''Sleepless'' (Italian: ''Non ho sonno'') is a 2001 Italian

giallo In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, a ...

film directed by

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and critic. His influential work in the horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ''giallo'', has led him t ...

. The film stars

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

and Stefano Dionisi and marks Argento's return to the giallo subgenre. The film was another box office success when it opened in Italy, taking in over 5,019,733,505

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($3,280,080 US) by the end of its theatrical run.

Plot

Detective Ulisse Moretti (von Sydow) investigates a series of murders in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

in 1983, known as The Dwarf Murders. The main suspect, Vincenzo de Fabritiis, a writer of crime fiction with

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

, turns up dead and the case is considered closed. However, seventeen years later, a similar series of murders begin and draw the since-retired Moretti back into the case. Moretti teams up with Giacomo Gallo (Stefano Dionisi), whose mother was murdered in the 1983 spree, to determine if de Fabritiis is still alive or was actually innocent of the crimes for which he was accused. As the murders continue, the investigating duo discovers that the murderer is arranging their murder to an old

nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From ...

about the killing of animals. Ultimately it's discovered that Lorenzo is the murderer and that he had begun killing while he was just a child, hence why de Fabritiis was suspected due to the similarity in height. Lorenzo also reveals that the only reason the murders stopped was because he had traveled to another country where he continued murdering according to the nursery rhyme.

Cast

as Ulisse Moretti * Stefano Dionisi as Giacomo Gallo * Chiara Caselli as Gloria * Roberto Zibetti as Lorenzo Betti *

Gabriele Lavia Gabriele Lavia (born 10 October 1942) is an Italian actor, film director and theatre director. Biography Lavia was born in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1970 he has had roles in nearly thirty films and television programs. He is known for his appear ...

as Dr. Betti * Paolo Maria Scalondro as Chief Inspector Manni * Rossella Falk as Laura de Fabritiis * Roberto Accornero as Fausto * Barbara Lerici as Angela * Guido Morbello as Young Detective * Massimo Sarchielli as Leone * Diego Casale as Beppe * Alessandra Comerio as Mrs. Betti * Elena Marchesini as Mel (Kitten) * Aldo Massasso as Detective Cascio * Conchita Puglisi as Amanda *

Barbara Mautino Barbara may refer to: People * Barbara (given name) * Barbara (painter) (1915–2002), pseudonym of Olga Biglieri, Italian futurist painter * Barbara (singer) (1930–1997), French singer * Barbara Popović (born 2000), also known mononymously ...

as Dora (The Little Rabbit) * Luca Fagioli as Vincenzo de Fabritiis (the dwarf) * Daniela Fazzolari as Maria Luisa * Rossella Lucà as Mara

Critical reception

''Sleepless'' received a mixed response from critics. On movie

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website

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the film has an approval rating of 50% based on ten reviews, and is certified "rotten".

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wrote, "If this movie commits one crime, it's that the rest of it is never quite as good as the bravura opening. Don't let your guard down, though, because there are some cruelly well executed set-pieces that are enrobed in a constant sense of dread." AllMovie gave the film a generally negative review, writing, "this feels like an Argento retread – the murder mystery recalls his 1971 ''

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'' a little too much, and the overly familiar horrific elements (pace, editing, music, screaming) have little impact."

Release

The film was first released in cinemas in its native country of Italy on 5 January 2001. Later that year, ''Sleepless'' was released in the United States in limited theaters on 24 August 2001 from

Artisan Entertainment Artisan Entertainment (formerly known as U.S.A. Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE) and LIVE Entertainment) was an American film studio and home video company. It was considered one of the largest mini-major film studios until ...

before shortly being released on home video formats in the winter.

Alternate versions

The original US video release from

was heavily edited for content. Every murder sequence in the film was trimmed down for less graphic violence, including the decapitation murder of the ballet dancer which omits the image of the head hitting the floor. In all over a minute worth of footage was cut. A US DVD was also put out by Arisan of an unrated and fully uncut version with all the gore intact. European DVD releases of the film are completely uncut. The German 2013

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edition is heavily censored, nearly three minutes shorter than the director's cut.

References

External links

* {{Dario Argento 2001 films 2001 horror films 2001 crime thriller films 2000s mystery films 2001 psychological thriller films Italian slasher films 2000s Italian-language films Giallo films Crime horror films Mystery horror films Police detective films Films directed by Dario Argento Films set in 1983 Films set in 2000 Films set in Turin Italian serial killer films Films scored by Goblin (band) Films with screenplays by Dario Argento Artisan Entertainment films 2000s English-language films