“The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” – (2009, Sweden, 147 minutes – rated R)
The third installment of Stieg Larssen’s ‘Millenium‘ trilogy moves deeper into a dystopian present made of corrupted power cells both part of and unknown to government bureaucracy, in other words, the tapestry widens.
That was obscure, but the trilogy takes its time exposing Larsson’s vision of power and its abuses, of unseen environments where human monsters are made, flourish and devour everything available to them. Provided it is sanctioned, and at times even without approval.
Human monsters like Russian defector Alexander Zalachenko (Georgi Staykov), Lisbeth Salander’s (Noomi Rapace) father, Dr. Peter Teleborian (Anders Albohm) the state psychiatrist who committed Lisbeth when she was 12 and raped her for two years , Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson) Lisbeth’s legal guardian and rapist, dead in the second installment, and all other state players collaborating towards ends so unclear the monsters were let to roam free.
The literal translation of the title apparently means “The Castle Made Of Air That Was Blown Up”. In light of the events leading to and during Lisbeth’s trial for the attempted murder of her father Zalachenko, this makes a lot of sense: groups, units, task forces, clubs, think tanks of various inclinations and power instituted during the Cold War had to justify their continued existence or vanish when the wall came down.
Hence the castle made of air image.
“The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” is not for the action-craving film-goers, although there is action. Rather, it is a bridge between political thrillers of the 1970s like “the three days of the Condor” or “the parallax view” and the dystopian future films such as “soylent green” in which women were considered furniture and came with the apartment like appliances, or the masterful “children of men”.
In a previous review of “the girl who played with fire”, I commented that Lisbeth showed the economy of a true fighter and she remains consistent here, getting herself back in shape without a therapist, whenever she’s not interrupted by cops or doctors, saving whatever she has to say for the trial, refusing to answer the prosecutor or appointed psychiatrist (Teleborian, of course) until it is time and she is ready, in front of a judge.
There are many scenes to be savored in “the girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” and the court appearances are some of the best: with Lisbeth donning a Punk-Goth outfit, so wonderfully ornate she puts the Borg Queen to shame for all the nerds out there, sparring with her opponents with logic and the four Cs: cool, collected, calm and in control.
This is still very far from easy for Lisbeth: having to trust others, even Mikael Blomqvist (Michael Nyquist) and his sister, Lisbeth’s attorney Erika Berger (Lena Endre) does not come easily and comfortably.
She has to let down those carefully constructed and hardened defenses built up during years of abuse, her formative years. This is pretty much like asking torture victims to testify about the violations they were subjected to, but in front of the same government which perpetrated the crimes in the first place.
How much effort should Lisbeth put in this stage of the fight? All of it, as she knows: she writes her biography for the court, to include every single instance of abuse, of violation, in clinical detail. This, as Noomi Rapace’s skill as an actress shows us, is her character doing violence to herself in order to escape the trap she is in: a logical arc, beautifully drawn and detailed.
What is at stake is her freedom, her attaining citizen rights and status denied her since childhood. The unexpected bonus? Dealing with her half brother Ronald Niedermann (Micke Spreitz) who did his best to kill her in the previous installment “the girl who played with fire”.
And Lisbeth has such a way of coping with family reunions…
“The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest” gets five jellybeans.
