Don’t
Lose Your Way
In classic noir films the femme
fatale often fills a certain characteristic role. Witty, manipulative and
double-sided she encompasses the idea of duplicity. Director Christopher Nolan
explores these traits in the film Insomnia
and reverses the role to create a homme fatale. Detective Will Dormer (Al
Pacino) plays the role of a homme fatale by being duplicitous, desperate and
using his intelligence in a manipulative manner. Dormer’s duplicity is
expressed in his clothing, attitude and dialogue. He also uses his intelligence
to manipulate in various ways often for personal gain. The third femme fatale
trait that Dormer presents is his desperation. As the homme fatale he is not
only desperate to keep his name clean but also to create further success for
himself.
In classic
noir films the femme fatale exhibits a duplicitous nature, the most obvious way
they do this is through their clothing. Dormer does the same thing but in a
more subtle manner. He is often seen wearing his black coat and this makes you
think he is always wearing the same thing. When he is in his hotel room and the
few instances when he does remove his coat you can see that he does change his
clothing. This is a direct reference to his duplicitous nature, it’s not
obvious, and the changing of his clothes is done subtly which mirrors his duplicity,
which is slowly revealed throughout the film. This duplicitous nature is also
revealed through dialogue. Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) says, “A good cop can’t
sleep because he’s missing a piece of the puzzle. And a bad cop can’t sleep
because his conscience won’t let him.” (Insomnia)
Both these statements relate to Dormer, which emphasizes his true nature. He
acts the good cop and this is initially why he can’t sleep, but he soon becomes
the bad cop unbeknownst to the others. Even though he has become the bad cop
and his actions label him a murderer and a liar, the other officers are unaware
of this and he allows them to still follow his lead. His attitude also reflects
this duplicity, during the conversation that Dormer has with Mrs. Eckhart he
informs her that the man who killed Kay Connell (Crystal Lowe) shot her
husband. She tells him not to arrest him and he silently agrees to this. If
Dormer follows through with this agreement he must kill himself. After this
conversation he continues pursuing the case knowing that he won’t shoot
himself. Not only does Dormer hide this from Hap Eckhart’s wife, but now his
motivation for the case has two sides to it. He now has to bring Kay’s murderer
in not only for he crime he committed but to also cover his own tracks. The
murderer is the only one who knows that Dormer killed Eckhart (Martin Donovan),
everything Dormer does after this point has a hidden reason behind it.
Manipulation
through intelligence is also a femme fatale characteristic that is seen in
Dormer. “You want me to take you somewhere?” (Insomnia) when Dormer says this to Tanya Francke (Katherine
Isabelle) he knows exactly what she is expecting. Even though Tanya initiates
the sexual implications Dormer exploits this and manipulates her into revealing
the information he needs. He also uses his intelligence to manipulate the
evidence that could go against him in Eckhart’s death. Dormer hides his gun in
Walter Finch’s (Robin Williams) house to frame him. He knows that Finch killed
Kay but he has no evidence and he plans on planting evidence, similar to the
earlier Dobb’s case, in order to get Finch arrested. This manipulation is not
for purely moralistic reasons. Dormer does want Finch arrested for the murder
of Kay but that’s not the sole reason he has for his actions. Finch has to be
put away because he knows who shot Eckhart; “It is easy enough to pin the
murder on the escaping killer, except that one person knows for sure who did
it: the escaping killer himself.” (Ebert) This manipulation is mainly for
Dormer’s own personal gain because of his reluctance to explain the truth. When
this doesn’t work he is forced to formulate and accept a new plan of action;
“His sin is not in killing his partner (circumstances make it clear that this
is an accident), but in covering it up, then making a deal with the enemy to
keep the truth buried.” (Berardinelli) He can no longer attempt to manipulate
Finch so he turns to “working” with him and manipulating the entire case to
make the police force focus their attention on a different suspect.
The other major manipulation
that Dormer performs is one that happened in the past. At the start of his
career as an investigator Dormer was on a case that did not have enough evidence.
In order to get the criminal put in jail he planted evidence, his reasoning for
this is that there was no doubt in his mind that this man wasn’t innocent so he
had to make sure he was put in jail. Dormer considers his actions morally right
even though they were against the law. When Eckhart was still alive the two had
a small argument about an investigation from Internal Affairs. This
investigation was the sole reason they were given a case in Alaska and also the
sole reason that Dormer does not admit to “accidentally” killing Eckhart. This
investigation threatens to uncover Dormer’s greatest cover-up.
As the film progresses the
Detectives third femme fatale trait becomes more prominent. The most obvious
subject of Dormer’s desperation is keeping his own name clean, not only from
killing Eckhart but also the Dobb’s case where he planted evidence. “Setting a
trap for the killer on a misty beach, Will accidentally shoots Hap. Or is it an
accident?” (Travers) Accident or not, Dormer’s desperation over keeping the
Dobb’s case buried is obvious both before Eckhart’s death and after. While it
may have been a conscious accident, Dormer knew that Eckhart was going to help
Internal Affairs with their investigation and this would reveal things that
would cost him both his title and his “hero-status”. Morally he did not want
the criminals back on the street but he also didn’t want his name tainted with
the information that he had lied and falsified evidence. After killing Eckhart
he now has to scramble to create a solid facts pointing towards someone else
killing his partner. After trying to frame Finch doesn’t work he becomes so
desperate that he lets Finch frame a teenage boy, “It might even work with a
couple of these local cops, who have known you long enough to figure you’re too
dumb ever to kill anyone without leaving a couple of witnesses and a signed
confession” (Insomnia) Dormer knows
that Randy Stetz (Jonathon Jackson) is innocent but he does nothing to stop his
arrest. In a desperate attempt to keep his own actions hidden he allows Finch
to frame an innocent boy. The last thing that Dormer holds onto in the film is
his adamancy that Ellie not become corrupt. Throughout the film he and Ellie
grow closer and he starts to see himself in her. She is the complete opposite
of him, she is young and hasn’t been tainted in the way that he has. At the end
of the film she is willing to through her innocence away by hiding the truth
about Dormer but he won’t allow it. He tells her “Don’t lose your way.” (Insomnia) He sees himself in her and
throughout the film he pushes her to find the truth even though he knows it
will cause trouble for him. He subconsciously is trying to protect her and keep
her morally intact because he couldn’t do that for himself.
Even though
Detective Dormer is a male character he still mirrors the classic noir femme
fatale. The characteristics he displays and his personality all show that he is
the homme fatale. His duplicity, desperation, and the manipulation he uses are
all examples of how he fills the role of the noir femme fatale. The one thing
that Dormer is granted in this film is the option to redeem himself; this
option is presented to him at the end of the film. This is the one thing that
deviates from the femme/homme fatale view of Dormer. It is an inversion of the
classic ending for femme fatales in noir films. Dormer is given the chance to
do the moral thing and in doing this he redeems himself.
Works Cited
Berardinelli,
James. Insomnia. 2002. 28 03 2013 <www.reelviews.net>.
Ebert, Roger. Insomnia. 24 05 2002.
29 03 2013 <www.rogerebert.suntimes.com>.
Insomnia. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Al Pacino, Hilary Swank,
Robin Williams. 2002. Warner Bros., 2010. DVD.
Mitchell, Elvis. A Cop Runs But Can't Hide. 24 05
2002. 28 03 2013 <www.nytimes.com>.
Travers, Peter. Insomnia . 08 05
2002. 29 03 2013 <www.rollingstone.com>.