01/17/2003 Entry:
"Insomnia - Erik Skjoldbjærg (1997)"

Certainly an interesting contrast to the Christopher Nolan version. Almost identical in basic plot yet so different in so many ways.

The biggest change in Nolan's version is that almost every activity has a plot point created to motivate it, whereas the Norwegian version is much more abstract and open. It has no IAD investigation, no fight with the partner, no tape recorder/gun messing about. A lot of this seems expressly designed to make Pacino seem more likeable, in Skjoldbjærg's vision the cop (played by Stellan Skarsgård) really isn't a very likeable character at all. For instance, the scene where he is taking the young lady out to the garbage dump. In Nolan's version, the woman attempts to seduce Pacino who resists, but in Skjoldbjærg's the cop basically puts his hand right up her skirt without much invitation. Also Pacino finds the dog dead, but Skarsgård shoots it.

Insomnia reminded me a lot of Laurent Cantet's Time Out in mood and general feel. It had the same kind of chilly distance to its main character. Visually it is pretty nice, although it doesn't have the slick Hollywood sheen of Nolan's version, and it has a lot fewer effects to emphasize the loss of sleep. It relies more on Skarsgård's ability to convince us he is losing it, and he does it quite well. It does miss the whole spin out scene with no truck, which was actually one of the coolest parts of Nolan's version. I don't think I really have a preference here, they were both good and well done and it was interesting contrasting them so close together. OK, that is wrong. I prefer Skjoldbjærg's mainly because it didn't feel the need to make its protagnoist likeable, and it told its story with as little plot as possible. Actually, I bet if I had seen Nolan's second instead of first I would have been really pissed off every time some stupid new plot point or motivation for Pacino's character came up. Also, I should note that in my entry about Nolan's Insomnia, I mentioned how the ending reminded me of Silence Of The Lambs with the unknowing cop visiting the killer's hideout, which is not in fact in Skarsgård's version, leaving me with lessened feelings about Nolan's film since that scene now seems even more like a ripoff than it did before.