Insomnia

While in the case of the crime comedy Head Above Water, the comparison between the Norwegian film and the American remake clearly favors the original, in the case of Insomnia, it is a balanced battle. The Norwegian original is much more authentic, and raw, lacking the classic screenwriting tricks and effects. The screenwriter is not nearly as accommodating to the audience as his American counterpart, so some moments and motives are not presented as heavy-handed compared to the American version. The American version earns points with a better portrayal of the killer, played by the excellent Robin Williams, while in the Norwegian version, Stellan Skarsgard excels as the lead detective. His burnt-out policeman, haunted by dark demons, is actually a negative character from the perspective of the movie viewer, and the film does not end with any catharsis but rather leaves a bitter taste of strange victory of justice over the perpetrator of the crime in the viewer. The final gaze into Skarsgard's burning eyes is chilling... The Norwegian Insomnia impresses me with its "ordinariness" - Engstrom's partner and opponent is not a glamorous film star like Hilary Swank, but an ordinary woman who struggles with her own demons. It can be said about the characters of the Norwegian film Insomnia that they deviate from the established templates of American studios with their thinking and actions. The Norwegian film is a crime thriller only secondarily. It is primarily a study of uncontrolled erotic passions, hypocrisy, cowardice, and the inability to create a functional relationship... Overall impression: 85%. (11/14/2008)

Where Nolan's version dominated with a clearly higher budget and more refined directing, the Norwegian original offers only slightly above-average craftsmanship and a few scenes that are well-executed artistically. Where Nolan helped himself with all sorts of technical decoys, the Norwegian original feels very moderate. Nevertheless, from my point of view, it is better because, unlike Hollywood morality, it offers an uncompressed Nordic message about a mentally unstable detective who does find any higher justice and flows through the story like a sleepless creature who plays only on itself. No order, no crime and punishment. Notice the striking differences in the scene with the dog and the interrogation of the friend of the murdered person, wherein the difference between the moral American vision and the rough Nordic school stands out best. Skarsgård is an amazing prototype of a rough and inwardly disgusting representative of the law, compared to whom the killer looks like a balanced and harmonious being. It's just too bad that, unlike Williams' killer, the Norwegian version is a bit indistinct and the mutual dialogues with the detective do not have the appropriate tension. But when everything is taken together, the combination of Norwegian nature and psychic debris in the veil of the representative of the law really worked for me, and I enjoyed it more than the American version. This despite the fact that the Norwegians can hardly compete with Nolan's brilliance in terms of the technical aspects... (02/04/2008)