Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

8 1/2

R: Adult themes, adult activity, language, violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements

2009

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg

Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace

Cinematography: Jens Fischer, Eric Kress

Music: Jacob Groth

Editing: Anne Osterud

Production Design: Niels Sejer

Costume Design: Cilla Rorby

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish thriller, mystery about a 40-year-old disappearance of the niece of the wealthy Henrik Vagner based on the novel of the same title by Stieg Larsoon. (Part one in a series of three) It stars Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salandar, the girl with the dragon tattoo. She does! She has a fantastic enormous dragon tattoo that goes down her arm, all over her back, and even down her leg. It's really cool. It also stars Michael Nyqvist as the reporter Mikael Blomkvist who plays the detective who searches for the missing woman. This film was very well directed by Niels Arden Oplev. The film had a dark, cold motif which reflects the dark, cold characteristics of Lisbeth, the case, and the Vagner family. Lisbeth has had a difficult, dark life that continues to be so. All the sets in her world are dark and have cool colors just like she is. The Vagner family is full of secrets and throughout the investigation the set remains dark using only neutral tones.

Lisbeth and Mikael start out the film at a distance: Lisbeth hacking into Mikael's computer and Mikael knowing nothing of Lisbeth. Lisbeth introduces herself to Mikael who later seeks her aid in the mystery when while hacking into Mikael's computer, she finds a clue and figures out what the clue truly is and e-mails her discovery to Mikael.

What I love about this movie is the twisting tale. Lisbeth is a very strong character who takes no funny business from anybody. Constantly, we are kept on our toes, trying to figure out which Vagner murdered Harriet, Henrik's niece. Even before Lisbeth joins the investigation, she has her own, strong storyline where the audience feels empathy for her which really helps the audience connect with her character. A character who herself is very distant from the world around her, without her own separate storyline, the audience would lose empathy which would create problems when justifying some of her actions throughout the story, especially at the end of the story. While in the film we never learn Lisbeth's entire background, we learn enough about her character that we can empathize her. Not only that, her storyline is relevant to bringing her to Mikael. As opposed to a sudden appearance by Lisabeth in the investigation, we see her move from simply spying on Mikael to showing an interest in the case he investigates.

As with any good story, every scene has a change in value (going from a positive feeling to a negative feeling) and moves the film forward. It was really well done where the audience never knows more than the characters so we truly solve the mystery the same rate as Mikael and Lisbeth. Overall, a great film where every element is utilized well to tell a great story about deep characters. As sick as parts may be, they're not too repulsive and placed within the context of a story that is easier to swallow overall.