The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

If you are at all familiar with Swedish cinema then chances are the first (and maybe only) name that comes to your mind is Ingmar Bergman. However, if you are looking for something newer and with more kick then “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” might be more your liking.

“…Dragon Tattoo” stars Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth in the title role along with Michael Nyqvist as her partner in anti-crime. She is a corporate investigator, he is a left-wing magazine reporter. His life is one of quiet struggles to keep up relationships and a job while exposing corrupt bureaucrats. She, on the other hand, has a tougher background and a dark future. Sporting a goth-rock look of piercings and all black apparel, Lisbeth has a background where she cannot trust men except to be lustful pigs. Before she can enter the main plotline, this 24 year old woman with a history of homicidal tendencies has to report to her new sponsor: a middle-aged man who forces her to have cruel sex with him for a fraction of her own earnings. Her subplot may seem random, but given its nature and unspoken commentary on misogyny this sets up the mood for the rest of the film. The real plot involves an elderly man who is convinced his daughter was murdered nearly 50 years ago, but could never find a body or suspect. The reporter and investigator come in to find the truth behind how this happened, and in the process try to clear their own names as well.

From the novel originally titled: “Men Who Hate Women” I can warn you that this is not something for the whole family. Strong violence and torture, sexual abuse and rape, plus a heavy dose of foul subtitled language will definitely make you squirm in your seats. I haven’t seen such a similar film since “The Silence of the Lambs”. However, if you can sit through the uncomfortable parts then your reward is one helluva good detective story. Even Sherlock Holmes has nothing on these two, as Lisbeth and Mikael probe deep into the missing girl’s past to reveal neo-Nazi cults and barbaric rituals. What I really like is there is a clear definition on Good vs. Evil, though in Lisbeth’s case Good can do Evil things. Without spoiling too much, when the climax comes along and she faces the killer, she has an opportunity to save his life for the authorities but instead watches him die. Evil breeds more evil, though in the end she redeems herself by helping Mikael clear his name and avoid imprisonment. They even spark an uneasy relationship, but by the end Lisbeth is already gone and on her way again.

I imagine that Noomi Rapace will soon be appearing in mainstream Hollywood film, and there is already talks of an American remake from David Fincher. Perhaps this is inevitable, but regardless “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a brilliantly conceived mystery thriller that you will want to watch again.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Effing Bored wrote:

   December 27, 2011 at 6:44 pm

   [...] The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [...]

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