Insomnia

Insomnia (2002)

Timing: 1:58 (118 min)

6.953/10
5151

7.365/10
99392

7.2/10
341000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 65

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-05-24

Country

United States

Production

Alcon Entertainment, Witt/Thomas Productions, Section Eight

Genre

Thriller, Crime, Drama

Budget

$46 000 000

Revenue

$113 714 830

Website

Director

Christopher Nolan

Actors

Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan, Nicky Katt, Maura Tierney, Paul Dooley, Jonathan Jackson, Katharine Isabelle, Larry Holden
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Paul Junger Witt, Edward McDonnell, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Kim Roth, Charles J.D. Schlissel

Operator

Wally Pfister

Composer

David Julyan

Artist

Audition

Marci Liroff, Susan Taylor Brouse, Lynne Carrow

Editing

Dody Dorn
All team (77)

• Harrison Ford was invited for the main role.
• Jonathan Demme was supposed to direct the film 'Insomnia', but in the end, Christopher Nolan directed it.
• As of 2020, this was the only film directed by Christopher Nolan for which he was not credited as the screenwriter – although he wrote the final version of the script himself.
• The actors who played the main roles had completely opposite approaches to acting. Al Pacino insisted on thorough preparation and character development, as well as shooting numerous takes. Robin Williams (1951-2014) preferred improvisation, and Hilary Swank said that after a few takes she lost focus and couldn't stay in character. To help the actors adapt to working with each other, Christopher Nolan allowed them to figure things out for themselves.
• Williams later admitted that the isolation during filming in Alaska contributed to him becoming “unleashed” and starting to drink again.
• The two detectives who arrived to investigate the circumstances of the crime have "speaking" names. The surname "Dormer" resembles the French word for "sleeping" (fr. dormeur). Eckhart's name – "Hap" – translates from French as "luck" (fr. hap). In the film, Dormer will suffer terribly from insomnia, while Eckhart will not be very fortunate.
• Jonathan Demme was originally slated to direct the film 'Insomnia,' but Christopher Nolan ultimately directed it.