I Can't Sleep (1994)
"J'ai pas sommeil" (original title)

Beautiful Daiga has emigrated from Lithuania to Paris and is looking for a place to stay and work. Theo is a struggling musician, and his brother Camille - a transvestite dancer. One of ... See full summary »

Director:

Claire Denis

Writers:

Jean-Pol Fargeau (screenplay), Claire Denis (screenplay)

Stars:

Yekaterina Golubeva, Richard Courcet, Vincent Dupont

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yekaterina Golubeva	...	Daiga (as Katerina Golubeva)
Richard Courcet	...	Camille
Vincent Dupont	...	Raphaël
Laurent Grévill	...	le docteur
Alex Descas	...	Théo
Irina Grjebina	...	Mina
Tolsty	...	Vassili
Line Renaud	...	Ninon
Béatrice Dalle	...	Mona
Ira Mandella-Paul	...	Little Harry
Sophie Simon	...	Alice, Mona's Sister
Danielle van Bercheycke	...	Fleur
Patrick Grandperret	...	Abel
Fabienne Mai	...	3rd Victim
Alice Hurtaux	...	2nd Victim

Storyline

Beautiful Daiga has emigrated from Lithuania to Paris and is looking for a place to stay and work. Theo is a struggling musician, and his brother Camille - a transvestite dancer. One of these three people might be connected to the serial "Granny Killer" who has been terrorizing Paris for a while.

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Plot Keywords:

dancer | musician | male frontal nudity | car accident | drugs | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

France Germany Switzerland

Language:

French Russian English

Release Date:

18 May 1994 (France)

Also Known As:

I'm Not Sleepy

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Gross:

$111,015 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arena Films, Orsans, Les Films de Mindif

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Camille, the old women's killer, was inspired by Thierry Paulin.

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Connections

References Le costaud des Épinettes (1923)

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Soundtracks

"Relax ay Voo"
Performed by Dean Martin and Line Renaud

User Reviews

A Denis film that holds your attention

J'ai pas sommeil gets off to a shaky start, with laughing cops and bland-faced Katerina Golubeva driving her rattle-trap Soviet car around Paris, but soon settles down to an absorbing study of greed and murder. Most of the characters are expatriates, some from eastern Europe, some from Martinique, and all are caught up in the search for happiness in a difficult environment (Paris can be hell for outsiders, as Balzac and many other artists have told us).

At first you aren't aware that it's a murder story: you don't see a woman being strangled and robbed until 64 minutes have elapsed, but Denis holds our attention with atmospheric scenes of the gay sub-culture that Camille moves in. She brings out the voluptuous, narcissistic aspects of this world very well. The performances are all good. Richard Courcet as Camille has little to say, but his body speaks eloquently. Alex Descas and Beatrice Dalle are veterans of Denis's films and are effective as the couple with a child. Theo delivers furniture by day and plays violin in a band at night; he wants to go back to his native Martinique but Mona isn't at all sure about this. Line Renaud does a great job as Ninon, the hotel manager who lovingly deals with all these star-crossed souls. I had to go to YouTube after the credits to hear Line sing Ma cabane au Canada and Frou-Frou... she is wonderful.