Possibly the best Swedish film of the decade!

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2010)

It's so hard to find a decent suspense thriller nowadays, isn't it? I mean, most thrillers out there DO thrill, but once the film is over you realize all the movie did was spook you momentarily, and you don't even wanna start identifying and analyzing the various goofs, mistakes and unbelievably stupid twists it took for fear of ending up with pieces of a failure in your hands. Yeah, Hollywood tends to do that nowadays with the so-called thrillers that are spewed out by the week. Thank heavens there are still people around who know how to make a thriller that thrills AND manage to make it a heck of a film, complete with a practically flawless plot, characters to die for and an ending that begs for a sequel. One such film is Niels Arden Oplev's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", which I just finished watching and which I love beyond words. And, um, the film's Swedish, by the way...and just as a small side note, I think Swedish filmmakers should all teach Hollywood a lesson or two where thrillers are concerned: in 2008 the Swedish thriller "Let the Right One In" wowed audiences worldwide and now comes "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" with equally powerful results. Need I say more? Anyway, the film's about reporter Mikael Blomqvist (Michael Nyqvist) who's been accused of libel to one of Sweden's larger companies because he published an article in the Millennium journal which he couldn't prove afterwards. Before Mikael serves his short sentence in jail, he accepts a job offer from Henry Vanger, the leader of a highly wealthy family, to investigate the disappearance of Harriet Vanger (Ewa Fröling) who mysteriously went missing 40 years ago and whom no reporter or private investigator has managed to track ever since. Henry suspects someone from his large, wealthy family killed Harriet and is bent on discovering the truth before he dies of old age. Henry believes Mikael is the right man for one last go at the search because of the Intel he's received on his private life, a dossier which a highly intelligent, highly pierced and tattooed computer hacker called Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) has managed to built up. Mikael and Lisbeth team up to solve the age-old mystery surrounding Harriet's disappearance and the disturbing family connections that they must uncover before finally reaching the truth.
Remember Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs"? A flawless thriller if I ever saw one. Remember what made the mystery and the suspense reach out to us? Flawless leading performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, that's what. We'll, we have the same exact case with this film. The story is very mysterious, the truths that are being unraveled on screen are nerve-racking, the suspense keeps you at the edge of your seat...but the lead characters, especially Noomi Rapace (whom I'm ready to hand over the Academy Award to) convinces us that it's not just another thriller à la John Grisham, but that there's actual HUMAN, believable characters there in the mix. Lisbeth is a goth, troubled young woman heaving a heavy past on her shoulders, and she turns up the attitude to the max playing out the fearless heroine of the story... but her down-to-earth performance, her multi-layered characterization, her pitch-perfect acting make her Lisbeth character jump out of the screen and touch us, win us over. We soon find ourselves actively rooting for Mikael and Lisbeth, actually CARING about what happens to them and believing every single thing that happens on screen...and all (or most of it) because of her wonderful performance. The film's focus is principally on Mikael, but whenever Lisbeth's on screen she steals the show hands down.
The story is extremely well done too. Based on the best-seller by Stieg Larsson, it's the first part of his Millennium trilogy (which he managed to complete before his death, may he rest in peace) and which chronicle Mikael and Lisbeth's adventures. While I was watching the film I kept thinking "this is the modern version of The Godfather meets Sherlock Holmes". The Vander family is everything the Corleone family might've been like in the 21st century; they're scary, evil, powerful and degenerate, and each member hides dark, gruesome secrets, and they're all being faced by Mikael and Lisbeth, common people like you and me but extremely intelligent and resourceful. Quite the cinematic mix, don't you think? I heard the sequel, "The Girl who Played with Fire" is already out in Sweden, and that gives me something to look forward to. They also tell me that the American remake of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is also underway, and that gives me something to fear. The U.S. just loves remaking the best films from around the world and they always end up destroying them; and I can't live with the idea of someone else destroying Lisbeth Salander. I heard they're thinking of casting Kristen Stewart in the American version; I recommend casting Noomi Rapace instead. Or better, just digitally insert Rapace's scenes into the American version and the film will have a good chance of being saved.
Look, the film's excellent. It shines with a special brilliance I seldom see in thrillers nowadays, be them American or foreign, and it's a movie experience I'm bound to remember. I highly recommend it. Rating: 4 stars out of 4!!