The Kingdom of Shadows

I really quite liked Insomnia, the Norwegian version more so then the American version (though I enjoyed the American version to). While my reasons my seem a bit shallow at first glance, let me explain and I'm sure you'll agree with me.

My primary reasons for preferring the Norwegian version over the American version are,
1. I like low key prejudices
and
2. I liked the part where Stellan Skarsgard tries to molest a teenager

Now I know those don't sound too great, but I should also add that I enjoy watching movies with Skarsgard in them in general, but that pushes even with Robin Williams playing a murderer.

We take our prejudices fairly seriously in America, but I have been following for some time, with quite some interest, the general animosity that Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish people hold for each other. This is something you can ask people from any one of these countries about, they hold a general dislike of people from the other country in a similar way to how a New Yorker hates a New Jersian. Swedes seem to be disliked more than the rest. This is played to a rather interesting effect in this film, when the girl tells Skarsgard that "no one in the class understood you because you spoke Swedish," what she is actually saying is that "no one liked you because you are Swedish, and generally dislikable," (the mutual comprehensibility of Swedish and Norwegian is largely defendant on your personal feelings for the speaker... I read this in a linguistics textbook).

The distrust of this Swede, who is there to catch a homicidal crazy, generally pushes the main character further into his own craziness. When Skarsgard, who exudes authority and "cleanness" in the film, goes on to grab the thigh of one of the girls from the local high school while she's riding on the car. This scene stands out more than others, because it doesn't have the creepy molester feel that you think it should. You really can't imagine actively disliking Skarsgard as much as everyone else. The film just, quite effectively, produces the Hitchcockian feeling of "I know I should be on his side, but something is not quite right."

That feeling really sums up the entire film, and unfortunately, not so much for the American version. Skarsgard plays a thoroughly dislikeable fellow, and it makes you uncomfortable how much you like him, as the eerie constant daylight makes you uncomfortable in a film noir.

The film leaves you uncertain how to feel, except slightly frightened for the human race.