Dark thriller

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2010)

I saw this last month at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival where it played to full theaters. The novel by Stieg Larsson from which this film was adapted is heavily stocked in large American bookstores and I would assume many who went to the screenings had read the novel. I had not read the book but I did talk with several who did and although they liked the novel better and felt it was too difficult to condense the book into a two and half hour movie they did like the on screen adaptation by Nikilaj Arcel and Ramus Heisterberg. Two and a half hours may seem long to some but this film keeps your interest throughout and even though it may seem slow at times I did like its pacing. directed by Niels Arden Oplev this is the story of Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Myqvist) who is a disgraced investigative journalist who is awaiting a prison sentence. He is hired by an aging tycoon Henrik Vander (Sven-Bertil Taube) to do what the police couldn't and solve the disappearance of his niece nearly 40 years before. He is aided by a goth computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) who is a genius at investigations herself. This unlikely combination takes on the unsavory Vander family that is filled with Nazi sympathizers. There are some disturbing violent scenes in this dark thriller that may not be suitable to some. Nyqvist, who seems to be in almost every Swedish movie made is kind of stiff in this role but Rapace is intriguing. Nice production design by Niels Sejer and music score from Jacob Groth. This will play in American art houses and expect an American remake. I would recommend it an give it an 8.0 out of 10.