With the American version opening in theaters in a few weeks I finally decided to watch the 2009 Swedish film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Based on the first book in Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy", The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo follows disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist and emotionally damaged computer hacker Lisbeth Salander as they try to solve the 40 year old mystery of a missing teenage girl.
I'd held off on watching this because it was in a foreign language with subtitles and nearly 2 and a 1/2 hours long. I have no opposition to either but really have to be in the mood to commit to certain movies. With a gripping, well-paced plot and interesting characters the movie turned out to be an enjoyable experience even if some of the subject matter wasn't.
Noomi Rapace's performance as Lisbeth is the real highlight here and the main reason that I would recommended seeing this movie. On paper Lisbeth is clearly a juicy role but as performed by Rapace the character is clearly defined before we even have much of a back story. I can't recall another time where I have focused so much on an actor's eyes during a movie. Rapace says so much with her eyes that it almost feels like you don't need her to speak during certain scenes.
The climax of the movie felt a bit rushed to me but by no means was it unsatisfying. As the first of a trilogy I was slightly worried that there might be a lot of plot points left unresolved. It wrapped things up nicely though while still leaving room for a sequel. I look forward to watching the follow-up at some point after I see the American version of this one.
UPDATE - 1/10/12:
So instead of doing a separate post for the American version I decided to just add to this one. That gets setup and plot explanation out of the way. You're welcome. I just saved all of us some time.
Ok, so onto the American version. Going in I was excited that David Fincher was directing. He's helmed some of the finest "dark/serial killer" movies of the past 20 years and seemed tailor made for this. He didn't disappoint. From the highly-stylized opening titles to the end credits the film was a treat to watch despite the grim subject matter.
Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist was an upgrade as in the Swedish version he seemed a bit flat. In fact while watching the Swedish version I couldn't help but think of what Craig could do with the role. In fairness the character in the American version has more depth and is a bit more developed.
The biggest issue I though I'd have was with Lisbeth. Noomi Rapace did such a wonderful job with the character that I couldn't see anyone else playing the role. Well I'm happy to report that Mara Rooney held her own quite nicely. Rooney fought for the role and fully committed to it. I still prefer Rapace's take on the character but by no means should that take away from the work that Rooney did.
There were slight story tweaks here and there but overall I enjoyed what the American adaption did. The only thing from a story-telling device that I think the Swedish version did better was the big reveal. That sequence as executed seemed to carry much more weight and I was disappointed that the American version didn't seem nearly as tense. Not comparing things I'm sure it is quite effective, but at this point it's hard for me to not compare the two sequences.
Like the Swedish version I'd recommend seeing the American adaptation. Which to see first becomes a bit harder to answer. Flipping a coin might be the best answer. I'll even flip it for you if you ask me nicely.
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