Republished from the show notes of my other site, Fuds on Film.
We round things off today with a trip to Arctic Norway, Tromsø in fact, where the 17-year-old girl Tanja has been found murdered. Jonas Engström (Stellan Skarsgård) and Erik Vik (Sverre Anker Ousdal) are called in to investigate from down south, meaning that they’ll have to get used to the midnight sun of a city that never sleeps, unless they buy very dense blackout curtains. Sadly, their hotel did not, so Jonas struggles to rest, which I hope doesn’t affect his performance or judgement.
Oh noes! A plan to bring the murderer back to the scene of the crime goes horribly wrong, with one police officer being shot and wounded by the suspect, and through the mist Jonas mistakenly shoots and kills Erik. While perhaps still in shock, he doesn’t correct the assumption that it was the suspect that put a bullet in Erik, not Jonas. So begins a spiral of lies and evidence tampering that does not bode well for his mental health.
Particularly when the primary suspect comes to be revealed as crime author Jon Holt (Bjørn Floberg), who’s very much aware of Jonas’ deception and blackmails him into helping cover up his involvement and framing someone else for Tanja’s murder. Things, naturally, spiral from there, and if any justice is served in this sorry mess, it’s entirely by accident.
Saints alive, a film I liked in this episode. Call the authorities. I don’t believe I’d seen this previously, just the 2002 Chris Nolan remake, which I liked, but the original might have the edge on it. The central narrative is twisty without being outlandish, and the continual harsh light of day gives a very different feeling to activities normally best served by darkness, so it has a distinctive style and atmosphere.
It is however Stellan Skarsgård that makes the film a joy to watch, convincingly unravelling over the course of the piece in a way that makes for compelling viewing. I suppose you could argue that the supporting cast is rather less well served, but this a film that knows where the primary point of interest is and pursues it with dedication.
I don’t apparently have a great deal more to say about Insomnia, other than it’s good and you should watch it. So, do that, I guess.