Insomnia ( DVD)
This is a Hollywood remake of a Norwegian film that contains one of Al Pacino’s greatest performances as a guilt-ridden, insomniac police detective on the trail of a killer in a remote Alaskan community. He plays Will Dormer, who with his partner from the Los Angeles Police Department, Hap Elkhart,(played by Martin Donovan) is sent to help the investigation into the murder of a 17 year old girl. Dormer is under investigation by Internal Affairs for planting forensic evidence to gain a conviction, and early in the film, he finds out that his partner has been offered immunity from prosecution if he testifies against him. Dormer tries to persuade his partner not to testify but Eckhardt refuses. During an attempt to lure the girl’s killer to the scene of the crime, Dormer accidentally shoots and kills his partner, but covers up his actions from the local policewoman (played by Hilary Swank) because he fears that Internal Affairs will not believe his account .
But it turns out that someone witnessed Dormer’s accidental shooting. And this person is keen to exploit Dormer’s guilt for their own ends. So begins an increasingly fraught game of cat and mouse between Dormer and a seemingly straightforward writer, played with surprising conviction and force by Robin Williams (in a rare “straight” role). Christopher Nolan builds the tension slowly, and without many words, Pacino perfectly captures the inner conflict of a good man who knows he has gone wrong, but is still trying to find the girl’s killer, becoming increasingly unable to function due to his insomnia caused by the permanent daylight of the Alaskan summer.
The ending of the film is bleak but very moving, with Dormer finding a certain kind of redemption by his last action. The film boasts magnificent cinematography of the magisterial Alaskan landscape and contrasts this with the small-town, uncomplicated and inward looking perspective of the local community.
Geoff Butts