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Having just seen this film version of the international bestseller by the late Swedish author
Stieg Larsson, which supposedly deviates from the source material in many ways, the
temptation to go out and buy a copy of the damn book is overwhelming because I’ve got one
pivotal question that the film didn’t answer: WHO the Hell is the girl with the dragon tattoo?
Moreover, WHAT is she? Maybe I missed something, I don’t know, but for someone who
doesn’t go out of his way to watch mysteries or thrillers, I thought I was doing alright in
keeping up to speed with all major plot shifts and developments because as far as mysteries
and whodunits go, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is not hard to follow.
The reason why it’s not difficult to follow is because like most other convoluted narratives
depicted on screen, the writer and/or director reiterates his/her point at least once during
the film, usually towards the end. The last time I witnessed this was in a film I actually
enjoyed in part, Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, Gone, Baby Gone. However, it was the
sudden and forced clarification at the film’s denouement through spiels of dialogue that
lessened the impact of the revelation itself. The reason I’m not too fond of this device is
because it has always felt like a lazy attempt for the writer to unveil key plot points through
major or minor characters using reams of expository dialogue. If you can’t effectively
communicate a story to the masses using visual stimuli then maybe you shouldn’t be telling
the story at all.
There’s been so much positive buzz surrounding this film - and especially the book, which is
part of a trilogy - that when I finally sat down and watched it I honestly couldn’t work out
what all the fuss was about. But, this is coming from a person who thought that The
Silence of the Lambs was only an average film. For me, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
was a very straightforward yet engrossing thriller. Essentially, it’s just another foreign film
packaged for international audiences. It actually reminded me of the many darker
contemporary European psychological thrillers like Insomnia (the original with Stellan
Skarsgard), The Crimson Rivers (with Vincent Cassel and Jean Reno), and the films of
Olivier Marchal (MR 73 and 36 Quai des Orfévres), which were foreign films that garnered
considerable box office success, but were genre films no less.
Like some of those films, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows the same familiar
formula, whereby the central character investigates either the death or disappearance of a
certain individual and gets entangled in a web of mystery and intrigue. The only thing
different here is that instead of being a law enforcer, the main protagonist is an
investigative journalist, which apart from the fact that he was at some point connected to
the immediate family of the woman he’s investigating, seems like an unlikely career choice
given his lack of authority and clout. But, again, maybe that makes it more dramatic, and
difficult for the character to unravel the mystery because looking at the films of Dario
Argento, which I considerably adore, his protagonists were merely curious citizens.
Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a once revered journalist for Millennium Publishing, has
just been suspended from his job for slandering a corporate giant, and is facing a short-
term prison sentence in 6 months time. Conveniently, he’s snapped up by a wealthy business
tycoon who believes that his family is behind the disappearance and possible murder of his
niece, Harriet Vanger, some 40 years ago. Offered one last chance at redemption, and the
opportunity to close the books on a cold case file, Blomkvist finds himself teamed up with a
punk hacker named Lisbeth Salander (the excellent Noomi Rapace), where the pair link
Harriet to a series of grisly murders and a sinister family history that involves rape,
degradation, and murder.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first volume in Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, followed
by The Girl who played with Fire and The Girl who kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Having not
read any of Larsson’s books, they appear to be routine crime thrillers rooted in the mystery
genre. Adaptations are always difficult because the writer’s task is to assemble all the
crucial elements of a story and translate them visually in the best possible way, so that the
original author’s vision, to a certain degree, remains intact. While I haven’t read the
original novel, this adaptation seemed to be wounded with a few major plot holes, whereby
payoffs seemingly dwindled and fell by the wayside. This wasn’t as devastating as one would
imagine because director Neils Arden Oplev recaps what the viewer might have missed.
I’m not sure if Noomi Rapace’s character is central to all three of Larsson’s novels, but the
ambiguity surrounding her motives and actions throughout The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo, whether she’s the personification of vengeance and death or not, renders her a
strong, feminist figure in an era of cinema that is severely lacking decisive, merciless leading
women. Women of all ages will cheer when they see what Lisbeth is capable of in this film,
and men will never look at a dildo the same way again. Rapace’s performance is simply
amazing, and apparently her preparation and transformation for the role of Lisbeth is even
more astounding. This character, and what she represents, is the film’s absolute strong
point. Like Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men,
she’s literally a force of nature
If, for some reason, you’re turned off by English subtitles, you won’t have to wait long for
the Hollywood remake in 2012. Some fat-cat producer has snapped up the rights to remake
this bastard, but I don’t know if it’s entirely necessary, apart from the obvious reason. I
reckon this Swedish thriller will undoubtedly do well in Europe, but it’ll also do well abroad.
Larsson’s trilogy has already earned cult status worldwide, and it won’t take long for these
film versions to garner the same.
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