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Insomnia
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 2002
Rated: R
Film Length: 118 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
Don't close your eyes.
Amongst a sea of blockbusters that dominated this
past Summer slate came this sleepless "sleeper"
that was smartly played and smartly directed by
Christopher Nolan (Memento). In fact, this film
managed to bring the director closer to the
Hollywood major leagues thanks to its gripping
and forceful story and a cast of Oscar winners
that include Al Pacino, Robin Williams and
Hilary Swank.
Will Dormer (Al Pacino), is a legend in the Los
Angeles Police Department. He's also a cop under
investigation by his own internal affairs department
for tampering with evidence in a case against a
child-molester. Flying on assignment into a remote
spot in Alaska with his partner, Hap (Martin Donovan),
Will has the look of a jaded, exhausted cop. They
have been called to investigate a teenage girl who
has been beaten and murdered. It's the biggest
thing that has happened for a long time in this
small community, known for being the "Halibut fishing
capital of the world" and for having 24 hours a
day of sunlight in the summer.
Under the glare of the region's perpetual daylight,
Dormer and Hap close in on the primary suspect,
reclusive novelist Walter Finch (Robin Williams).
During a tense stakeout on a rocky, fog-shrouded beach,
Finch slips into the mist and out of Dormer's grasp.
As he makes his escape, shots ring out and Dormer
makes the mistake of his life.
As he struggles to cope with his sense of
responsibility and remorse over the accident, he
gets drawn into a psychological game of cat-and-mouse
by sociopathic Finch. Problems go from bad to
worse as a young, brilliant Detective Ellie Burr
(Hilary Swank) gets assigned to the investigation.
The overzealous police woman slowly unfolds a truth
that could topple Dormer, who happens to be her idol.
Though Insomnia received critical praise
for being surreal and dark (despite its perennial
daylight), the film isn't perfect. I felt that
Nolan got a little too lost in his own style as
the film moves a little too slowly, often coming
to a complete stop. Fortunately, the film survives
greatly on the performances of Pacino and Swank,
although I had to do a little adjusting in
believing Robin Williams as an ominous psychopath.
Unfortunately, he isn't fully convincing as a
callous killer.
How is the transfer?
Insomnia joins the long list of consistently
stunning quality DVD product from Warner Brothers.
What makes this film so wonderful to watch is its
cinematography. As the film opens, a small plane
flies over the barren wasteland of jagged mountains
and broken ice that makes up so much of the rugged
terrain of Alaska. Watching these beautifully
photographed scenes only reminds you why you love
this format so much. There are no flaws to be
found in this vividly crisp transfer that remains
well detailed throughout, even when shrouded in
deep fog. Whites are perfectly clean and colors
are well represented here -- never becoming
oversaturated.
The 5.1 mix is mostly satisfying thanks to its
robust sound full of dynamic range and noticeable
stereo separation across the front channels. The
rears do a fairly good job of recreating the film's
outdoor environment. You'll notice how nicely
sounds come together in creating an eerie atmosphere
during a fog chase. Unfortunately, the LFE channel
was sort of weak, making the film a little less
"jarring" than it could have been.
Special Features
Warner Brothers has released Insomnia in
separate widescreen and full frame editions. Both
feature a sizeable amount of supplemental material.
To begin, the DVD contains a unique full-length
commentary by Director Christopher Nolan[/b].
I say unique, because the commentary coincides
with the order the film was shot in. As you begin,
you find yourself somewhere in the middle of the
film as Ellie (Hilary Swank) is doing a little
background check on Will Dormer. In the lower
black bar area, we find titling that indicates
that this is Day One of the filming, scene
#111. Though this may be one of the oddest
commentaries to date, I found it a fascinating
study of how the Director chose to piece his film
together. Why not start with a simple scene to
warm up the actors? As a viewer, I was fascinated
with Nolan taking us day-by-day through the film's
production. He is very particular about pointing
out the complexities of each scene, as well as
the mannerisms of each actor. Watching and listening
to this commentary was the closest thing to being
in film school. Nolan is the perfect teacher, barely
taking a breath between his meticulous descriptions.
There are five Screen specific commentaries
with Hilary Swank, Hillary Seitz (Screenwriter),
Wally Psister (Director of Photography), Nathan
Crowley (Production Designer) and Dody Dorn
(Editor). Each of these individuals get a
few minutes of dedicated screen time that total
almost 45 minutes in length. Swank begins the
commentary by describing how like her character,
she was in awe of Pacino. She was also in awe of
Nolan, who she describes as directing this film
like a road map, knowing every inch of his territory.
Seitz talks about being very wary about
remakes, but was fascinated with the story of a film that
looks at the nature of an accident that happens within a
split-second. She was grateful that the studio
permitted the film to be dark rather than having a
happy ending. Pfister talks about the
importance of involving movement in his shots. He
also talks about the use of indoor and outdoor
lighting to set the mood of his scene. Crowley
was rather rushed in scouting his locations, and
talks about his journey of discovery. He was very
proud of the scenes that took place at Bear Lake.
Dorn talks about a powerful scene with
Pacino that she had to re-edit several times due to
the fact that Nolan felt wasn't being conveyed
powerfully enough. The insertion of glances from
Pacino's character finally made the scene right.
180 degrees: A conversation with Christopher
Nola and Al Pacino is a fascinating personal
conversation between the Director and Oscar-winning
actor. Pacino and Nolan almost interview each
other on such topics as rehearsals and performing
in theater vs. film. This is one of those rare
moments that you can just sit back and watch an
interview-shy Pacino talk about his views of film.
(length: approx. 17 minutes)
Day For Night: The making of Insomnia is
the standard promotional fare that begins with
the filmmakers (Nolan, Soderbergh) talking about
the almost Hitchcock-like atmosphere of the film.
Nolan describes his desire to make this a very
dark film despite its perpetual daylight. There
are a few on location sequences shown here, some
featuring Robin Williams joking on the set. Both
he and Swank add some insight into their characters.
It was kind of cool to hear Williams talk about
bringing normalcy to his character in order to make
him more creepy.
(length: approx. 7.5 minutes)
In The Fog is two separate short featurettes
that take a look at Wally Pfister's cinematography
and Nathan Crowley's Production design. The highlight
of this piece involves creating the film's climatic fog
chase that included building interior and exterior
cabins as well as flooding the outdoor set with smoke.
Most of the material seems to repeat itself across
both parts, but is somewhat fascinating to watch.
(length: approx. 15 minutes)
There are two additional scenes presented
here. They are dialogue scenes between Will and
Rachel that takes place in a hallway and then the
bar. An optional commentary by Nolan tells us that
the dialogue didn't seem to fit that well into the
film, coming at a very unfortunate time in the
story.
(length: approx. 3 minutes)
Eyes Wide Open takes a look at stories
from real-life suffers of insomnia as well as the
opinions of professional doctors about stress and
anxiety that continues to build in those deprived
of sleep.
(length: approx. 8 minutes)
Promotional materials include:
From the evidence room brings us almost
three dozen publicity stills that run automatically
through a cycle. In addition, the film's original
theatrical trailer is included.
Cast and Crew gives access to filmographies
of a limited amount of cast members. DVD-ROM
content gives you access to Warner website links.
Final Thoughts
It must of been a great task for Director Nolan
to follow up his successful Memento with
a film that is a little more sure-footed. While
credit must be given to his accomplishments, this
potentially brilliant dramatic mystery tends to
be under paced, ending with a rather unsatisfying
conclusion.
Still, Insomnia is a must-see film, thanks
to its performances by Swank and particularly Pacino
(who I hope will get an Oscar nod for his performance).
Warner has done a terrific job with this transfer,
making this DVD a worthy addition to your collection.
Release Date: October 15, 2002
