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Insomnia [1998] [DVD]
 
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Insomnia [1998] [DVD]

DVD ~ Stellan Skarsgård
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £15.99
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Customers buy this item with Insomnia [DVD] [2002] DVD ~ Al Pacino

Insomnia [1998] [DVD] + Insomnia [DVD] [2002]
Price For Both: £10.96

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  • This item: Insomnia [1998] [DVD] DVD ~ Stellan Skarsgård

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    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Insomnia [DVD] [2002] DVD ~ Al Pacino

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Insomnia [1998] [DVD]
75% buy the item featured on this page:
Insomnia [1998] [DVD] 4.0 out of 5 stars (8)
£6.98
Insomnia [DVD] [2002]
10% buy
Insomnia [DVD] [2002] 3.9 out of 5 stars (23)
£3.98
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Product details

  • Actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Maria Mathiesen, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Gisken Armand, Kristian Figenschow
  • Directors: Erik Skjoldbjærg
  • Writers: Erik Skjoldbjærg, Nikolaj Frobenius
  • Producers: Petter J. Borgli, Tom Remlov, Tomas Backström
  • Format: Anamorphic, PAL
  • Language Norwegian
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Arrow Films
  • DVD Release Date: 3 Mar 2003
  • Run Time: 92 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00008DI51
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 28,479 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Special Features
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Norwegian
Region 0
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Norwegian
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Original Theatrical Trailer
Stills Gallery
Chapter Points
English


Synopsis
Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard gives a compelling performance as Jonas Engstrom, an exiled Swedish city detective working in Norway who travels to the small coastal town of Tromso in order to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. When he makes a fatal mistake in the investigation, however, his own conscience, coupled with the insomnia caused by the 24-hour summer sunlight of northernmost Norway, sets Engstrom on the path to insanity. Director Erik Skjoldbjaerg creates palpable tension in this strong, subtle film. In 2002, Christopher Nolan remade the thriller with Al Pacino and Robin Williams.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A film to keep you awake!, 8 Mar 2005
By Ekkelf (Fjaler, Norway) - See all my reviews
Much of the new stylish film making from Scandinavia comes from Norway, and is often called "Norwave" to reflect this. Insomnia is an excellent example of this style. Compared to the Hollywood remake this film is darker, more forboding and more claustrophobic. The tension becomes almost palpable as the story unfolds in the relentless glare of north Norway's midnight sun, leading to the physical and mental deterioration of the main character as he leads a murder enquiry. And no, he does not have the cliched name of Dormer here! When it arrives, the ending is both climactic and believable. The result - a very satisfying film that is certain to keep the viewer's attention from beginning to end.
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25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The original & best version of this story..., 15 Mar 2003
By Jason Parkes "We're all Frankies'" (Worcester, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Insomnia [VHS] [1998] (VHS Tape)
A positive effect of Christopher Nolan's remake of Skjoldbjaerg's 1997 inversion of film noir is the fact it has now been given a release- so perhaps people will watch the original, a far superior work to the bloated US remake.

Stellan Skarsgard is perfect here as a Swedish detective (there are references to this, reminiscent of Von Trier's The Kingdom)who travels to a desolate part of Norway to locate the killer of a girl. The film opens with a stunning digitally composed shot, equal to anything in such Dogme films as Festen and The Idiots, of the girl's murder in the permanent daylight. We see the killer clean the body etc- this reminded me a little of Twin Peaks and a lot of Peeping Tom...

This version of Insomnia is a lot tighter & doens't worry about catering to a US audience- the remake having many elements diluted, which I find odd considering it is such a violent society. Here Skarsgard actually shoots a dog, in order to fake evidence relating to an accidental shooting in fog which saw him kill a colleague (there is no laborous back story of him being investigated, unlike the Pacino flick). The remake uses the pathetic device of shooting a conviniently dead dog- dead humans are allowed, but be nice to canines!

Skarsgard's character is also suspect, the scene where he places his hands between the thighs of a schoolgirl peer of the murderee being typical of this- having more in common with the dark world of Paul Schrader or Kubrick's Lolita. The manner in which he entraps a youth is novel & indebted to Hitchcock- though constructed around a sex scene, which is also absent from the original. The female police officer who admires Skarsgard's character is less irritating than Hilary Swank's equivalent- her final actions in the denoument are much more effective than in the remake (in the remake we get a tired shootout & the assumed death of the cop- in this version the cop is not caught, but has someone who knows exactly how corrupt he is- who no longer admires him, & who reminds him he has gotten away with nothing- he has to live with his actions forever. So, closer to the territory of In the Bedroom). Insomnia also benefits from an unknown cast- rather than star turns by people like Robin Williams.

Insomnia is an excellent thriller, easily standing next to recent classics such as A Simple Plan, The Pledge & Fargo and is a most welcome issue on video. It is another excellent example of Norweigan cinema & ranks next to such films as Breaking the Waves (which also starred Skarsgard), Junk Mail & Festen. Highly reccomended.

Avoid the remake- which is on a par with such remakes as The Ring, Nikita (The Assassin) & The Vanishing; I loathe the idea that people don't get to see the original film. Subtitles aren't that hard to comprehend, are they? & when the film is as good as this...

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Which is better?, 13 Jul 2007
By Mr. Colin Martyr "Colin Martyr" (Midlands, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
On my viewings, both this film and the US remake are four-and-a-half star films. (I've given this one four as the system only allows you to score in "whole" stars). Although, unusually for a US remake, the Pacino version follows the original plot pretty faithfully, they are markedly different films. To me, the tension between Pacino and his nemesis Robin Williams holds the US version together in a more traditional, cohesive way. Its easier on the eye (why do we see so much of NY and LA in American films and so little of the barren north?)and Pacino, inevitably, gives a tour de force when unleashed on the subject matter of mental disintegration in the Arctic Circle. The Norwegian version is quirkier, less menacing, more matter of fact. And yet... to me, the European film toughs it out. Watch both films and ask yourself this. Which leaves the more memorable images? I'd say its the merciless, tormented, final fadeout of the Norwegian original. Pacino, you feel, finds a sort of redemption. Skarsgard never does and never will.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but the US remake is better
I bought this item because I have seen the US version (screenplay rewritten completely by Hillary Seitz). This original version was interesting but the 'remake' is better. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Janne Kaipainen

4.0 out of 5 stars Atmospheric Norwegian thriller
This is the original Norwegian version of the film which was re-made in Hollywood by Christopher Nolan starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Read more
Published on 16 April 2006 by David Welsh

4.0 out of 5 stars Norweigen gem
This is a typical example of how a good foreign movie gets messed up by Hollywood big-wigs. This a far better version than the Pacino-Williams film in 2 ways. Read more
Published on 19 Jul 2004 by jamkopking

4.0 out of 5 stars Morally ambiguous thriller that doesn't need a remake
Grim, hard-nosed Swede on secondment plays bad cop, badder cop to track down a teenage girl's killer. Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2003 by quakeyjase

4.0 out of 5 stars Review the correct movie.
For those reading the above reviews, don't be put off. The Nolan film starring pachino and Williams, is inded a good film, with some very good acting from both stars, and is... Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2003

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