The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 2010)

I had heard a lot of good things about this Swedish film adapting the best selling books in the "Millennium Trilogy", so I had to see what all the fuss was about. Basically in Stockholm it has been forty years since the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, most people, including her uncle Henrik (Sven-Bertil Taube), believe that she was murdered, even though her body was undiscovered. To find out the truth Henrik, with his lawyer Dirch Frode (Ingvar Hirdwall), hire journalist and Millennium magazine chief-editor Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), who was recently released from prison for slander, to investigate. Also hired for the same investigation is ruthless computer hacker, with the large tattoo of a dragon on her back, Lisbeth Salander (BAFTA nominated Noomi Rapace), who hacks into Mikael's files. Both have travelled to Hedeby Island near Hedestadt to follow leads to see what happened to Harriet on the last day she was sen, with the access to some revealing photographs, where she apparently is looking at her kidnapper. While Mikael examines these photographs, Lisbeth needs some favours, such as money, from controlling lawyer and her probationary guardian Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson). It is when Lisbeth refuses to give Nils sexual favours that he turns aggressive and sadistically rapes her, but she gets her revenge after revealing she secretly taped it, threatens to release it, and tattoos the words "I am a sadistic pig and a rapist" on his stomach. Eventually Mikael and Lisbeth cross paths, and realise they are both on the same assignment, so they join forces to continue the investigation, where revelations of other murders and dark family secrets crop up. Obviously this investigation is putting Mikael and Lisbeth in danger, so there are one or two chase sequences, and along the way it seems the couple are becoming very close indeed. After so much searching and determination, Lisbeth seems to go off somewhere, but Mikael finds Harriet (Ewa Fröling) living and well, after being afraid to go back, she was the one sending the suspicious flowers in frames, and her uncle is overjoyed when they reunite. In the end, Mikael returns to his working as a journalist, while he sees Lisbeth disguised in photos going off somewhere after hacking millions out of the account of Hans-Erik Wennerström (Stefan Sauk). Also starring Lena Endre as Erika Berger, Peter Haber as Martin Vanger, Marika Lagercrantz as Cecilia Vanger and Björn Granath as Gustav Morell. If you are lucky enough to have the English dubbed version, I think this film makes much more sense that way, Rapace is brilliant as the title character, and Nyqvist is reliable too. The director makes sure there are plenty of shock moments, the tension keeps building, and there are twists and turns to revel, it is an impressive crime thriller. It won the BAFTA for Best Film not in the English Language, and it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Very good!