Review of Insomnia (Widescreen)

Introduction

Christopher Nolan`s much-anticipated follow-up to the masterpiece `Memento` is a venture into similar territory, with this crime/thriller, though this time on a much higher scale. Blessed with award-winning talent, Insomnia pits THREE Academy Award winners, in the form of Al Pacino & Hilary Swank as veteran cop & trainee detective respectively, against a child-murdering mastermind in Robin William`s chilling portrayal of Walter Finch. Set in the fictional town of Nightmute, Alaska, with an ever-shining midnight sun, Detective Dormer (Pacino) is brought in from L.A to investigate the brutal murder of local schoolgirl Kay Connell. As with all recent crime-thrillers, there`s an extra twist thrown into the mix, to avoid this being just another run-of-the-mill genre flick. While infiltrating the suspect`s den, Dormer gives chase with his colleagues, and in the confusion of his insomnia and the foggy surroundings, he opens fire on who he thinks is the killer, when it actually turns out to be his partner, who as a result dies. Finch, who just happens to witness the whole ordeal, escapes and then barrages Dormer with a plethora of phone-calls at his hotel, blackmailing him into a seemingly impossible situation.

This movie, you may or may not know, is actually a remake of a Norwegian movie, of the same name & premise, released merely five years ago. While I can`t judge if an updated version was needed, having not seen the initial effort, I`m sure with a cast this talented, it could only be bettered.

Video

Insomnia is set consistently in daylight throughout the entire duration of the movie. While it does detract the sense of terror that night sequences can convey, it does allow the photography to be used to its fullest potential, as it captures the absolute beauty of the towering white mountains over the small Alaskan town.

If you`ll have chosen this version, you`ll obviously get a 2.35:1 anamoprhic widescreen on the release. Much like the visuals in the movie, the transfer is absolutely striking.

Audio

The score in Insomnia is incredibly atmospheric, and adds immense tension to scenes where you`d normally feel at complete ease. Huge recognition must go towards the DD 5.1 mix, although it`s usually limited towards the front, the rear channels come to life in the most memorable scenes and adds ambience, and reproduce the natural sounds of the locations to great effect!

Features

Here`s a first in the world of DVD commentaries. Director Christopher Nolan narrates us through Insomnia, not in the fashion we`ve come to expect, as it`s done in a scene-by-scene breakdown in the order that they were actually shot. It`s incredibly effective too, and a real treat for aspiring filmmakers, as it takes you through the entire process in great depth. The second-track is a series of compiled speeches from cast & filmmakers, as their voices narrate over the most relevant scenes to them.

While my disappointment still lingers, seeing as Pacino doesn`t feature in either of the commentary tracks, I was put at ease with the addition of a nice un-scripted conversation between him & the director. It runs for around 20 minutes, and the both of them discuss how they were approached with the project, and relive the experiences & memories through production, and finally discussing their acting and directing methods respectively. You can`t help feel that Nolan is in total awe of Pacino right through the conversation, but that`s understandable!

There are also a number of top-notch featurettes, including an excellent (but short) 8 minute look into the lives of real Insomniacs, entitled `Eyed Wide Open`. It`s a series of interviews with the people and physicians about the disorder, and seriously is something you`ll want to check out after watching the movie. With a movie so well grafted visually, it`s nice to know the men behind the lens get a certain amount of recognition. `In the Fog` does just that, as it covers Wally Pfister`s cinematography and Nathan Crowley`s production design, through a series of interviews, as they discuss their numerous techniques. There`s also a `making of`, which covers all the ground expected, but with a little less of that `promotional` feel.

Rounding off the excellent features, is a less memorable deleted scene, with the option of narration by Christopher Nolan.

Conclusion

Insomnia sees a truly breath-taking performance from its cast, with Al Pacino leading by example, which should give him at least a consideration when the Oscar nominations do the rounds next year. Williams`s performance is competent, but is held back by a cliché villain who lacks shock-value. Hilary Swank plays a nice role in the form of a trainee cop, and carries it out admirably, which as a result, leaves Williams stumbling to keep up with her & Pacino.

The ever-shining Alaskan sun proves an enlightening and original twist to the proceedings, and is used to fantastic effect in numerous scenes. Some may argue, me included, that Insomnia simply isn`t disturbing enough, as I think it`s the one and only factor it lacks for me. I like my disturbing & gory crime scenes, but that`s just because I`m a sick bastard. No, you`ll get none of that in Insomnia, it`s very classy, and with one or two cuts, could have easily passed for a PG rating. Essentially, it`s a good film, but its performance by Pacino elevates it to an excellent film, and one of the year`s best.

The disc is blessed with quality, as both the video & audio standard is suitably high, and the extras will keep you occupied for a while. An excellent disc that any true DVD collector should have in his/her repertoire.