DVD Reviews: Insomnia (Original)

Having not seen the latest version of this deep psychological thriller, and hence knowing very little about it, I was amazed at how such a drab depiction of an interesting subject could be done so poorly.  The new version of the film did quite well at the box office and made as much as 5.5 million during its release.  Hollywood must have worked miracles on this film because the Norwegian film may have you climbing up the walls in exasperation. 

A Swede detective Jonas Enstrom who has been disgraced from misconduct is trying to work out solutions by any means possible to get him out of trouble.  Jonas embarks on a murder mystery in northern Norway which along with his own troubles he is trying to decipher who murdered a young girl.  In the land of the midnight sun, Jonas has trouble sleeping and consequently is driven to the brink of his tolerance. 

The performances were ok but the subtitled words lose a measure of impact on execution.  The drab slow drawn out and intensity will put even the most avid movie watcher off foreign film.  The contrast from the western and Scandinavian is so great it must be said they are not the most entertaining bunch and not the sort of people you would want coming to your New Years party.  The film is too slow and way too serious and fails to captivate the viewer.  I hope the newer version with Robin Williams actually have people cracking a smile or if not at least going down to McDonalds and ordering a happy face or err…something. 

There are some parts of the film that also have a bit of low-level noise on screen.  The sound is only in stereo and in Norwegian.  The special features are minimal and not even worth looking at.  The only great thing you can do with it is take out the cover and do a bit of Origami with it or use it as a doorstop or give it as a present to the nearest passer-by on the street. 

Overall no good, and if you have heard the MC hammer song “don’t touch this” he was talking about this movie.