One of the Ten Best Films of 2009

Rating: 10/10 (1 September 2010)

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is probably one of the most daring and original films ever made and easily one of the ten best films made in 2009. This is a film with several different plot lines - one about a very gifted, but anti-social and violent, outsider named Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) who eventually triumphs over amazing odds, another about a brilliant and gutsy journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nvqvist) who takes a chance on a daring story, loses his reputation and liberty and then searches for a comeback, and another about a millionaire Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube) who, before he dies, wants to find out who murdered his daughter Harriet - that all come together in surprising, original and creative ways. This film is also a murder mystery which is so complex and profound that it is engrossing to watch Blomkvist and Salander work together in trying to solve it.
What I find remarkable about this movie is that Swedish director Niels Arden Oplev and writer Nikolaj Arcel are able to take all these different plot lines and create a uniform masterpiece out of it with great cinematography (and there are some really good images in this movie) to boot. And yes the movie lasts for 2 hours and 30 minutes, but I can say unequivocably that this film is so interesting that I did not notice those 150 minutes go by. Furthermore, the performances in this movie are incredible. Noomi Rapace brings to her performance an intellectual brilliance and frenetic energy - as evidenced even by the little things like smoking one cigarette after the next or the abrupt way she interacts with others - that makes the character Lisbeth Salander fascinating to watch. Michael Nyqvist is also wonderful as the journalist Blomkvist who develops the most unexpected, but nonetheless believable, relationship with Salander. But even my assessment here does not give this film its proper due. I feel like telling everyone don't ask me about the plot and don't ask me about the characters. Just watch the movie and experience it for yourself. I would recommend "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to anyone, except to those under the age of 18 since they are likely to be very disturbed by the graphic scenes in this picture. This is a film for adults. Thumbs way up.