“The girl with the dragon tattoo” – (2009, Sweden, 152 minutes – rated R)
This is a foray into the monstrosities men commit, with an unusual protagonist who herself has been mauled by such, yet has the brass to fight back…
A previous Swedish film, “let the right one in”, got us curious about cinema from that part of Europe: Sweden, Denmark, Norway and their neighbor to the Southwest, the Netherlands.
Watch the trailer:
We catch episodes of the police drama “Wallander”, either the Swedish version or the British production with Kenneth Branagh in the title role on a local station.
We also just watched the Danish film “terribly happy” which some have favorably compared to the Coen brothers’ “blood simple”.
All this to say that I have the impression cinema of these countries are undergoing a form of renewal with original content of high quality and marketability.
“The girl with the dragon tattoo”, like “Wallander”, is based on a book, itself part of the “Millenium” trilogy by author and journalist Stieg Larsson, who died in 2004.
Reportedly, Larsson witnessed the gang rape of a girl named Lisbeth when he was a teenager, and his failure to act haunted him for the rest of his life.
The titular character of “the girl with the dragon tattoo” is also named Lisbeth and is played by Noomi Rapace (such a cool name…)
Lisbeth Salander is a hacker working for a high-end security company, researching people for a well paying clientele. She develops an interest in one of her targets, journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), who was framed into pursuing a politician. After Blomkvist suddenly “lost” all his sources, the politician sued him, resulting in a conviction of Blomkvist.
Lisbeth’s own investigation showed Blomkvist to actually be an honest man who was dealt a very bad hand, the kind of man who does not exist in her world, hence her interest.
With six months to go before his jail sentence is enacted, Blomkvist is hired by Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) to look into the disappearance of his niece 40 years ago.
Lisbeth reaches out to Blomkvist and both end up working the case together, at grave personal risk as it turns out.
There is much material and subtext, as is usually the case with the film adaptation of a book. Lisbeth’ character in particular has many layers, and is portrayed with great skill by Rapace: her expressions are extremely subtle and her eyes express inner fears and turmoil in a way that is completely believable. These are the strongest points of this film: the originality of the story and characters as well as the absolutely terrific acting.
The same can be said of Michael Nyqvist, the two actors are fascinating to observe. But Lisbeth is such a complex character, Rapace’s performance reminds me of Meryl Streep’s best, yes it is that detailed and nuanced.
Yes, these are enough to overlook some weaknesses in the story, only one of which I’ll point out. The suspects in the girl’s disappearance 40 years ago are all members of the Vanger clan, who all live on an island. Forty years on that island and Henrik still has no clue? Maybe it’s the lead in the paint or the arsenic in the wall paper, it’s an old house after all, but still…
The themes of “the girl with the dragon tattoo” are harsh: child abuse, murder, ugly family secrets, violence against women, including rape and did I mention murder?
Hollywood in its infinite taste and wisdom has evidently seen the marketability of the material and will release a remake in 2011, just as they remade “let the right one in”.
To me the elephant in the room, when discussing content of the genre and quality of “the girl with the dragon tattoo”, remains American author Andrew Vachss, whose hard-boiled ‘Burke’ novels pack a serious wallop rooted in Vachss’ extensive and fascinating professional experience. In the mean time, the second installment of the Millenium trilogy, “the girl who played with fire” is available on DVD, and I plan to have a review of it next week.
“The girl with the dragon tattoo” gets 4 jellybeans.
I’ve seen this one and really liked it too. I second your opinion of Nooni Rapace… a really talented woman who gives a lot to the quirky “realness” of Lisabeth. A shame she won’t get the chance to reprise her role in the US re-make…. but I do hear she’s going to be involved in another film, some sort of weird retelling of an old fairy tale…. “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters”. Sounds a bit like Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow”….
Anyway… looking forward to your review of the next one. I’ve got it on Carolyn and mine’s “To watch” list when I get a copy!!
We just got to watch Alex de la Iglesia’s “the Oxford murders” which I thought was a terrific thriller, satisfying on a different level from “the girl with the dragon tattoo”. A bit as though each one nourishes a different side of the brain. Kind of like Campbell vs Progresso soups… LOL.
As to Noomi Rapace, regardless of age, it’s damn rare to watch an actor with this keen an understanding of the character. I’m still in awe, actually.