Rent Insomnia (1997)
3.5 of 5 from 126 ratings
1h 36min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Swedish cops are aiding the Norwegian police in the hunt for the murderer of a young girl. In thick fog, they track a suspect along the shore but he manages to elude them, wounding a policeman in the process. In the confusion, Swedish officer, Jonas Engstrom (Stellan Skarsgård), discharges his weapon and kills his partner. Realising what he has done, he tries to cover up the incident. Over the next few days, the sleepless Engstrom manipulates the evidence of his partner's death more and more elaborately as he and others pursue the girl's killer. Then suddenly he hears from the killer, who witnessed him shoot his partner. Is the net finally closing in on Engstrom and his conscience?
- Actors:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Maria Mathiesen, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Gisken Armand, Kristian Figenschow, Thor Michael Aamodt, Frode Rasmussen, Bjørn Moan, Maria Bonnevie, Marianne O. Ulrichsen, Bjørn Floberg, Guri Johnson
- Directors:
- Erik Skjoldbjaerg
- Producers:
- Tomas Backström, Petter J. Borgli, Tom Remlov
- Writers:
- Nikolaj Frobenius, Erik Skjoldbjaerg
- Aka:
- Insomnia - Den som synder sover ikke
- Studio:
- Arrow Films
- Genres:
- Drama, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Top Films, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Al Pacino, New Waves in Norwegian Cinema, Top 10 European Remakes, Top 10 Winter and Snow Films, What to watch by country
- Countries:
- Norway
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 25/05/2026
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- Norwegian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg and Co-writer Nikolaj Frobenius
- Running on Instinct: A new interview with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg
- Falling Into It: A new interview with Producer Petter J. Borgli
- Private Prisons: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on 'Insomnia'
- Erik Skjoldbjærg's Short Films: Spor, Close to Home and Near Winter
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 25/05/2026
- Run Time:
- 96 minutes
- Languages:
- Norwegian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, Swedish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
- Subtitles:
- English
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- New audio commentary with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg and Co-writer Nikolaj Frobenius
- Running on Instinct: A new interview with Director Erik Skjoldbjærg
- Falling Into It: A new interview with Producer Petter J. Borgli
- Private Prisons: Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on 'Insomnia'
- Erik Skjoldbjærg's Short Films: Spor, Close to Home and Near Winter
More like Insomnia
Reviews (3) of Insomnia
More restrained than the 2002 Hollywood remake - highly recommended - Insomnia review by RP
I've recently seen the 2002 remake with Al Pacino, Robin Williams and Hilary Swank and sought out the original 1997 Norwegian version. And I liked perhaps a little more.
The storyline is very similar and goes something like this: Swedish cop + partner arrives in a northern Norwegian town to investigate the killing of a teenage girl. In the fog and suffering from sleep deprivation he accidentally shoots his partner - but then makes the serious mistake of trying to cover it up. His lies catch up with him as he attempts to frame the girl's boyfriend, there is a final struggle in the killer's hideout, after which the killer drowns.
The Hollywood version has attempted to spice things up a little with a backstory about the lead detective being investigated by Internal Affairs and by having a final shootout. Here, the action and the actors are much more restrained and the film moves more slowly. The acting is excellent throughout. In my view the director attempts much more successfully to show the effects of the 24 hour daylight as the lead character suffers increasingly from lack of sleep.
If you fancy watching a Norwegian language film with subtitles, give this one a go. I liked it very much - in fact I liked both versions. Highly recommended - 4/5 stars - the same as the remake - but I think this original version is the better film.
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
Effective Norwegian Insomniac Murder Thriller remade in 2002 with Al Pacino - Insomnia review by PV
This was remade in 2002 with Al Pacino in a more Hollywood-style version, so less explicit sex, no animal cruelty, more shoot-outs. A good film too though. Pacino really plays the insomniac well - I relate to his red tired eyes with my insomnia too.
This is the original Norwegian version, more arty, with the extreme mental effects on the detective front and forward - he is made a sometimes unpleasant character here who does morally questionable things, including with young women. The Hollywood film cut that out.
It is slower, which is fine, with lots of silences and a man touched by the wings of madness due to the 24 hour daylight in northern Norway stopping him sleeping. I found it effective, troubling and original.
Watch both films! 4 stars
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Film Blanc - Insomnia review by Steve
This Norwegian original is superior to the more widely known US remake of 2002. This version was filmed around Tromsø in the Arctic Circle. Stellan Skarsgård stars as a confrontational Swedish detective working in Oslo who travels north to investigate the murder of a 17 year old girl. But after he accidentally kills his likeable sidekick in some heavy fog, the inquiry gets a lot more personal.
And he must play sordid mind games with the main suspect, the provocative middle aged novelist (Bjørn Floberg) who was buying the victim expensive clothes. This isn't much of a whodunnit as the maverick cop mainly closes the case by blundering between the suspects. The interest is in the 24 hour cycle of sunshine, and the insomnia which widens the cracks in the cop's psyche...
Maybe this ceaseless, inescapable light represents his guilt, or the trauma of a career spent exposing the foul motivations of sleazy transgressors. But still, he strays far from the law. This was released ahead of the wave of Scandinavian noir which became popular in the new millennium. And it differs interestingly because rather than fill the screen with darkness, this is often dazzlingly bright.
And the screen is saturated in whiteness, whether the snow on the hills or the mist over the fjords... so it has its own unconventional atmosphere. Skarsgård gives some brooding psychological depth to the unravelling sleuth. It's slow, but still suspenseful and engagingly desolate and downbeat, which is deepened by the gloomy score of ambient electronics. And yes- you must visit Tromsø!
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.