FILM REVIEW: 'THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO'
A Long, Weighty Movie that Expands on Genre and Rewards Close Attention
Many may think of Sweden as the home of Volvos and the light blue flag with a perfectly blended-in yellow-gold cross — a color combination bearing striking resemblance to the palate found on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
However, the shades of blue and yellow-gold might just be the only thing the urban public university just outside of Hollywood may want to have in common with the central Scandinavian country, after The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo hits theaters in Los Angeles and other cities around the United States on March 19th.
Already receiving a warm box-office and critical reception in Europe, Japan and New Zealand, Niels Arden Oplev’s screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s crime novel of the same name, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may be a bit strong for American audiences.
Not only is it about 150 minutes in length – definitely too many minutes for a country filled with shortened-attention-span audiences – Oplev’s film also has some strong thematic elements that may be difficult for Americans to endure.
Still, mental toughness of prospective audiences does not change the fact The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is otherwise a compelling crime drama with ultra-personal character development and gripping social commentary.
Some question the film’s first half, which spends nearly 75 minutes building up parallel stories of the two lead characters in investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and talented hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). Sure, it is usually recommended to abbreviate character development through exposition in the name of getting to the meat of the story…except there is no way for Oplev to fully explore the film’s true message.
Indeed, the in-depth analysis that may be wasted in other films managed to work out just fine in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, as a near-perfect understanding of both Lisbeth and Mikael helps make the film’s second half move along at a brisk and breakneck pace.
The story itself is quite intriguing, what with Mikael being wrongfully convicted of libel, framed by a devious Swedish corporation. All the while, Lisbeth, a hack-for-hire, keeps tabs on Mikael’s post-conviction life while being suffocated by a probation officer who threatens her very existence if she does not acquiesce to forced and violent rape.
Lisbeth manages to take control of her fate, breaking free of her probation officer before finding her way into Mikael’s life, himself biding time in the northern expanses of Sweden to investigate a heinous crime kept secret for nearly 40 years.
Both individual stories are fully fleshed out about halfway through the film and are subsequently united together due to Lisbeth’s sharp wits; Mikael and his new-found partner dig deeper into the dark world of the Vanger Group — industrialists who held onto a stunning secret that would threaten the very fiber of the founding family’s core.
At the heart of Mikael (and subsequently Lisbeth’s) investigation is the mysterious disappearance of one of the corporation’s founding member’s niece. As Mikael and Lisbeth make headway, they discover a truth which serves as a metaphorical social commentary of Sweden’s rather large skeletons roaming around its proverbial closet.
As the audience slowly but surely gets a grip on what the truth both Mikael and Lisbeth work so hard to discover (despite overwhelming odds against them), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ultimately becomes a social commentary flick that also doubles as a stellar whodunit mystery of a crime drama, complete with surprising twists and well-timed climaxes separated by insightful valleys.
Rapace is the clear driving force of the film, delivering a performance as Lisbeth that is superbly stunning and more powerful than any American actress can probably ever do.
Her meaty role is uniquely balanced by Nyqvist, who portrays a quaintly dull and monotone Mikael. While such a bland performance may be seen as a major flaw in any film that is more than 15 minutes long, let alone considered anything short of boring in a production that is actually ten times longer, Nyqvist needed to be steady to act as the perfect counterbalance to the emotional roller-coaster of a mind-job that is Lisbeth.
Beyond some very solid performances by the two leads as well as by the supporting cast, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo expands beyond its crime mystery genre by condemning Sweden’s secretive culture of misogyny and powerful men wrongfully taking advantage of helpless women in the most mutilating of manners.
A gripping, meaty, fast-paced crime mystery flick, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo finally arrives in the United States after essentially opening everywhere else in the world, all to the tune of a solid box-office run and overall critical acclaim. Accordingly, with equally rave reviews of Larsson’s novel series for which this film is based, expectations will probably be rather high once the lights dim at cinema halls this weekend.
Still, despite expectations and a running time that does not necessarily vibe with the short attention span of American audiences, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a perfectly deliberate film that will definitely please moviegoers seeking quality cinema, even if it s Swedish production complete with English subtitles and an original title of Men Who Hate Women.
'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' opens on March 19th and is Rated R.
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