A Star is Born...

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2010)

In one of the most pleasant surprises to grace the screens in 2010, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (or if you prefer, Män som hatar kvinnor) is one of the best films of the year so far. Director Niels Arden Oplev has placed a stamp on foreign and independent cinema in a big way that I haven't seen since Fernando Mierelles blazed the screens with City of God.
Oplev's Swedish-language film, based on the popular book series by the late Stieg Larsson, and adapted for the screen by Nikolaj Arcel & Rasmus Heisterberg, tells the story of a journalist and a female computer hacker, who's paths cross in order to solve a 40-year old missing person case within a powerful and corrupt family, where no one trusts no one. The film is such a terrific and smart thriller, encapsulating all the great things about the mystery genre into one tightly wrapped cinematic experience.
One of the most spectacular things to come out of the film is the breakthrough and stellar performance of newcomer Noomi Rapace, who sizzles in her role as "Lisbeth Salander," the guarded yet vulnerable computer genius, who finds herself drawn to the honorable "Mikael Blomkvist" played tenderly by Mihcael Nyqvist. Rapace bares her soul in the complex Lisbeth, which allows her to keep the audience at a distance, never allowing us near unless she gives permission. It's a rare experience in film to feel so distant from a character yet yearn and fight to be close and understand them, that's the achievement of Rapace's performance.
Nyqvist is the film's Knight in shining armor, trusting himself to the character and laying it down so effortlessly. He gains the trust and admiration of the audience early on and sustains it for the long runtime of 2 hours and 34 minutes. The rest of the cast, all turn in superb and fierce performances from the grotesque family members to the heinous and evil parole guardian, you will find yourself on a emotional roller-coaster.
What the film does is set the pace and the excitement for the future adaptations of the series, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, all slated for releases in the next year. Hopefully with its very independent and limited release, a honorable movie-goer can experience the new generation of mystery films standing next to the greatness of Alfred Hitchcock's infamous thrillers in his career. Oplev and his writing team reinvent the genre and raise it to new levels.
***½/****