“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is a two-and-half-hour, subtitled serial killer thriller from Sweden that ought to carry an NC-17 rating. It is a dark, grisly, great film. Based on the popular book and boasting the original European on-screen title of “Men Who Hate Women,” this is the most disturbing and deep crime film I have seen in ages. Director Niels Arden Oplev pulls no punches in depictions of murder, hangings, rapes and crime scene photography. This puts the word “horror” back in the genre, a reminder that films about killers and mass death must not glamorize crime. Even a young girl kills here.
The plot follows newly disgraced left-wing journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) as he bolts from Stockholm for a one-shot gig at helping an elderly billionaire solve the case of his murdered niece. The girl went missing 40-odd years ago, and the dying man suspects none and all of his family. Meanwhile, a young punk hacker named Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) who was hired to investigate Mikael continues to follow him, fascinated by the man’s mettle, even as she is horribly violated by her parole officer. Lisbeth is no wallflower. She is as powerful as the fire-spewing dragon inked on her back, and has a devastating past only hinted at, leaving me desperately curious: Who is this woman? She is the mystery here, fascinating to watch. (Rapace rules the film in a star-making act.)
“Dragon” is the rare thriller that focuses on character flaws, gifts, demons, nightmares, shortcomings, and they way these people bounce off and well, kill, each other. No cartoon teenagers, or whacked out masked killers here, nor heroic SWAT teams knocking doors down, nor are miracle heroics involved. It’s more similar to “Zodiac” (2007) with its depiction of investigative tactics, paperwork and the grinding brain work required in criminal cases. Mikael is a regular guy scared for his life. It’s Lisbeth who has the active hero role. (Update/August 2010: Lisbeth is much more the active heroine here at the climax than the book, a rather odd sex fantasy book for men that left me cold.)
A major gripe: Having “Girl” in the American book title and the onscreen subtitle translation implies a certain sexism. If this were about a 20-something man, this would not be the “The Boy with the Dragon Tattoo.” A silly move. I daresay Lisbeth is the most complex female snoop I have seen on screen since Jodie Foster starred in “The Silence of the Lambs.” There’s an American remake in the works by David Fincher of “Se7en” and “Zodiac” fame. He is the only American director alive that can pull off a re-do of this material. This “Dragon” will be a major trick to top though. A
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