Chasing Sleep
Encyclopedia
Chasing Sleep is a 2000 psychological thriller
film written and directed by Michael Walker released to video in 2001. It depicts the reaction of a college professor who awakens to find his wife missing. It stars Jeff Daniels
and Emily Bergl
.
The film did not receive a theatrical release within the United States, although Lions Gate Films bought the rights at the Toronto Film Festival. The film instead ran on the festival circuit for a year before premiering on video on September 16, 2001, by Lions Gate. It was later self-distributed in the US, after its video release, and it played in theaters in L.A., Seattle, Portland and Chicago.
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
film written and directed by Michael Walker released to video in 2001. It depicts the reaction of a college professor who awakens to find his wife missing. It stars Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
and Emily Bergl
Emily Bergl
Anne Emily Bergl is an English-born American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang on the film The Rage: Carrie 2 , Annie O'Donnell on the ABC television show Men in Trees , Beth Young on Desperate Housewives and Tammy Bryant on the TNT drama series...
.
Plot synopsis
A college professor wakes up to find his wife has not returned home, and then struggles to understand her disappearance.Cast
- Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
as Ed Saxon - Emily BerglEmily BerglAnne Emily Bergl is an English-born American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as Rachel Lang on the film The Rage: Carrie 2 , Annie O'Donnell on the ABC television show Men in Trees , Beth Young on Desperate Housewives and Tammy Bryant on the TNT drama series...
as Sadie - Gil BellowsGil BellowsGil Bellows is a Canadian film and television actor. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Thomas in the television series Ally McBeal and as CIA agent Matt Callan in the television series The Agency.-Early life:Bellows was born in Vancouver, British...
as Det. Derm - Zach GrenierZach GrenierZach Grenier is an American actor who has worked in film, television and on stage.He appeared in the first season of the television show 24 as Carl Webb, was in Deadwood, and on several episodes of Law & Order...
as Geoffrey Costas - Julian McMahonJulian McMahonJulian Dana William McMahon is an Australian actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayals of Cole Turner in The WB hit series Charmed, womanizing plastic surgeon Christian Troy on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning TV show Nip/Tuck, and Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four and...
as George - Ben ShenkmanBen ShenkmanBenjamin Shenkman is an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Shenkman was born in New York City and raised in what he described as "the secular Eastern European Jewish tradition". He graduated from Brown University, and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in 1993 from New York...
as Officer Stewart - Molly PriceMolly Price-Personal life:Price was born in North Plainfield, New Jersey, and graduated from North Plainfield High School in 1984.She is a graduate of Rutgers University. She is married to a New York City Fire Department firefighter Derek Kelly...
as Susie - Patrick Moug as Det. Snyder
Theories
Viewers have been discussing over the internet (including on IMDb) explanations of the film's ambiguous ending. Several theories have developed from these discussions:- One theory is that Ed Saxon did indeed kill his wife but is unable to accept what he has done. He tries to suppress these feelings of grief by taking pills and extra doses of medications which leads him to view hallucinations.
- These hallucinations, as it has been theorized, are abstractions of the truth.
- The large and deformed baby Saxon sees is a representation of the unborn child that was present within his wife's womb. The child is ugly and revolting since it is not Saxon's child but rather that of another man, thus Saxon finds the child to be an abomination.
- The baby is cut up and murdered in the bath tub because that is representative of the location where Ed murdered his wife, along with the unborn child.
- The eerie noises coming from the pipes represents the haunting reminder of the deed Saxon has done. He must have cut the body into small enough pieces to flush them away into the pipes, which is why Saxon is so worried about his plumbing issues and the film focuses so heavily on imagery of the pipes.
- The neighbors next door are in fact non-existent; rather, they are representations of the troubled relationship between Saxon and his wife.
- It has been suggested that the house is a metaphor for Saxon's mind. In fact, The Chicago Reader states that "Walker does pull an impressive Kubrickian trick by turning the antiseptic, deteriorating house into a metaphor for Daniels's mental state". There has been debate over which rooms represent which cognitive areas.
- The director has remained silent about the meaning of the film's story thus creating no definite right or wrong answer. These are just the most commonly accepted theories among viewers.
Critical response
- Reviews of Chasing Sleep have often quoted the film as being similar in tone to a David LynchDavid LynchDavid Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
or a Roman PolanskiRoman PolanskiRoman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
film. The reason for this is because the film features the same type of surrealSurrealismSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
flourishes and ambiguous endings found within Lynch films while drawing heavily on the themes of isolation and alienation; motifs often found within Polanski's films. Reel Film Reviews even calls the film "a wonderfully creepy riff on Polanski's Repulsion" and DVD Review finds the film to be "somewhere between Franz Kafka, David Lynch, and a plumber's nightmare".
- Reviews have been generally favorable towards the film, though none are declaring the film as particularly remarkable or innovative. Many review sites have given the film a respectable 3 out of 4 stars, including the internet review sites The Video Graveyard, Burnout Central, and Film Freak Central. Boxoffice Magazine actually bestows a 3½ out of 4 star rating, giving one of the most positive reviews of the film; it calls the film a "smoothly crafted psychological thrillerPsychological thrillerPsychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
".
- On Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, the film has received a 60% rating on the tomatometer certifying the film as fresh.
- The most common criticisms of the film amongst reviewers is that the film is slowly paced and ultimately becomes confusing, with seemingly no resolution or explanation to the proceedings. Apollo Guide says the film is "hard to sum up" but adds that it is "grim and atmospheric" as well as being "dark and moody." Indeed, atmosphere is the most praised attribute amongst critics despite the fact the film is hard to decipher. Reel Film Reviews suggests the film "probably would have worked a whole lot better if it had taken a more objective view of the story" and not focused so much on surreal delusions and hallucinations of the main character, which made the film baffling.
- Also, Critics are generally bestowing accolades upon the surprising good performance by Jeff DanielsJeff DanielsJeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
. Critics have cited his performance as "great", "perfectly cast", and even "brilliant". Reel Film Reviews says Daniels gives a "seriously unhinged performance" while Boxoffice Magazine says that "Daniels is superb at unraveling the wormy anxieties and desperation at the heart of Ed's existence".
Film festivals and other releases
- 2000 - Toronto Film Festival - Official Selection
- 2001 - Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival - Official Selection
- 2001 - Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Films - Official Selection
- 2001 - Gérardmer Film Festival - Official Selection
- 2001 - Lund Fantastisk Film Festival - Official Selection
- 2001 - Sweden Fantastic Film Festival - Official Selection
The film did not receive a theatrical release within the United States, although Lions Gate Films bought the rights at the Toronto Film Festival. The film instead ran on the festival circuit for a year before premiering on video on September 16, 2001, by Lions Gate. It was later self-distributed in the US, after its video release, and it played in theaters in L.A., Seattle, Portland and Chicago.
Awards
- 2001 - Gérardmer Film Festival - Won - Special Jury Prize
- 2001 - Sweden Fantastic Film Festival - Won - Jury Grand Prize