that make us cheer for him, while others (like the stint with the hotel receptionist) that make us cover our eyes and quiver our lips. Like no other, Skarsgård develops, matriculates, and dedicates his time to this character, ensuring that every bold step that he makes is done for a reason. A complete reversal from what we saw him doing in Breaking the Waves or Good Will Hunting, here we see him complex and dedicated to the character at hand, continually proving that Skarsgård is a force in the Hollywood community (i.e. see the final scene and those non-replaceable eyes).Insomnia is a film that stands directly on its own two feet without instability. While it is not quite at the level of utmost perfection (even though there are quite a bit of perfect elements) due to some slower key elements, the awkward pacing of the grand finale, and the jumbled themes of lies and deceit (especially between Engström and the actual killer) – it is still a very grandiose film. It keeps your attention, it brings about the ideas that demons do not just reside in the dark corners of your mind, but in fact in your everyday lives. I think the best moments of this film occur when Engström fights with his partner after the accident in the lighted bedroom of the hotel. I enjoyed this the most because it gave us a rare opportunity to see a different character than what was originally presented to us. It violently gave us a slice of the good during times when we didn't think it was humanly possible. This may sound strange, but I also enjoyed the Norwegian accents (albeit a Norwegian film) because they added this sense of absurdity to it all. It took us to another place; where the oddity of forever sunlight was drown out by the sounds coming out of our characters mouths. I am not complaining or thinking this to be strange, I just thought that it added to the overall tone of the film, giving us a chance to step away from mainstream Hollywood.Overall, I would highly suggest this film. I am a believer that if you see the Nolan remake first, you will not like this film at all. The two are not the same, and to compare the two (in the big picture) would be heresy. I loved the acting, I loved the location, and I thought the plot was detailed, yet simple, symbolic yet original all at the same time. This wasn't a story convoluted by deep sub-plots and overblown romances, this was a stiff drink on a cold day. It was the perfect balance between good and evil caught in a place where you cannot hide in the shadows. I thought it was another great addition to the Criterion library.Grade: **** out of *****

I don't understand why anybody would like to make a remake of an almost perfect film, i.e. a narrative in pictures. The scenery matches so cleverly the callousness of the story, and of the protagonists; the parallels between the policeman and the author is so well done, the sheer coincidence of the events. The only "warm" place is in the hotel reception, by Maria Bonnevie. Skarsgård, but above all Ousdal, are superb, pity that Ousdal has to be killed. Pacino is good, but the film is not. i.e. in comparison to the origin. The use of close-ups are most intelligent and the dialog matches the the tragic story - everything in our lives happen by chance.Christer Dahlqvist