Insomnia

I have seen both Insomnias - first the one by Nolan and then the one by Skjoldbjærg. I wanted to record something on this so Nolan goes first.

First I recognized some Twin Peaks atmosphere to it. Then also Nolan very explicitly plays with one straightforward idea and you can’t unsee it. This adds entertainment value all over the movie however slow it seems to be. Interestingly it makes some scenes way more memorable because you have more structure to them. Then surely given unusual state of affairs of roles Al Pacino offers another entertaining piece of the picture. Also I think innate visual fabric of the movie may suggest some further ideas but it is as if some frame or composition is not there to be sure.

Anyway comparatively the movie is more lucid, bright (is it more comics-like?) And as the character of the protagonist is inverted so I may guess that Nolan took some pattern and installed it in an inverted way too.

The Skjoldbjærg’s movie initially looks simpler and more ordinary. Then you get some statements that are memorable.

So I think both movies are good for me and Nolan’s version could be more entertaining in general. Yet still I assume the general public is likely to miss his play.

Nolan always tries to experiment with time. In Memento he describes existence that lasts for only a couple of minutes. Next in this movie it is a long day that never ends for the protagonist. Then you get splits in Prestige, layered reality in Inception and reverse motion in Tenet. I bet other movies have their fair share of such ideas in some form too.