Friday, April 9, 2010
By Abby Watkins
Staff Writer
Any studio executive could figure out that trying to profit off of a foreign language film is financial suicide. A subtitled film appeals to an American moviegoer about as much as a film about the Iraq war does, relegating non-English releases to quick deaths in art houses or limited showings.
This is an unfortunate trend, because the thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” has the perfect mix of mystery, suspense and action that could have resulted in a huge hit if only the film didn’t happen to be in Swedish.
The film centers on Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a popular reporter whose exposé of a major Swedish corporation lands him both a prison sentence for libel and the attention of former tycoon Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), who has spent the last 40 years haunted by the mysterious death of his niece.
Blomkvist begins an investigation into the decades-old case and starts to uncover new, potentially important information about the suspects. As he seems to hit a dead end in his search, he begins to receive help from Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a young hacker riddled with piercings, tattoos and endless emotional issues.
Her skill with computers helps to reveal the crime as not an isolated event, but rather part of a larger, twisted series of murders. With a limited list of suspects, she and Blomkvist work to piece together the clues and uncover what exactly happened to Vanger’s niece.
Adapted from a bestselling novel by Stieg Larsson, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” clocks in at nearly three hours long but uses its time wisely. The movie edits the book judiciously, leaving the essence of the novel intact, and is paced perfectly, neither speeding through nor dwelling on a single subject.
The characters are the true centerpiece of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” Lisbeth, in particular, is a movie heroine unlike any other; she is bisexual, psychologically damaged and stand-offish. Blomkvist is a more standard suspense hero, but he satisfies the functions that the plot requires of him without falling into conventional character traps.
The plot has all of the twists and unexpected moments that one would expect in a film of its genre. What stands out is not the film’s ‘whodunit’ aspect, but the way it uses violence, particularly sexual violence. Whereas Hollywood would glamorize or exploit this subject matter, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” displays rape and abuse with realistic brutality, leaving the viewer appropriately disconcerted and angry.
The plot unfortunately falters in the middle part of the movie, which slides into a stereotypical romance storyline that doesn’t fit the portraits that the filmmakers have painted. The lack of chemistry between the two leads highlights the awkwardness of the subplot, and their scenes together distract from the excellent storyline. It is a small enough part of the film that it does not ultimately detract from the overall quality, but it is an unfortunate misstep all the same.
There are already talks of an American remake of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” which is completely unnecessary as well as unwise. The setting of Sweden is intertwined throughout; transplanting the story to a more American-friendly location would dilute some of the most vital aspects of a suspense movie: the atmosphere and mood. The dreary, unsettling Swedish countryside helps to heighten the tension in a way that could not easily be replicated. There is no reason to remake this film. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a thoughtful, exciting thriller that is worth seeing as is.
The film is unrated (but viewers should be aware that it contains moderate violence and depictions of rape) and is currently playing in limited release at various independent theaters, including Los Angeles’s own Landmark Theater.
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