Movie Review: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" directed by David Fincher

                                              Movie Review: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”


     The new American version of the first installment of Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium Trilogy” is very, very good.  For those who don’t know the story, a discredited journalist named Mikael Blomqvist is hired by Henrick Vanger,  a wealthy Swedish family patriarch, to solve the decades old disappearance and presumed death of his beloved niece, Harriet Vanger.  Harriet disappeared as a sixteen year old on the same day that a truck accident blocked the only bridge leading off of the island which contains the family compound.  Her body was never found.  The only lingering clues are framed wildflowers which are sent annually to Henrik, presumably by the girl’s killer.  Mikael enlists the aid of Lisbeth Salander, the girl of the title, an ace researcher who can get around any computer security encryption.  Lisbeth is a deeply troubled young woman prone to violence, revenge, bisexuality, body piercing and tattoos.  Mikael’s search for the long lost niece uncovers a probable serial killer, most likely one of the Vangers, but which one?  Several of the uncles were Nazi sympathizers and all of the Vangers have issues, either with alcohol, anti-Semitism or anti-social behavior.  Eventually Mikael and Lisbeth independently identify the culprit, ableit nearly too late to save Mikael’s life.  The solution to the fate of Harriet Vanger is revealed, although simplified in this version of the story.

     David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" has many strengths.  The casting is brilliant.  I thought that Daniel Craig would be a bit too macho to portray Mikael, but this former James Bond displays enough wariness, uncertainty and even fear to be convincing.   Rooney Mara is superb as Lisbeth, portraying the character’s twin natures: vulnerable waif and vengeful control freak.  The supporting cast is excellent also, particularly Chritopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger.

     The cinematography adds to the general creepiness of the story.  The snowy landscapes of the Vanger estate make you feel at times like you are watching a black and white Hitchcock film rather than a modern blockbuster.  The city-scapes are also draped in winter drab, adding to the somber atmosphere.

      The highlight of the film, though, may be the opening credits, played over a heavy metal remake of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Immigrant Song” which was director David Fincher’s idea brought to life by Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor.  This American movie is very similar to the Swedish version, although the lack of subtitles is a definite plus for this one.  Rooney Mara’s interpretation of Lisbeth Salander is different from Noomi Rapace’s, but not necessarily better.  I thought Mara’s occasional humorous moments helped the character seem more real.

     This is not a movie for the faint of heart, however.  The violent rape scenes are disturbing and the photos of the serial killer's victims which Mikael and Lisbeth uncover are equally difficult to view.

      All in all, though, this is a very good rendition of Steig Larsson’s haunting story.

The Millennium Trilogy, Part 2 - The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The Millennium Trilogy

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl Who Played With Fire

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

By Stieg Larsson

           

(Blogger Note: This review was published in the October, 2010 edition of "LAMLight," the phyician newsletter of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine and completes my review of the The Millennium Trilogy begun in the previous blog post.)

In my last blog post I began a review of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy.  As you may recall, these books have sold over 27 million copies in forty countries over the past five years.  The author, Stieg Larsson, was a Swedish political activist and journalist who died at age 50 from coronary disease shortly after turning the books into his publisher.  Again, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was reviewed in my last blog post and I will conclude in this post with a review of the final two books of the trilogy, The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. 

             The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduces the two main characters who dominate all three books.  They are Lisbeth Salander, a mysterious and socially awkward young woman in her twenties and Mikael Blomqvist, a discredited journalist.  In Dragon Tattoo the two team up to investigate a decades old missing person case which eventually discloses a serial killer and sexual predator.  Lisbeth uses her skills as a computer hacker to help with the investigation.  As Dragon Tattoo concludes, Lisbeth also provides the information which vindicates Blomqvist.  Her new information (obtained by illegal computer investigation) overturns Mikael’s previous libel conviction and puts him back in good standing with the journalism community.  Using her abilities as a computer genius,  Lisbeth also steals all of the industrialist’s money (billions of dollars).  Lisbeth proceeds to leave the country in a jealous rage when she sees Mikael back with his part-time lover and editor of the magazine he works for.       

              Played with Fire opens with Michael hard at work as a publisher of “Millennium” magazine.  He is working with two free-lance reporters on a story to expose sex trafficking in Sweden.  The research that these two free lancers have produced implicates some police as well as high placed Swedish politicians and security officers.  One mysterious character keeps turning up in the investigation, identified only by the letter “Z”.  Meanwhile, Lisbeth has returned to Sweden, mainly because of boredom, but also to reconnect with her lesbian lover Miriam Wu.  As the article on sex trafficking is near completion, the two free lance writers are found shot in their apartment by none other than Mikael Blomqvist.  On the same evening that the two writers are murdered, Lisbeth’s previous legal custodian is murdered as well.  Circumstantial evidence links Lisbeth to the crimes and a nationwide search is begun.  The only person in Sweden who is convinced of Lisbeth’s innocence is Mikael Blomqvist.  The book then follows a chase to find Lisbeth – by the police who are convinced she is a mad serial killer, by Mikael Blomqvist who loyally wants to prove that she is not guilty of these  crimes and, finally, by members of the Swedish security community who have much more sinister motives.  The reader eventually discovers that the mysterious “Z” character is actually a Russian spy named Zalachenko who defected to the Swedes during the Cold War.  He was “handled” and protected by a small cadre of special security agents within the Swedish secret police.  Zalachenko also turns out to be Lisbeth Salander’s father.  He has a record of physical violence, including beating Lisbeth’s mother into a coma.  He also is the mastermind behind the ring of criminals responsible for the trafficking of young Eastern European girls for the purpose of prostitution.  The plot of this second book is nothing if not tortuous.   Following the trails of Lisbeth Salander as she eludes the police, Zalachenko’s various compatriots as they try to cover up his crimes and the actual police who are clueless as to the complexity of the situation, is difficult.  The many Swedish names are similar and therefore difficult to remember.  The fact that two main characters are named Nieminen (a biker dude who tries to destroy evidence and find Salander under the direction of Zalachenko) and Niedermann (Zalachenko’s son and Salander’s half-brother who operates as a bodyguard and hit-man) makes the whole thing difficult to decipher.  The conclusion of Played with Fire is really just a “page break” and resolves few of the issues raised in the plot:  The relationship between Salander and Zalachenko is well-defined, but their fates are literally hanging.  Both of these characters are critically injured in a final confrontation on an isolated farm.

            This is the way that Kicked the Hornet’s Nest begins:  Salander is in the operating room for a gun shot wound to her head.  Zalachenko has a severe ax wound to his face and other less critical injuries.  Niedermann is on the loose, having killed a policeman during his escape from the final confrontation in Played with Fire.  During most of Hornet’s Nest  Salander is in the hospital recovering from her injury.  Zalachenko is assassinated in his hospital bed (by whom is a critical plot line).  It has become clear by now that Lisbeth was not responsible for the murders in the Played with Fire, but she is being charged with the attempted murder of her father.  Blomqvist is even more determined to prove Lisbeth’s innocence and find out who has been protecting Zalachenko all of these years and why.  Blomqvist also discovers the identities of the security agents who controlled Zalachenko over the decades and unravels all of their misdeeds.  These injustices included falsifying psychiatric evaluations of the teenaged Salander, thus committing her to years in a mental institution to keep her from exposing her infamous father (Zalachenko).  Blomqvist (with the aid of a recovering Salander and her computer skills) finally figures out the whole mess, writes a huge expose and Salander is finally vindicated.  During all this, Blomqvist also falls in love with one of the female police investigators, but does manage to reconcile with Salander by the end of the Trilogy.

            Upon completing The Millennium Trilogy I am reminded of a quote attributed to  Sir Winston Churchill.  When asked about a colleague Churchill is reported to have said:  "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."  These novels have many “virtues”.  They have fast-pace action sequences with explicitly detailed violence and sex (often together).  The three volume plot is very sinister and complex; by the mid-point of Played with Fire the plot is complex to the point of being almost impossible to follow.  There is an almost obligatory court scene at the conclusion of Hornet’s Nest which, while wrapping up some plot-line “loose ends”, seems anti-climactic.   The “vices” which I relish in a good novel include these:  First and foremost, I prefer likable characters.  The author, while developing his characters well and giving us plenty of back-story to really get to know them, never makes any of his characters very sympathetic.  When a story concerns a tragic victim, especially one of such epic proportions as Lisbeth Salander, I want to like the character.  It’s hard to really like Lisbeth Salander.  The reader can’t help but feel sorry for her, but like her?  I think not.  Mikael Blomqvist, who represents the hero of these stories, is ethically sound as an investigative journalist but has the sexual mores of an alley cat.  Blomqvist’s own sister, an attorney who represents Salander, even describes her brother as someone who “screws his way through life without regard to the consequences”.  This represents a contradiction which was hard for me to resolve.  The cabal of government security people, psychiatrists and lawyers who conspire to imprison Lisbeth and protect her despicable father are not flawed characters with mis-guided good intentions.  They are egotistical, delusional and (for the most part) sex driven maniacs.  What’s to like or relate to in these characters?  Not much.   I also enjoy and appreciate thorough description of place and setting, which the author did a great job of in the first book but abandons in the last two. 

            In summary, The Millennium Trilogy, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, is an international publishing phenomenon.  These books are well written, fast paced and intriguing.  The subject matter contains details which are not for the faint of heart. The characters are multi-dimensional and (at least Lisbeth Salander) unusual but not particularly likable.  The story is complex, but, in the end, complete.  Apparently there is a nearly finished fourth book that has been found in Mr. Larsson’s laptop.  Who knows where this will lead?

The Millennium Trilogy, Part 1 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Millennium Trilogy

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

By Stieg Larsson

(Blogger Note: This review was originally published in September, 2010 in "The LAMLight", the physician newsletter of the Lynchburg Academy of Medicine.  It is posted here in anticipation of the new American movie based on this book to be released December, 2011.)

            Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy has become an international publishing phenomenon over the past five years.  The author’s tragic story adds a dimension to these novels which has played a part in generating enormous public interest.  Stieg Larsson was a political activist and the editor of a Swedish Trotskyist journal.  He exposed racist and extremist groups in his role as editor and journalist.  He was also an avid science fiction fan.  He was an admirer of such authors as Val McDermid, Sara Paretsky and Carol O’Connell and first entertained the idea of writing his own crime novels in the late 1990s.  He proceeded to write outlines for ten books.  He had the first two written and the third nearly complete before seeking a publisher.  After initial rejections he received a publishing contract in Sweden for three books.  In 2004, shortly after finishing the third novel in what has become known as The Millennium Trilogy, and before the first book was published, Larsson died of a heart attack at age 50.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was published posthumously in 2005 and by 2008 he was the second most read international author (behind only Khalid Hosseini).  By 2010, after publication of The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, his novels have sold over 27 million copies in forty countries.  Stieg Larsson is also the first author to sell one million e-books on Amazon.com.  In the September 5, 2010 edition of the “Lynchburg News and Advance” Larsson owned the top spot on the hard-back fiction list with Hornet’s Nest and the top two spots on the paperback fiction list with the first two installments.  His novels have won too many awards to list and continue to fascinate an international audience.  So, what’s all the fuss about?

            The trilogy really is one moderately long story (contained in Dragon Tattoo) and a second really long story divided between Played with Fire and Hornet’s Nest.  I decided to review them that way as well and so in this blog post I’ll discuss the first book and in the next post I’ll conclude with the last two.

            The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo introduces the two main characters who dominate all three books.  The first is Lisbeth Salander, a mysterious and socially awkward young woman in her twenties.  She intermittently plays bass in an all girl alternative rock band and works for a security company doing free-lance work.  Her main skill in this arena is her ability to hack into any computer or server with record speed.  She has very little affect, reacts inappropriately to social cues and, generally, is a misfit.  Although the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome is never used in any of the books, it is apparent that she probably has a variant of that disorder.  Interestingly, the author created the character after a conversation with some of his colleagues regarding what characters in children’s literature would be like as grown-ups.  Lisbeth, apparently, is based on a grown-up Pippi Longstocking as imagined by Stieg Larsson. 

It is in her capacity as a computer hacker that Salander meets Mikael Blomqvist.  Blomqvist is a journalist and co-editor of a monthly political journal (named “Millennium”) who is investigating a Swedish industrialist.  An article regarding this industrialist’s misappropriation of funds and involvement in international illegal arms trafficking is eventually published by “Millennium”.  Blomqvist is sued for libel and loses his court case, owing the industrialist reparations and sentenced to three months in jail.  While awaiting incarceration, Blomqvist is hired by Henrik Vanger, the patriarch of one of Sweden’s wealthiest families.  Henrik wants the journalist to investigate the disappearance of his favorite niece Harriett.  Harriett Vanger disappeared during a family meeting forty years earlier and was presumed murdered, although her body was never found.  Blomqvist takes residence on the isolated Vanger estate and enlists Lisbeth Salander’s aid in researching the family.  Quickly the two discover closets full of Vanger family secrets, including Nazi collaborators, religious zealots and general family dysfunction.  What follows is a very complicated investigation with unexpected twists and turns.  Various family members come under suspicion regarding Harriett’s disappearance.  Sinister attempts are made to thwart Blomqvist and Salander’s investigation.  The conclusion of this book reveals a serial killer who abducted and sexually molested immigrant girls over the course of many decades.  The complicity of members of the Vanger family and the reasons (and the culprit) for Harriett’s disappearance are revealed.  Some of the gory details of the killer’s actions were a little graphic for my taste.

During the investigation Mikael and Lisbeth become lovers and we learn a lot about both characters.  These details play key roles in the plot lines of the second two novels.  We learn that Lisbeth was confined to a mental institution between the ages of twelve and fifteen and still must report to a case worker because she is considered mentally incompetent by the state.  Lisbeth is also revealed as bisexual and completely unpredictable.  Mikael has a complicated love life himself, carrying on a long-term affair with his married co-publisher while having other lovers (including Lisbeth) at the same time. 

This novel is more than just the introduction of the two main characters.  The plot is fast-moving missing person tale, is surprising and holds the reader’s interest.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the only novel of the three which has a plot which “stands alone” and can be read without reading the other two.  The supporting characters are well developed also and are all interesting.  The descriptions of Swedish cityscapes and the more rural settings of the Vander estate are rich and reminiscent of the work of another Scandinavian author, Norwegian Per Petterson (Out Stealing Horses). 

There are some troublesome aspects to this book, in my opinion.  I have talked to several people who have read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and steadfastly refuse to even consider reading the follow-ups.  First is the amount of graphic violent and sexual detail which I mentioned earlier.  I think that the most difficult feature, however, is the general disregard for the female characters in the book.   Ironically, Larsson’s original title for this manuscript was Men Who Hate Women.  Just as you wouldn’t judge English culture only on the writings of Ian Fleming, or American culture on the writings of say, Tom Clancy, then I don’t think you can judge Swedish culture based only on the writings of Stieg Larsson.  However, in this novel anyway, women seem to be held in low regard, viewed mainly as sexual objects and somewhat interchangeable and disposable.  The most extreme example of this is the serial killer who is identified at the conclusion, but some of the other characters (including Mikael Blomqvist) are guilty of the same tendencies. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an intriguing read with a plot that holds interest and unique characters.  The setting in Sweden is a plus and the writing is excellent.  Twenty seven million readers tend to agree.  If you are only going to read one of the trilogy, this is the one, but be prepared for a wild ride.

There is an excellent Swedish movie with the same title based on this book.  The movie follows the plot of the book fairly accurately, although they simplify Michael Blomqvist’s love life and confine his list of paramours to Lisbeth Salander.  This makes Blomqvist a bit more of a sympathetic character than in the book.  The movie also alludes to Lisbeth’s early mental illness issues, but the reasons for this are not well laid out and I think would be difficult to understand without having read the book.  Cinematically, the movie is stunning.  The movie brings the images from the novel of modern Stockholm as well as the rural countryside vividly to life.  The Vanger estate, in the movie, is particularly beautiful, filmed during the winter and spring seasons.  This story has also been optioned by one of the Hollywood studios.  It will be interesting to see if the American movie is nearly as good as the Swedish one. 

(Next post I’ll conclude with a review of The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.)