Insomnia (Erik Skjoldbjærg, 1997)

Stellan Skarsgård in Insomnia

Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Maria Mathiesen, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Gisken Armand, Bjørn Floberg, Marianne O. Ulrichsen. Screenplay: Nikolaj Frobenius, Erik Skjoldbjærg. Cinematography: Erling Thurmann-Andersen. Production design: Eli Bø. Film editing: Håkon Øverås. Music: Geir Jenssen.

The original Norwegian version of a film remade by Christopher Nolan in 2002, Insomnia had some Nolanesque twists from the beginning. Stellan Skarsgård plays Jonas Engström, a cop who used to be with the Swedish police and still carries the gun he was issued then, a fact that will play a key role in the plot as Engström becomes involved in helping his fellow policemen in the Norwegian force investigate the murder of a young woman. Suffice it to say that the insomnia Engström suffers comes from a guilty conscience that only gets guiltier as the investigation proceeds.