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| Poster artwork for the crime mystery thriller film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. |
Misogynistic
Murders by Linh
The
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is based on the book of the same name
by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. In Sweden the film is also called Men Who Hate Women - Män som hatar kvinnor,
and the book is the first of what is now called the Millennium trilogy, named
after the magazine for which the main character, Blomkvist, works. The other
two books (The Girl Who Played With Fire
and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest)
have already been made into films and have become a phenomenon in their native
country of Sweden. Whether or not you’ve read the first book or the other
books, the film is still an enthralling crime thriller that will mercilessly
grab your attention, leaving you breathless.
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SECRET
SURVEILLANCE: Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) captures visual
evidence for the Harriet Vanger case In the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Image: Yellow Bird, Rialto.
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The story begins with a successful and reputable
journalist named Michael Blomqvist from the magazine Millennium who has been
investigating a story on the powerful and corrupt industrialist Hans-Erik
Wennerström. He publishes a story that is found to be libellous, and he is
convicted and faces imprisonment in six months time. Meanwhile, a young, female
computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander who works at a security firm, hacks into
Wennerström’s computer to gather information about Blomqvist. She discovers he
is innocent of all charges and it’s likely he’s been framed.
Blomqvist soon receives a call from an associate who
recommends him to a friend named Henrik Vanger. Vanger has spent the last forty
years searching for the truth about the disappearance of his niece, Harriet
Vanger, whom he believes has been murdered by one of his family members. He
hires Blomqvist to assist him in the case. Within days, Lisbeth is regularly
hacking into Blomqvist’s computer and is instantly intrigued by the Harriet
Vanger case. Blomqvist notices someone hacking his laptop and his encounter
with Lisbeth leads to a partnership of mutual respect, and fleeting romance.
The mystery of Harriet’s disappearance unravels as a result of bible references
and other clues that lead Mikael and Lisbeth to the killer.
Michael Nyqvist is excellent and brings a calm, composed
and trusting persona to the investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. Noomi Rapace is a striking and formidable
force as the intelligent cyber-hacker Lisbeth Salander, who gives the film most
of its edgier moments. Her bisexuality is downplayed, yet gives an insight into
her openness in some areas of self-expression while being withdrawn in others.
Other notable performances include Sven-Bertil Taube as
Henrik Vanger, who hires Blomkvist to investigate his niece’s disappearance;
Peter Haber who turns creepy and violent as the unassuming Martin Vanger,
brother of Harriet and President of the Vanger Corporation; and Peter Andersson
is fabulous as the nasty Nils Bjurman, the corrupt lawyer and guardian of
Lisbeth Salander who torments and tortures her.
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VIOLENT
VIOLATIONS: Nils (Peter Andersson) subjects Lisbeth
(Noomi Rapace) to frequent sexual and mental abuse In the film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Image:
Yellow Bird, Rialto.
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Director Niels Arden Oplev has created a near-perfect
adaptation of the book in a film that is as gripping and intense as the novel.
Oplev maintains the focus on the major storyline and minor subplots have been
dropped that don’t impact on the overall story arc. There are no 3D visuals or
special effects in this film. He uses old-fashioned filming techniques to keep
the audience immersed with the mysterious events and the wonderful performances
from the cast captivates throughout the film’s entire two hours and forty
minutes. The film is so engrossing, that the time flies by, making it feel
shorter than it is.
The film works well on many levels, even with so much
from the novel dropped from the final cut. Much of the lead characters’
backgrounds and history are revealed bit by bit as they become embroiled in a
forty year old suspected murder case of a sixteen year old girl from the rich
Vanger family. There are some brutally explicit scenes in the film that were in
the novel and director Niels Arden Oplev and actress Noomi Rapace believes the
rape, and violent scenes were necessary to develop and enhance the
characterisation of Lisbeth. The major themes in the film follow those found in
the novel, including violence against women, corporate greed and the
long-lasting threads of Nazism felt in society and flowing from one generation
to the next. They are crucial to the story and characters, and in building
suspense for the audience.
The
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is consistent, comprehensive and will
be an instant classic as one of the few films to be equally matched or better
than the book from which it is based. A Hollywood re-make which stars Rooney
Mara and Daniel Craig in the lead roles was directed by David Fincher and is
equally excellent in its adaptation, but too much of the plot was spoon-fed to
the audience instead of being abstract and mysterious as seen in the original
Swedish version.
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INJURED
INSTINCTS: Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) suffers a shot to the head from
an unseen shooter In the film The Girl
With The Dragon Tattoo. Image: Yellow Bird, Rialto.
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Director:
Niels Arden Oplev
Writers:
Rasmus Heisterberg (screenplay), Nikolaj Arcel (screenplay), Stieg Larsson
(novel)
Cast:
Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube, Ingvar Hirdwall,
Peter Andersson, Marika Lagercrantz, Lena Endre, Björn Granath, Ewa Fröling,
Tomas Köhler, Michalis Koutsogiannakis, Stefan Sauk, Annika Hallin
Producers:
Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Lone Korslund, Ole Søndberg, Mikael Wallen, Peter
Nadermann, Søren Stærmose, Jenny Gilbertsson, Susann Billberg-Rydholm, Jon
Mankell
Cinematographers: Jens
Fischer, Eric Kress
Original
Music Composer: Jacob Groth
Film
Editor: Anne Østerud
Production
Designer: Niels Sejer
Costume
Designer: Cilla Rörby
Languages:
Swedish with English subtitles
Running
Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes
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