The first of the Stieg Larsson films

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2010)

All of us who have read the three Stieg Larsson novels have eagerly awaited the cinematic versions of these riveting stories. The first novel was titled MEN WHO HATE WOMEN, but in English this was changed to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, due to the fact that the heroine Lisbeth Salander has such a tattoo. Larsson's main theme in his fiction, however, was the horrific abuse of women in Swedish society, which proves that it does not take a burka to reduce a woman to a humiliated state. It has recently emerged in press reports of a forthcoming book about Larsson by an old friend that the formative experience in Larsson's life was a traumatic incident in his teens where he witnessed the rape of a girl he knew by three of his friends, and was too much of a coward to intervene to stop them. He later asked the girl to forgive him, and she refused. He spent the rest of his life seared with guilt over this and his atonement was to write these horrifying exposés of the underbelly of life in modern Sweden. The three novels are known as 'the Millennium Trilogy', after the magazine Millennium of which the hero, Michael Blomkvist, is editor. Larsson himself was editor of a similar magazine, the name of which was Expo, because it did exposés, particularly of the ex-Nazis and Neo-Nazis of Sweden (who figure strongly in this film). Sweden is well known to have been a major 'ODESSA' destination for fleeing Nazis after the War and repository for much of the Nazi gold, and as a left-winger, Larsson campaigned against the Nazis and their sympathisers relentlessly. Many of these people were amongst the women-haters, rapists, torturers and imprisoners of women whom Larsson also wished to expose, as he does in this story. The Swedes have filmed all three novels, and all these films have already been shown there. The first of the series is now available on DVD with English subtitles, soon to be followed by the other two. The DVD of this film contains an important interview in English with the actress Noomi Rapace who plays Lisbeth (she pronounces her name Noomi to rhyme with 'gloomy'), as well as one with the producer. Both are very much worth watching. The casting of the two leads in the film is perfect. Rapace spent a year and a half 'as Lisbeth', making the three films, and apart from being too tall, is otherwise just about identical with the character in the book, to a truly astonishing degree. Michael Nyqvist is also perfect as Mikael Blomkvist. The Swedish films also have authenticity from having been made by Swedes in Sweden. Hollywood is currently doing remakes of all three films, but there is depressing news about that. They have chosen the infinitely boring and uninspiring (not to say highly irritating!) Daniel Craig to play Mikael Blomkvist. He is absolutely not right. Of the three novels, this one is the least interesting, because it is essentially the horrific saga of the dysfunctional Vanger Family, many of whom were Nazis. The most interesting of the three novels is the last one, which exposes the fantastic corruption of a rogue faction within the Swedish security services. That is the scariest of the books because of its wider implications. The intensely neurotic and introverted Lisbeth Salander is a remarkable literary character creation, a kind of autistic computer genius with a photographic memory who solves advanced mathematical equations in her head for fun. What we learn about her background and vicissitudes is such a horrifying revelation of some of the unpalatable aspects of Sweden that it puts you right off that country, and if it weren't for my faith in Selma Lagerlof, I might think the country should be shunned as a consequence. A great deal of material from the novel is necessarily omitted from the film, which contains very little about the character and story of Wennerstrom, for instance. One of the finest performances is by Peter Andersson, as the evil and sinister Nils Bjurman. He is so convincing, one wants to attack the screen. Sven-Bertil Taube is just right as the elderly Henrik Vanger. As regards the forthcoming Hollywood versions of these films, there are so far two sparks of hope: Erika Berger will be played in the Hollywood versions by Robin Wright (formerly Robin Wright Penn), and she is a very good choice indeed for that character, better in fact than the Swedish actress. And Stellan Skarsgard will play Martin Vanger, which he will do brilliantly. If he were younger, he would be the perfect Mikael Blomkvist, but he is 59, 17 years older than Craig, and so it wouldn't work. The casting of Lisbeth has not been announced, and we all must wait nervously for this casting decision. I suppose the little lost waifs Winona Ryder or Jennifer Jason Leigh would have been suitable when they were younger, especially the latter, as she was able to be tough as nails whilst at the same time being as fragile as a cobweb (never knew how she did that!). Let's hope producer Scott Rudin can think laterally and come up with some brilliant inspiration or even find an amazing unknown. He has a chance to 'go for gold', so let's hope he makes it. Of course, they could always cast Noomi Rapace, as she speaks English and knows more about Lisbeth than anybody alive. Why not? All three Swedish DVDs are already on sale with German subtitles, but only this one so far with English subtitles.