INSOMNIA,
Norway, 1997, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg who was born
in Norway and in 1990 attended the National Film and Television
School in London. INSOMNIA is Skjoldbjaerg's first
feature film. In company with Stellan Skarsgard's portrayal of a
police inspector who becomes obsessed with the case of a teenage
girl Tanja found brutally murdered in a small town, is the summer
setting in northern Norway, when the sun never sets. As Toronto
programmer Suzanne Weiss states, (INSOMNIA) is possibly
the first film noir to take place in blazing sunlight.
The
Skjoldbjaerg character Engstrom is virtually placed on a pedestal
by local police. As may be expected, it is particularly tantalizing
when a worshipped individual begins to unravel from the outside
closer, and closer to the core within. Absence of sleep brings out
the most subconcious actions in all of us. What better analogue
for sleeplessness than a sun that never sleeps. What better natural
correlative of obsession that the far northern summer?
INSOMNIA,
Norway, 1997, directed by Erik Skjoldbjaerg who was born
in Norway and in 1990 attended the National Film and Television
School in London. INSOMNIA is Skjoldbjaerg's first
feature film. In company with Stellan Skarsgard's portrayal of a
police inspector who becomes obsessed with the case of a teenage
girl Tanja found brutally murdered in a small town, is the summer
setting in northern Norway, when the sun never sets. As Toronto
programmer Suzanne Weiss states, (INSOMNIA) is possibly
the first film noir to take place in blazing sunlight. 
The
Skjoldbjaerg character Engstrom is virtually placed on a pedestal
by local police. As may be expected, it is particularly tantalizing
when a worshipped individual begins to unravel from the outside
closer, and closer to the core within. Absence of sleep brings out
the most subconcious actions in all of us. What better analogue
for sleeplessness than a sun that never sleeps. What better natural
correlative of obsession that the far northern summer?