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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
* [http://www.meapcareers.com.au/index.php?r=Film_Review_The_Girl_With_the_Dragon_Tattoo ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo''] review at MEAP Careers


==External links==
==External links==

Revision as of 10:49, 1 February 2011

This article is about the Swedish film from 2009. For the upcoming American film, see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film).
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Swedish release poster
Directed byNiels Arden Oplev
Screenplay byNikolaj Arcel
Rasmus Heisterberg
Produced bySøren Stærmose
StarringMichael Nyqvist
Noomi Rapace
CinematographyEric Kress
Jens Fischer
Edited byAnne Østerud
Music byJacob Groth
Production
company
Distributed byNordisk Film
Release date
  • 27 February 2009 (2009-02-27) (Sweden)
Running time
152 minutes
180 minutes (extended version)
CountryTemplate:Film Sweden[1]
LanguageSwedish
Budget$13 million[2]
Box office$104,285,103[2]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor, literally Men Who Hate Women) is a 2009 Swedish crime thriller film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the late Swedish author/journalist Stieg Larsson, the first book in his Millennium Trilogy, directed by Niels Arden Oplev. By August 2009, it had been sold to 25 countries outside Scandinavia, most of them planning a release in 2010, and had been seen by more than 6 million people in the countries where it was already released.[3]

The film was released in the United States on 19 March 2010 by Music Box Films, which has also released the second and third films in the trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire on 9 July 2010, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest on 29 October 2010.

Plot

Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a middle-aged investigative journalist with the magazine Millennium, loses a Libel case against corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström (Stefan Sauk) and is sentenced to three months in jail. Unbeknown to him, Mikael is under surveillance by Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), the troubled but brilliant 24-year-old hacker from a security firm. She delivers her report on him to Dirch Frode (Ingvar Hirdwall), a lawyer for the Vanger Group.

Blomkvist is invited to a meeting with industrialist Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), who hires him to investigate the disappearance of his niece, Harriet, who mysteriously vanished on Children's Day in 1966. Henrik also reveals that Harriet was once Blomkvist's babysitter. Because of an accident that closed the bridge providing the only access to the Vanger estate, Henrik believes that a member of his family must have murdered her.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth finds out that she has a new probationary guardian, a lawyer named Bjurman (Peter Andersson). Bjurman, a sexual sadist, attempts to control her by demanding sexual favors in return for money, and eventually rapes her. Lisbeth secretly videotapes the rape, and later returns to his apartment where she ties him up, tortures him, forces him to watch the video and blackmails him into allowing her to control her own finances before finally tattooing "I am a sadistic pig and a rapist" on his stomach. She maintains her interest in Blomkvist's affairs and hacks into his computer once again to monitor him.

Blomkvist moves onto the Vanger estate and learns that Henrik's three brothers were all members of the Swedish Nazi Party. Harriet's father, Gottfried, was an abusive alcoholic who drowned the year before his daughter's disappearance. Inside Harriet's Bible, Blomkvist finds a list of five names alongside what appear to be phone numbers. Police Inspector Morell (Björn Granath) informs him that they are not phone numbers, however, and that his original investigation was never able to shed light on them. Using photographs taken during the Children's Day parade, Blomkvist learns that Harriet was spooked by someone she saw that day who may have been her killer. Hacking into his computer, Lisbeth finds the Bible clues and decodes them, using her hacker name WASP to send them to him in an email.

The numbers relate to verses from the Book of Leviticus concerning the execution of sinners. Before Blomkvist can investigate further, Dirch Frode informs him that Henrik Vanger has suffered a heart attack; at the hospital, Blomkvist asks Frode if he knows WASP. Blomkvist goes to Lisbeth's apartment to offer her a job helping with the case and after initial reluctance, she agrees. They soon find themselves on the trail of a serial killer of women whose crimes stretch back to 1949 in towns all over Sweden. When they return to their cottage, Lisbeth, who has a photographic memory, realizes someone has broken in because several items have been moved slightly. Later that night, Lisbeth wakes Blomkvist and they have sex, though she admits to no romantic feelings for him. The following day, Blomkvist confronts an impressed Henrik with the evidence.

At a meeting with the Vanger family, during which he is urged to abandon the case, Blomqvist notices Harriet's cousin Cecilia (Marika Lagercrantz) wearing a necklace he remembers Harriet wearing when she babysat him as a child. After a confrontation, Cecilia says that she inherited it from her sister Anita after she died of breast cancer. Blomqvist remembers how alike Harriet and Anita were, then realizes that the indistinct photo Henrik had given him of Harriet is actually that of Anita. Sometime later, while jogging in the woods, he is shot at several times and is wounded by a bullet graze to the head.

The following day, Inspector Morell reveals that one set of initials from Harriet's diary match the name of a woman who had worked for Gottfried Vanger. As the women all had Jewish names, Blomkvist and Lisbeth believe their murders were motivated by anti-Semitism. They suspect the reclusive Harald Vanger (Gösta Bredefeldt) of Harriet's murder, as the two other Vanger brothers were already dead by the time she disappeared. Lisbeth searches through Vanger's business records to trace Harald to the crime scenes while Blomkvist breaks into Harald's house. There, Harald confronts the reporter and almost shoots him, but Harriet's brother Martin (Peter Haber) shows up and instead escorts Blomkvist to his home. When Blomkvist reveals what he has uncovered, Martin drugs him. In the meantime, Lisbeth has discovered that Martin and his father, and not Harald, were responsible for the serial killings and returns to the cottage to find Blomkvist has not yet arrived.

Blomkvist wakes to find himself bound to a chair in Martin's cellar. Martin casually confesses to decades of rape and murder, but denies killing Harriet. While he is slowly garroting the reporter, Lisbeth enters the room and beats the killer with a golf club, injuring him. While she frees Blomkvist from his bonds, Martin flees in his car. Lisbeth gives chase on her motorbike. Panicked and severely injured, Martin collides with the rear of a truck and rolls his car down an embankment. When she arrives at the wreck, he pleads for help but she merely watches as a fire starts in the car, engulfing him. In a flashback sequence, a child Lisbeth splashes gasoline in the face of a man sitting in a car, and then ignites it.

Sometime later, Blomkvist meets with Henrik and Morell to inform them that Martin did not kill Harriet. Returning to his cottage, he finds Lisbeth gone and a note revealing Harriet's whereabouts. Blomkvist flies to a remote part of Australia and discovers Harriet living under her dead cousin's name. He takes her back to Sweden to be reunited with Henrik. In his office, she reveals that she murdered her father following a year of rape and abuse by him and Martin. With Anita's help, she fled the estate when Martin returned from boarding school, fearful the abuse would start again.

In the epilogue, Lisbeth visits Blomkvist during his prison stay and furnishes him with the evidence of Hans-Erik Wennerström's wrong-doings: secret financial records that reveal his complicity in drug trafficking and black market arms dealing. He publishes a new story on Wennerström, who subsequently kills himself. In the final scene, Lisbeth uses her hacking ability to steal millions from Wennerström's off-shore bank account. The film closes on her in disguise in the Cayman Islands.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The film has been met with critical acclaim. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a normalized score of 87% based on 156 reviews, with an average score of 7.2/10 and declares it "Certified Fresh". The critical consensus is: "Its graphic violence and sprawling length will prove too much for some viewers to take, but Noomi Rapace's gripping performance makes The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo an unforgettable viewing experience."[4] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 76% based on reviews from 36 critics.[5]

Roger Ebert gave the film full four out of four star score. He describes it as a "compelling thriller" but more than that a film with a "heroine more fascinating than the story" and praises the "unwavering intensity" of Noomi Rapaces performance.[6]

Box office

The film grossed more than $10 million in North America in a limited release of 202 theaters.[2] The total gross worldwide is $104,285,103.[2]

Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) response

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), an American anti-sexual violence organization, had a positive response to the film due to its authentic portrayal of violence against women and the repercussions of sexual violence, as well as the importance of victims seeking help. RAINN created a social action campaign around the film for the purpose of encouraging screenings and discussion of the film.[7]

Awards and nominations

Release and extended version

French premium pay television channel Canal+ aired the extended versions of the three movies as a miniseries (6×90 minutes) between March and June 2010, before the theatrical release of the second and third movies. The series premiere attracted over 1.1 million viewers. Considering the network is only available in 8 million French households, the series was a substantial hit.[8]

On March 22, 2010, Canal+ broadcast the first part in France. 18% (1.2 million) of the channel's subscribers in the country watched the program, which was the best opening of a foreign series at Canal+ this year.[citation needed]

American film version

Main article: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)

An English-language film adaptation, written by Steven Zaillian, and directed by David Fincher, is in the works for release in 2011.[9] The film's release date has been confirmed for 21 December 2011.[10] George Clooney, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt were interested in playing the central role of Mikael Blomkvist, but Daniel Craig was in more serious talks for the lead in June.[11] On July 26, 2010, it was confirmed that Craig would play the lead.[12] Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, praising Zaillian's screenplay, is allegedly to be cast as Martin Vanger, head of the Vanger corporation after meeting with David Fincher in Stockholm to discuss the production of the film.[13] Robin Wright entered talks to play Erika Berger.[14] After much speculation surrounding the casting of Lisbeth Salander, Rooney Mara landed the role in August 2010.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo director queries US remake". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2010)". Box Office Mojo. 13 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Män som hatar kvinnor en internationell kassasuccé". The Swedish Film & TV Producers. 4 August 2009.
  4. ^ "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
  5. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo Metacritic CBS
  6. ^ Roger Ebert. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (No MPAA rating)". Chicago Sun Times.
  7. ^ "RAINN's Dragon Tattoo Program". Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Millennium trilogy". yellowbird.se. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  9. ^ Piazza, Jo (10 April 2010). "Who Should Be 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'?". PopEater.com. AOL Inc. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  10. ^ "Fincher's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Coming Dec. 2011". ComingSoon.net. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  11. ^ Leins, Jeff (6 June 2010). "Daniel Craig to Lead Fincher's 'Dragon Tattoo?'". News in Film. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Daniel Craig Closes Deal For 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'". Deadline. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  13. ^ "Skarsgård erbjuden roll i nya Millennium | Film | Nöjesbladet | Aftonbladet". Aftonbladet.se. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Robin Wright Joins Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". jezebel.com. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  15. ^ Kaufman, Amy (16 August 2010). "Rooney Mara will be 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  16. ^ Kilday, Gregg; Kit, Borys (16 August 2010). "How Rooney Mara became 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
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