The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
Up until this week I had studiously avoided all incarnations of this series. I have not read the books because, being the contrary mite that I am, I do not like to be seen to be reading something that everyone else is reading. Yes, I know at my age that's ridiculous, but I can't seem to shake it. I think for me the problem is, as a reader (and by that I mean someone who has ALWAYS had at least one book on the go since I was about 5 years old, someone that takes reading seriously, someone who finds refuge in books)... that if I read 'that book' that everyone is reading, whatever it may be, then somehow I become one of the non-readers... you know, people who read books once a year because R&J told them to. I know how palpably insane this is, but I'm just being honest.
So I still haven't read the books, but after seeing this film, I just might. After getting over my initial indignant rage at the option on the DVD menu to have the film dubbed instead of sub-titled with the original Swedish dialogue (the sacrilege!); I then discovered that eating gnocchi and salad whilst reading subtitles can be quite messy. Oh well. After ALL of that, I proceeded to get utterly sucked into this film. I really really enjoyed it. Well enjoyed is a difficult word for a film filled with lots of rape and murder, but enjoy it I did, nonetheless.
It's not a genre I'm well-versed in, but I think I can say with some confidence that Tattoo didn't stray too far from the key tenets of the genre, which I'm identifying as a sort of grimy thriller. Thriller is a apt word here, as thrilling is exactly what it was, this film drags you along like a roller coaster. One thing to point out, this isn't for the faint-hearted, for a non-niche film it's very dark. A lot of incredibly violent scenes that it doesn't cut away from, keeping everything visceral and up-close. It's rather curious to see how differently you respond as a viewer to these sorts of scenes, depending on who is perpetrating the crime, and who is the victim. I'd be interested to know if anyone else openly applauded the revenge-abuse scene, I didn't think I was so 'eye-for-an-eye' about things, but clearly I'm more of a psycho than I thought.
Also worthy of note are the excellent visuals in this film, the overall pallet is stark, almost chiaroscuro. The landscapes, which are so much a part of the story, are beautifully shot. A telling contrast between the grimy, grey cityscapes, all sickly unnatural light and dim corners; and then the harsher bright-white-snow and dark woods-and-water of the island scenes. The investigation at the heart of the story takes our leads to the almost-wilderness of an isolated, snow-covered island, where the stunning, primal scenery reveals the long-hidden truth of heinous, primal crimes.
I have suffered from a lifelong romanticisation of all Northern European places, all that snow and forest, I'm just in love with the landscape, and anywhere that looks like that has to be a lovely place right? WRONG - according to this film at least, this has put me off Sweden for life. Furthermore, if the 'world' of this film is to be believed, almost all men are vicious, sadistic bastards. Which is a shame, coz I used to like boys. Now I'm just scared of them.
So, this film disturbed me and I disturbed myself, but it's incredibly well made and definitely worth a watch. I'd recommend watching it on your own though, this sort of horrible stuff is harder to stomach if there's more than one of you in the room, I find!
Image from guardian.co.uk - with thanks.
My gosh, I wasn't aware you hadn't read them....why would I be, right? I loved the books just a tiny bit before the big boom! Such a great central performance; not a strictly hornourable adaption, but what film ever is? Glad you enjoyed this, Sam. Second film drops the ball a little, but apparently the third picks it right back up. I highly recommend the series; the finale to the books is very tense and impressive
ReplyDeleteOh and by the way, I'm glad you, unlike quite a lot of people have said, were happy with the vengeange element. I, like you, applauded and had absolutely no problem with the violence; it actually trims down the book's descriptions. On that note, I find this material to be so up Fincher's street it's ridiculous; to the extent that had the originals not been made, I would be so sure that Fincher would have already been ready to make them. Comparisons are obviously unavoidable, but I do not doubt he will adapt the material very well. I also find it amusing how some are hoping he doesn't hold back on the more tough elements of the story...I take it they haven't seen his previous work :)
ReplyDelete....but nobody will ever be a better Salander and Blomkvist, despite how good they might be :)
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