 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
In Reply to: I hope you got the right Insomnia posted by Victor Khomenko on October 19, 2002 at 19:02:49:
i did not realize it was a remake. i have the one just came out. it was not easy to get from the video store since it's been pretty popular since it came out about a week ago.i was told it was by the same director as 'memento'. i'm under the impression that 'memento' was his first movie, and 'insomnia' is his second movie. but i could be wrong.
i was very impressed by 'memento'. 'insomnia' is not of the same caliber as i thought 'memento' was. maybe i was just dazzled by the style of 'mkemento' and i overrated it. but it could also just be a regression by the director towards the mean, towards more ordinary
filmmaking.both movies try to get at fundamental issues. 'memento' tries to really get at a fundamental truth which is that self-deception is more primary than anything else.
'insomnia' raises an ethical issue also, but one not as fundamental nor as interesting as in 'memento'. but one worth discussing nevertheless.
the movie itself is pretty good suspense/action/thriller. typical, pretty good hollywood fare. maybe a bit better than that. kind of worth seeing unless you really have a strict cut-off point. if you just wanted to see really good quality films, i wouldn't see it. but if you want a decent movie, better than hollywood average, then see it.
i like the location of the film in alaska. it had natural beauty in the scenery, but it also had a bit of the feeling of starkness like in the film 'fargo'. i actually think 'fargo' is a more clever film.
the issue of 'insomnia' though is a bit ridiculous. it really does not serve a sufficient role in the film other than to add to some special effects. it's completely superfluous to the plot, serving no purpose whatsoever other than a little drapery. so to name the film 'insomnia' kind of suggests that the director is off the mark in some way. maybe the whole film is a little off the mark.
if it is a remake, perhaps like many remakes, it does not quite hit the mark. it's entertainment, wants to be more, does pretty well trying to handle nuances, but the whole direction of the film gets a little lost in my opinion. the pieces of the film are not optimized into a sufficient whole.
the director is probably capable of more, and perhaps this may turn out to be not one of his stronger films. maybe he;'s leaned some lessons from this film. or maybe he will just keep sliding towards the hollywood mean.
Follow Ups:
I also watched Insomnia last night, and I really enjoyed it. I have a question: When he left the hotel at the end of the movie, the desk clerk was on the bed. Was she sleeping? Did he kill her (because he had told her the truth)?JD
it would not be a possiblility for l.a. detective (al pacino) to kill the desk clerk. that's not in that character, and an event like that would throw the whole movie off.
his character is much more conscientious than that. he would not tell some one too much than kill that person. cause he is in control of his situation, and he would not set things up like that or make that kind of mistake.
Then why was she lying (sleeping) on his bed?
i admit, it was not paying too much attention to the scene. but they were developing sort of a relationship, if you can have a relationship with a man that does not sleep.she was becoming his confident, and i guess it turned into a little more.
i know the boundaries between the good guys and the bad guys is what the film is about, but...... don't take it too far.
that's an interesting idea for a film. the cop turns into a maniac serial killer, as he's hunting down one.
maybe that's not past the interest of this director. but this director seems focused more on exploring fundamental ideas like self-deception and how far do you 'reasonably' go to protect the innocent. seems to me, he's using the film to raise a philosophical issue, not as a study in maniacs.
the cop is really compelled, it seems to me, by his morality, by his strong belief in right and wrong. that's why he does what he does at the end. he risks his life for his belief.
it would be fundamentally wrong for him to kill an innocent bystander through his own mistake. that would take the philosophical edge off the film.
All good points. I'm not trying to look too deep into this, but when I watched the movie it just seemed odd that she was lying on the bed in his room as he was leaving. It looked like she was sleeping. Maybe they did make love. Or, maybe she was making a point to say "look, it's not that difficult to sleep in here."
I send the wife to the video store for "Donnie Darko" and she comes back with "Insomnia"?!?!Well, it wasn't bad, Pacino didn't overact, Robin Williams didn't have enough screen time to really f*ck it up. I agree that the insomnia aspect was not as central as it could have been, but I thought the way the director used different techniques to show the effect that the insomnia was having was pretty good.
Decent, but I wasn't "wowed".
Next time, I'm going myself.
I gave at the office!
I loved Donnie Darko.
...if you could get the original and share your shoughts on it as well. As I said, I have not seen the remake, I trust several people I respect that it was not too good (I usually don't watch this type of American films).Did the insomnia play a role in the original Insomnia? I thought so.
the attempted starkness newer version - visual, aesthetic, performance - has a clean hollywood sheen to it the original doesn't have. its a good clean hollywood film that didn't so much as tickle the *cold* chiggy.
Er, insomnia does play role in the remake.IMO, the remake is better than the typical Hollywood thriller, but the whole is somehow less than the sum of its considerable parts. (I must confess, I would have preferred different casting for the leads.) I would call this version an honorable failure.
I prefer the original film.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
