The Millennium Trilogy:Part 1.

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2011)

When I was looking at the selection of films that were available at the local BlockBusters that a friend of mine has recently joined,I instantly noticed the cover to a film that I wanted to view right away,called The Girl who Played with Fire.But,due to a friend of my dads telling me that it was the second part to a film that had the very intriguing title of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,I decided to take the risk of getting both parts that are currently out at once,with hardly knowing anything about the highly-praised novels or characters.After having seen this two and a half hour epic first film,I feel that it is one of the best film- related decisions that I have made in the last few years... The Plot:
After having lost a huge court case,over articles printed in Millennium magazine about arms trading, investigative journalist,and Millennium editor Mikael Bloomkvist decides to stay underground,in hopes that if he does go to jail,the Millennium magazine wont fold.How ever,during the Christmas period Mikael gets a phone call,from an old family friend asking him to come visit him.When Bloomkvist arrives,he is told that a girl who used to babysit him was kidnapped decades ago.With the man telling Mikael that he has tried everything that he could do to find her,but he now feels that the only option that he has left is to ask Bloomkvist to look at the case.Meanwhile,a goth Cyber Punk called Lisbeth Salander has been given a job at hacking into Mikaels computer,to look into his activates.When she discovers the case that he is working on,Salander starts sending Bloomkvist cryptic E-Mails.Due to Mikarel surprisingly,being easily able to find her IP address,he goes to visit Salander,to tell her to stop hacking into his computer,and to instead work with him as a partner.Although she is at first very hesitant to, (due to having experience a lot of abuse from men in her life)Mikarel slowly starts to build up a working (and trusting) relationship with Lisbeth.Although they both soon discover,that what seems to be a one missing person case,is in fact something a lot more disturbing... View on the film:
The people who I think glow the most (like a new tattoo) with this film.are,the screenwriters Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaja Arcels.Whoses amazing screenplay makes the very twisting story in the film, impossible to pause from for even a minute.And though I do have to say that the original title that author Stieg Larsson gave to the book,was not exactly the most subtle title that I have ever heard (Men who hate Women-which is one of the main issues that the film series looks at)The script has a very strong amount of subtlety,with some of the main clues to the ending of the film being put right at the very beginning of the film,which are more noticeable on repeat viewings of the movie. With the murder mystery of the film, I strongly feel that this astonishing screenplay, is one of the most thrilling stories that I have seen this year, with all of the cyber hacking parts, not being filled with time wasting made-up techno babble,and the clues in the film to the murderer (such as one of the best parts in the film being the "moving images" section)being completely gripping.
From the very first moments of the film,I was instantly struck by the performance of Noomi Rapace as Lizbeth Salander.In an interview with her on the DVD (that I watched after the film) I was shocked to see how much of a physical change Rapace had done for the role,with her beautiful feminine appearance,being replaced by a very masculine,Gothic look.Along with her impressive physical change,Noomi gives a stunning performance,by always smartly making sure that Lizbeth never turns into a "woe is me" kind of character,but instead is someone who is damaged,yet extremely determined to ruin the people that tried to destroy her.Whilst Rapace is understandably praised,I feel that the performance of Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist is very under rated.Whilst there are a few things that the character does that feels a bit out of place (Im not that sure how many investigated journalist would know how to handle a gun)Nyqvist does a great job at showing Mikael not looking down on Salander,or trying to be some sort of "uncle" to her. Instead,he makes the characters investigation skills something that is very focus and précis.The relationship that Blomkvist has with Lizbeth,is performed by Nyqvist impressively not as condescending,but as someone who seems to be really trying to get Salander to see that he really wants her to have a stable friendship with him,and that he treats her as an equally to himself.Although there are a few signs that he may be looking for something with her,that is more than a "friendship".
Although the film does feature some violent,or very aggressive moments (Slaanders meetings with her "welfare officer",are easily the most disturbing parts in the film.)Impressively director Niels Arden Oplev,does a fantastic job at making the nastier parts of the film never feel out of place,or not being related to the characters struggles.Instead,the scenes help to show (especially in the last half an hour of the film) how Lisbeth and Mikaels partnership,completely complements each character individually,and as a whole.One of the most surprising scenes in the film for me was the sex scene,with Opley doing a clever role-reversal,by having Bloomkvist be the one who seems to have at least a little bit of a desire for there relationship to now become a bit more personal,whilst Salander treats the time that they slept together,as not that important,and as normal as making a cup of tea!.Also,I have to say that the voice dubbing with the film,is by far the strongest and most natural sounding dub that I have ever heard for a film. Final view on the film:
An astonishingly gripping mystery-thriller,with a fantastic script,stunning performances of unforgettable characters all done with great directing by Oplev.