More recently, NTV announced the acquisition of rights to the domestic series Insomnia, created by DIXI TV. This is the first project in the history of Russian show business to sell directly to Internet users. Critics' reviews the series “Insomnia” (2013) is positioned as a natural action express, which was created in the best traditions of Hollywood, while preserving modern Russian trends.
Sleep will not enrich
The narrative of the project famously twisted around ten compatriots who received an offer that they could not refuse. Viewers in the reviews of the series “Insomnia” characterize the main characters as modern gladiators who received military weapons, the promise of a generous reward and a real threat to life in the event of a retirement. The conditions of the game are more than simple, participants need to strictly follow the orders of the organizers, not to leave the MKAD and try to stay alive. For the acuity of sensations, each player is given a specific substance that will kill if he falls asleep. Accordingly, the winner will be the lucky one who will not be deprived of life by other participants and he will be able to survive without sleep longer than others. The reward for the winner will be new documents, an antidote and $ 1 million.
Do not go to battle at random
To maintain the intrigue, the creators, as central characters, present to the viewer heroes - participants whose strengths are initially unequal. One is a killer in the past who was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment (Eduard Flerov), the other is a street racer (the image of a street racer was embodied by Vladislav Pavlov), there is a law enforcement officer, a minor girl, and even one of the organizers of dubious fun, convicted by colleagues of treason.
The progress of the bloody game is being observed by the “masters of life”, for whom this event is a way of entertainment, getting a new dose of adrenaline and the opportunity to lose or earn a certain amount of money. An exception is the widowed Marina (Daria Poverennova). Her husband, being a member of a private club on the eve of his death, manages to contribute $ 100 million. According to the conditions, the owner of the bet has no right to leave the competition before they end, so Marina will have to watch the bloody show.
Consisting of 16 episodes of the series "Insomnia", reviews of the film characterize as the scenario of the notorious "The Hunger Games" played out in modern Moscow.
According to foreign samples
According to reviewers' assessments expressed in reviews of the Insomnia series, the creators of the project took not only the Susan Collins trilogy and its adaptation as a model. The story skips moments very reminiscent of S. King’s novel “The Running Man” and the blockbuster starring in it with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also a direct relative of the story about hunting for humans and survival is the novel “The Risk Award” by Robert Sheckley.
Such a powerful base allowed the Insomnia to stand confidently on its feet. At the same time, the scriptwriters, not allowing special liberties, successfully adapted the story to domestic modern realities. Among the advantages of the series “Insomnia”, the reviews mention the high-quality embodiment of the author’s intention. The project could become a significant event on any of the TV channels, for example, on the same NTV, which has already repeatedly broadcast DIXI TV products. But the Internet is different.
Risky experiment
The DIXI TV company, on the account of which the production of the well-known series “Karpov”, “Capercaillie”, “Sword”, “Pyatnitsky”, “Game” was decided in 2013 on a real experiment on the audience, is exactly so inclined to position the series “Insomnia” in reviews of domestic filmmakers. For the first time in Russia, the premiere of a new serial show was held on the Internet. To implement the idea, the DixiFlex website was created, the premiere was preceded by a solid advertising company on various entertainment Internet portals, and even a reality show was launched.
However, the business model of an online movie theater of one project is very simple and similar to the rules of a survival game. The first pilot episode that appeared on the site was free. Then they published one series a day, for viewing each subsequent user had to pay an amount of 75 rubles. It would seem that it is quite insignificant, reading the bulk of books on the Liters website costs about the same, but the total amount for all 16 episodes turned out to be much higher than the monthly subscription to the Amediateka service, which has more variety. And in order to force the audience to fork out, you need a powerful potential that Insomnia did not possess.
The reason that for many compatriots this project went unnoticed lies in comparison with the above-mentioned foreign samples. The Hunger Games and Running Man are relatively short stories with fast-paced events that keep the viewer or reader in constant tension. And as the reviews on the series “Insomnia” say, when a dozen characters are offered to the audience with an equal right to empathy, they inevitably turn into an audience applauding to each killed and pondering who will die next.
Now Insomnia (2018)
The domestic project, despite all the shortcomings, attracted the attention of American filmmakers. In 2018, the premiere of the overseas version, a show called Insomnia, which is completely created on the basis of the Russian project, will take place. A distinctive feature of the American series will be the number of heroes - there are 20 of them. Domestic director Vyacheslav Yakovlev (Siberia, Tagged), who also acted as executive producer, worked on the adaptation. The ensemble of actors includes Sean Syps (The Vampire Diaries), Dylan Everett (Supernatural), Pavel Lychnikov (Shameless), and debutante Alex Jay.