Insomnia (2002 film)
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| Insomnia (2002) | |
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| Directed by | Christopher Nolan |
| Produced by | Broderick Johnson |
| Written by | Hillary Seitz |
| Starring | Al Pacino Robin Williams Hilary Swank |
| Cinematography | Wally Pfister |
| Editing by | Dody Dorn |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (USA, Germany, France) Buena Vista International (UK, Netherlands) |
| Release date(s) |  May 24, 2002 |
| Running time | 118 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $46,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
- This article is about the movie directed by Christopher Nolan. For the Norweigan movie of which this film is a remake, see Insomnia (1997 film).
Insomnia is a 2002 American remake of a 1997 Norwegian film about a police officer investigating a murder above the Arctic Circle and suffering insomnia due to the midnight sun and his guilt over past and present misdeeds. The film was directed by Christopher Nolan (fresh from the success of his previous film, Memento) and starred Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank.
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[edit] Plot
The story takes place in the small fishing town of Nightmute, Alaska, where a local 17-year-old girl is found murdered. Two LAPD detectives, Will Dormer (Pacino) (compare Latin dormire and its Romance offshoots = "sleep") and Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) are sent up to assist the local police with their investigation while an intense Internal Affairs investigation back in Los Angeles is about to put Dormer under the microscope.
Dormer is in fact guilty having planted false evidence against suspects. He has only done so in cases where he was certain they were guilty, but he just did not have enough legitimate, legally admissible evidence to gain a conviction in a court of law. Nonetheless, his actions were, of course, illegal and unethical, and the Internal Affairs investigator in charge is eager to advance his own career by taking Dormer down. If found guilty of false evidence, several of Dormer's convictions could be overturned, and Dormer does not want his life's work destroyed nor does he want these criminals back on the streets because of technicalities. It doesn't help that Dormer is backstabbed by his partner, as Eckhart reveals that he was offered an immunity deal in exchange for promising to provide testimony that will certainly prove crucial to Internal Affairs. Dormer tries to talk Eckhart out of it, but Eckhart, apparently complicit to some degree in Dormer's misdeeds, says that ultimately he must look out for himself and his own career first, so he feels he has no choice but to accept the deal.
During a botched stakeout of the murder suspect, Dormer accidentally shoots and kills Eckhart during a pursuit in a heavy fog. (When Dormer realizes what he done and tried to help, Eckhart turns away in horror and believes that he was shot by Dormer as revenge for making a deal with Internal Affairs.) As none of the other officers witnessed Eckhart's shooting, it is initially assumed that the fleeing murder suspect was the one who shot him.
Given the circumstances of Eckhart's impending testimony, Dormer knows that if it is discovered that he was the one who fired the fatal shot, he will immediately be suspected of having done so intentionally. Thus, Dormer faces the dilemma of trying to bring the murder suspect to justice while at the same time cover up the truth about Eckhart's shooting and preserve the misconception that the murder suspect was responsible for that as well. Ellie Burr (Swank), a young and eager police officer, is put in charge of the investigation into Eckhart's shooting. Furthermore, she is a longtime admirer and student of Dormer's work.
Throughout the film, Dormer becomes more and more unhinged, partly because of feelings of guilt over shooting his partner and anxiety about the risk of being found out, partly because of insomnia brought on by the perpetual daylight of the Alaskan summer. Adding to his delirium are the phone calls he receives from Walter Finch (Williams), the girl's killer, who saw Dormer shoot Eckhart and knows about his attempt to cover it up.
After a long pursuit, Dormer eventually corners Finch. He offers Dormer a deal, where they would frame the girl's boyfriend (a suspect and questionable character maligned by society and especially Finch, though not the murderer). This would also cover the problem of Eckhart's shooting and likely hurt the Internal Affairs investigation, keeping Dormer's convictions locked up.
Dormer agrees to this at first and the boyfriend is arrested. However, Burr finds some inconsistency with the evidence against the boyfriend as well as Eckhart's shooting, while Dormer is having his own doubts about smearing an innocent, though deviant person. His skeletons are also revealed: Dormer planted a victim's blood sample in the home of a guilty child rapist/murderer, when it was certain he would escape conviction.
Burr also discovers that Finch is the killer of Kay Connell; but while questioning him at his cabin is knocked unconscious. Dormer races to the retreat to save Burr. It is clear that his concentration is nearly gone due to his lack of sleep. A brief fight ensues between Dormer and Finch, before the latter escapes to his shed.Burr confronts Dormer about evidence that points to him being Eckhart's shooter.
Dormer then breaks down, confessing that he accidentally shot Eckhart but started feeling guilt after seeing the fearful look on Eckhart's face as he died. Realizing that he has been fingered as the real murderer, Finch fires upon both of them with his shotgun. While Burr and Finch trade gunshots, Dormer sneaks around to Finch's location. In a twist of irony, Finch (fatally) hits Dormer first with the latter's original weapon (which was taken from Dormer to investigate Eckhart's death), but Dormer quickly picks up the shotgun and blasts Finch at point blank. A stunned Finch dies and tumbles into the water.
Burr rushes to the detective's aid. She comforts Dormer by affirming that Eckhart's shooting was accidental, and tries to toss the evidence found from the scene. But Dormer stops Burr, telling her not to lose her way. "Let me sleep," he asks, weakly, before finally getting his rest.
[edit] Adaptation
Although the remake echoes much of the substance of the original, it also significantly alters both the plot and the nature of the protagonist; Pacino's character is more sympathetic and more capable of redemption than Skarsgård's.
[edit] Themes
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In both Nolan's film and the original, the protagonist is unable to sleep, partly due to relentless guilt over recent and ongoing misdeeds, and partly due to the never-ending sunlight, which serves as an outward representation of that guilt. The films have been described as turning film noir conventions on their heads by using, in place of shadows and darkness, relentless sunshine and ubiquitous bright white fog and snow to convey guilt and confusion.
[edit] Box office
Total U.S. box office gross: $67,355,513
[edit] External links
- Insomnia (2002) at the Internet Movie Database
- Peter Cowie essay on the original at criterionco.com
- The Movie Spoiler
| The films of Christopher Nolan |
|---|
| Following (1998) • Memento (2000) • Insomnia (2002) • Batman Begins (2005) • The Prestige (2006) • The Dark Knight (2008) |
