Men who hate women!. Review on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Movie

No, no, I am not posting feminist propoganda on this site in the guise of a review! The reason behind my title, is that the original Swedish book that the movie is based on is titled, "Men who hate women"! The book was later translated into English and named "The girl with the dragon tattoo", as is the movie I am about to review. One note of caution..the movie is in Swedish, and I dont understand a word of the language..but the movie is well sub-titled in english, and has been released in its original form all over the world.

Writer: Steig Larsson (later author the Millenium trilogy of books)

Director: Neils Arlen Oplev

Cast: Michael Nyquist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Andersson, Sven-Bertil Taube.

Plot:

Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyquist) is an upright journalist in Sweden, for a magazine called Millenium, a publication that unflinchingly looks at Swedish society as it is, unmasking the evils in society and the people behind it. One such story gets him in trouble, as it appears he is set up with wrong information, and the movie begins with him facing a 6 month jail term for printing the wrong story.

Being under a cloud, Mikael takes a break from the newspaper and gets called into a remote town in Sweden, to investigate the 40 year old disappearance of a then 16 year old girl, belonging to the wealthy, but mysterious family called the Vangers. Interlaced with this plot is that of the main heroine of the story, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). She is an inscrutable, pierced, tattooed and dangerous young woman, who works for an investigative concern because of her fierce intelligence and her ability to hack into computers anywhere in the world. Lisbeth first comes into contact with Mikael whenshe is asked to look into his past and make sure he is above board. Lisbeth hacks into Mikael's computer and life, and gives him a clean slate. However, she is intrigued by his investigation into the Vanger family, and gets drawn into both Mikael's personal life and his work. Lisbeth obviously has a very dark past and she repeatedly encounters the worst of men in Swedish society..both from the high and low echelons of society. The investigation too turns out to be about men who are vile to women. While this is the crux of the story....the plot lovingly details the enigma that Lisbeth Salander is..and gives us one of the gutsiest heroines of our times!

My Take:

Wow, what a movie!...was my reaction as I watched the fascinating Noomi Rapace/Lisbeth Salander on screen. I hadnt read the trilogy of books (Girl with the dragon tattoo, Girl who plays with fire, Girl who kicked the hornets nest) before I watched the movie. But I was intrigued to read that the author, Steig Larsson, died in 2004 at the age of 50, and that these books were published posthumously. Also that he had been a journalist himself and that his death may not have been entirely due to natural causes!

Steig Larsson obviously had an inside view of Swedish society, so from a cultural perspective, the movie is very informative. I am not familiar with Swedish cinema, and I didnt feel I needed to be cause I could follow everything that was unfolding on screen. The movie is not heavily loaded with dialogue (and what there is is well sub-titled in english) and relies more on an intriguing story, excellent thespian skills/facial expressions of both its lead actors, and the slimy villains that are plentyful!

Its a fast paced thriller that is rather dark and disturbing on occasion, definitely not recommended for the faint hearted. Noomi Rapace is a fabulous actress that brings out the tormented yet inscrutable Lisbeth character brilliantly. Nyquist appears to be a gentle, very likeable actor, who is the perfect foil for the edgy Rapace.

I cant wait for the the other two movies in the series to release. At the moment, I am eagerly devouring the books! Do watch this movie...the best thriller to come out since...well, its been SO LONG since I have been this intrigued, that I cant even remember!