Nick Duguay Absolutely gorgeously shot. The landscape lends a very melancholy atmosphere and the sets and color palette just makes me want to die, it's so beautiful. Probably my favourite part about the film. The story is amazing, it's fairly simple, which works in the film's favour because the real focus is on the mental duress that our main character is going through. A wild roller coaster. I've just got to say it... it's better than Nolan's version.

Niklas Pivic Quite exciting at times paired with a slow pace in every way, this film shows a Swedish detective coming to Norway, trying to solve a murder. The detective is unable to sleep, which is dealt with in an interesting way: is what the detective sees reliable or not, as the film progresses?At times it feels a bit slow, but mostly, I think it works. It's a far cry from stressed-out films at any point, and kept me interested throughout. I recommend it to anybody who wants to see a different police mystery. If you have seen stuff like "LA Confidential", this is perhaps not as well made, but it's really different, in a good way.

bandw This has Oslo detectives Jonas Engström and Erik Vik dispatched to a Norwegian city (above the arctic circle) to help solve the brutal murder of a young woman. Engström and Vik are tasked to work with Ane, a local detective.Engström's character is fleshed out more thoroughly than in a typical police procedural. The story is presented in a manner to keep your attention--in fact it requires close attention. However, it is the study of Engström's personality that I found most interesting. Significant insights are given into the qualities that drive him: guilt, sexual repression, ego, and anxiety. In pursuit of the murderer in a heavy fog, Engström shoots and kills Vik. Was this an accidental shooting? It is hinted that Engström might have known who he was shooting (a flashback shows that he had enough time to recognize Vik). In any case, for reasons of guilt or ego Engström tries to cover up his action by claiming it was the murderer who killed Vik. Complications ensue when Ane starts to smell a fish when investigating Engström's story of the shooting. I liked the concept of the investigator being investigated. In several revealing scenes we get clues to Engström's repressed sexuality. There is a scene in a car where he makes an advance on a suspect's girlfriend and a scene where he makes a move on the hotel clerk and is rebuffed. More telling is a scene where he is hidden behind a door while a suspect and a woman go at it close by. In this scene we see that Engström is turned on while trying not to be. The music in that scene makes for an intense experience.I thought all of the actors were well cast and the restrained performances added to a sense of reality. I had seen the 2002 remake of this before having seen this version. In reading through several of the reviews of the 2002 version I saw that many people commented that this original version was better. Having liked the 2002 version made me want to see this. I agree that this version is better, but not dramatically so. The 2002 version is not a direct remake, but is different enough to be a separate movie. It is interesting to see how the same material can be tweaked to create a different experience. For example, in the 2002 version the relationship between the local detective and the main character is given more emphasis. This version is more subdued and hangs together better--there are no superfluous action scenes. One great advantage this version has is that it does not have the ridiculous shoot-'em-up ending. One of the final scenes that has Ane placing a bullet casing on a table is a testament to the tight presentation. That single act says as much as what it might have taken several scenes to accomplish.

Boba_Fett1138 The Christopher Nolan remake of "Insomnia" surprisingly enough isn't well liked by everybody but generally speaking it is being regarded as one of the best crime-thrillers of recent years. I wonder how many people actually know it's a remake of this Norwegian movie, that was released 5 years earlier. Just like most people, I saw the remake before the original.And the the invertible question which on is the better movie; the original or its remake. In this case I really have to say Christopher Nolan's. It does a better job at capturing the atmosphere and the sense of insomnia, that the main character is suffering from. And no matter how great Stellan Skarsgård is, he of course ain't no Al Pacino! Biggest or most significant difference between the two movie is, is that the remake is a longer movie and for some good reasons. It takes its time with its buildup, which enhances the movie its tension and mystery.But it's of course not fair and perhaps even a bit silly to compare this movie to the remake because it of course got released first and is the original movie, which the superior 2002 got based on. And you could say it's pretty much a scene by scene remake, with only a few additions put into it. But I'll just judge this movie for what it is and pretend like I have never seen the remake.When doing so, you'll have to say that "Insomnia" is one original movie within its genre. It starts off like any other typical genre movie, in which a policeman is flown in to solve a murder case. The story however soon starts to take some twists and it starts to become apparent that this is not going to be an ordinary case, in which the main character is the perfect, righteous hero, who'll solve the case cleanly.The story is definitely the movie its biggest strength. It lets the movie distinct itself from anything else and its were all of the movie its surprises are coming from.But what also helps are its cold, depressing, looking settings, in rural Norway, that set the entire mood and atmosphere for the movie. It adds to the whole mystery of the movie as well, though it isn't really the mystery or the murder that plays the most significant part in the movie. It more relies on its other dramatic developments and its characters, which all makes the movie a surprising and tense one at times.In the end it doesn't really matter whether you have already seen the original or not and it also doesn't really matter that I consider the remake superior to this original. The movie simply remains a more than great and original watch within its genre.8/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/