From The Archives: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Originally published April 2012.
The Swedish adaptation, Released in 2009 after the overwhelming success of the books, wowed audiences with it’s no hold barred look at a number of delicate themes such as child abuse and incest, rape, liberalism and redemption. It turned Noomi Rapace into a household name and introduced even more people to the brilliant Millennium book series. It wasn’t long before the critical and financial success lured in several Hollywood studios and caught the attention of arguably one of the best directors of the last decade: David Fincher.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Referred from now on as TGWDT) is right up Fincher’s street; teeming with opportunities for dark settings, pulpy dialogue and containing a gallery of tragic characters. Fincher jumped at the opportunity to imprint his trademark flair to the franchise and has totally succeeded in this respect. Everything from the unnerving opening credits to the tension filled ambient-industrial soundtrack (Thanks Trent Reznor!) screams Fincher and for fans of his unique way of filmmaking will undoubtedly love his latest offering. It should also be said however that Fincher while putting his stamp on this property, also retains a decent level of respect (perhaps too much though?) for the original movie and this is mostly nice to see.
The story pretty much remains the same with under fire magazine editor Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) taking time away from his usual life to investigate the disappearance of an ageing business magnate’s niece 40 years prior. Joining him on this potentially dangerous journey is troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Together, they combine their different investigative techniques and unearth a horrific set of events a dysfunctional family have been desperate to cover up for decades. Sounds familiar? It would! This remake doesn’t really change anything to the story and unlike other remakes, sticks with the original Swedish setting. In any other film this would be stupid but TGWDT is so unique with its characters and story that an American or British setting would probably not translate very well…anyone who hasn’t seen either movie yet will very quickly work out why this is the case.
Cast-wise, TGWDT have struck the proverbial goldmine with the casting of Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. Craig in my opinion is a more likable version than his Swedish counterpart, he is more grounded and is just generally better. Mara is a revelation as Lisbeth. Her performance rivals Rapace’s and it would be unfair to try and pick a better portrayal. Mara looks like she actually lived the role and looks totally comfortable in what will surely be the hardest role of her career. Thanks to her total dedication to this role, Rooney Mara has catapulted herself to movie stardom and she deserves it without a shadow of a doubt. Rounding off the movie’s strong cast are veteran actors Christopher Plummer and Stellan Skarsgård who are both brilliant as usual. Joely Richardson also appears in a crucial role and her contribution is a welcome one.
TGWDT is however by no means perfect; at 148 minutes, this film is very long and will cause some backside discomfort! Its adherence to the source material is also probably a little too strict. The movie might be too predictable for long time fans and may even be declared too similar by stronger critics. My main concern with this movie however is not actually with the film itself but with its certification. In NO WAY should this film have been rated a 15 by the BBFC. With three graphic torture scenes (One of those being a very unpleasant rape scene), taboo subject material, very strong sex scenes and language…this film is the epitome of a film that should be strongly considered before viewing in front of minors. Another big mistake made by the classification group and one that hopefully doesn’t result in any copycat crimes.
UPDATE! The 15 certificate has been playing on my mind all evening so I decided to check out the official certification. I was wrong and thankfully the BBFC DID certify this as an 18. My fear does however still stand that in today’s age if a minor was to see this movie it would most likely create a very striking and lasting impression. This folks is not a family film by a long shot! END UPDATE!
Gripes aside, TGWDT is a rare example of a remake which doesn’t take anything away from its foreign counterpart. A movie which will be better accessible by anyone not too fond of subtitles or dubbed audio. Fans of the original movie and the books may also enjoy a new take on the story, characters and overall direction while newcomers will love this tense and enthralling thriller. The score as previously mentioned is also brilliantly composed and the acting is arguably superior in some areas to the original. Its rather refreshing to have a choice of which adaptation to choose from. I personally love them both! If you weren’t lucky enough to catch this at the movies, buy the DVD and enjoy!
Best bit: Lisbeth’s revenge scene is horrifying and empowering at the same time. A horrible scene brilliantly acted, lit and edited.
Worst bit: Some scenes are way too similar to the ones depicted in the original. A couple of scenes are almost shot for shot identical to the Swedish movie.
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