The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

punchdrunk

anyone know when this is out?

just finished the first book and I'm hooked!

Roddy23

Saturday 27th showing it in the Savoy:-

http://jdiff.ticketsolve.com/shows/23497760/events

punchdrunk

excellent thanks!

Zero-Cool

Just got this book for my gf. Is it any good? From IMDB ,movie sounds interesting. Would much prefer to see the original version before Hollywood makes a masacre of it

delbertgrady

The book is excellent. The film adaptation trims a lot of surplus stuff out, but the changes work very well. I thought it was a very good page-to-screen translation.

billymitchell

delbertgrady wrote: »

The book is excellent. The film adaptation trims a lot of surplus stuff out, but the changes work very well. I thought it was a very good page-to-screen translation.

Good to hear, I was thinking of checking this out this week at some stage. Its about the only film in the cinema's at the moment that I want to see and haven't yet!!

pixelburp

I saw this the other night. I'm not sure that it did the book justice and felt the adaptation a bit unfocused. The pace seemed a bit muddled: although the "missing girl" case seemed to progress much faster than in the book, the movie itself felt sluggish.

As for the characters, the adaptation effectively sidelines the titular Lisbeth Salander, which seems a bit odd, in favour of Blomkvist (the journalist). Cinematically her story seems tacked on and her motivations remain unclear throughout. We're barely given any time to establish who this person, what her background is, any kind of detail that might indicate why we're following her.

More irritatingly, in some places the trimming caused a few plot holes. Namely (spoilers from the book and film follow:

The dried flowers for one. In the book we learn that a relative - working as an air steward - was responsible for posting these flowers, and had helped the missing girl escape Sweden back in '65. In the film, this relative is chronologically killed off soon after the girl's escape, and the missing girl aways to Autralia. So how did the dried flowers get posted from Hong Kong et al?

The justification for Blomkvist taking the case in the first instance - the promise of dirt on a corrupt businessman - is totally jettisoned. This was a huge lynchpin of Blomkvist's actions in the novel, strange that it was carelessly dropped.

pinksoir

I watched this last night. It was really, really good. Much better than I expected it to be. I'm very surprised there hasn't been more interest in it on this board.

I haven't read the book so I came into the film blind as it were. I had no idea to expect, but I was impressed by the style of film making - close enough to a gritty British murder mystery, but with a much, much darker and twisted overtone. It paints a very grim picture of Sweden, and of human nature in general. It's perfectly paced, and despite feeling like it's far longer than it is (at 142 mins, though I believe the Swedish uncut version is 3 hours long) it keeps your interest consistently, never dwelling on anything for longer than you feel it should. It unfolds and introduces characters at just the right pace so as to maintain the level of mistrust and suspicion the protagonist must feel towards the family he's investigating throughout. In fact, I was left second guessing the trustworthiness of every character that appeared in the film, including those who were supposed to be aiding him.

The casting was brilliant, and each actor seemed perfectly suited to their role, from the obviously talented reporter Blomkvist, to the disturbed Lisbeth, to the depraved and sadistic characters we meet along the way.

The tone of the film is controlled perfectly too, from the subtle elements, to the, well, not so subtle. It reminded me of Oldboy in some respects in how it dealt with the very real portrayal of acts of unimaginable cruelty, and successfully puts us in the place of the victims of those acts so that we almost experience it with them. The one or two speckles of humour in the film are also handled well, and don't feel as if they are there to lighten the mood, but as merely incidental.

This isn't a perfect film by any means. Occasionally it dips into cliché with flashbacks and cliffhangers, but it more than makes up for it with understated and believable performances, some genuinely disturbing imagery and transitions, a solidly gripping pace, story and character development, and a mystery that twists and turns just right, and gives very little away until the ending, which is not what you would expect.

A solid 7.8 out of 10, which i think is it's (accurate imo) score on imdb.

johnny_ultimate

I saw the film pretty much directly after reading the book, and it kind of suffered in my eyes as a result. In fairness, it's a very competent and very loyal adaptation. Some of the changes they make actually benefit the story

(having Lisbeth discover the bible quotes feels much more natural than having Blomkvist's daughter suddenly show up, for example)

. Yet mainly because of my close proximity to reading the book - I saw it a a few days after finishing it - it seemed slightly redundant. It just didn't do anything special enough to make it more than a solid adaptation. Good enough, though, considering how many adaptations go completely awry. If you haven't read the book, I'm sure it's much fresher, as the story is indeed one of the better thrillers I've come across.

One issue I would have with it is reducing the third act investigative journalism aspect to a brief ending montage. Of course, most of the main story draws on Blomkvist and Salander's investigative skills, but what kept me glued to the page even after the central mystery was solved was the clearly passionate take on the profession Larsson had. The film loses some of it's personality by cutting the

Wennerström affair

down to a bare minimum. I'm reading through the third book now, and the Millennium parts of the story with Blomkvist are still the ones that draw me into the story being told. The Millennium plots are often more integral to the flow of the later books, so hopefully aren't so swiftly bypassed in the next two films. The thriller aspects can sometimes be a little OTT - the ending of the Girl Who Played with Fire particularly - but the journalism bits are where the series has real bite.

pinksoir

I hear ya. like I say, I haven't read the book(s) so have no opinion on how good the adaptation is, but as a stand alone movie I thought it was thoroughly gripping and enjoyable. I'm not really sure how much of what you've described from the book could be expanded in the film without losing the film's (imo) perfect pacing, unless it was to add on an extra hour. Which, could be the case, considering the Swedish extended edition comes in at 3 hours, 40 minutes longer than the version I watched.

I will say that though the journalism aspect is pared down a lot, we see glimpses of Blomkvist's expertise in subtle ways. The way in which he can gather information with ease from his interviewees for example. The trust he builds up with them is never shown on screen, but it's obvious from the way in which they react to him. Another example is his unending desire to know the truth, and ability to draw information, despite somewhat threatening circumstances

I dunno, I liked the movie for what it was; the revenge ethic, the study of human morality (or the illusion of it), the question of responsibility for one's actions

when Lisbeth comes back after Martin's death and Blomkvist insists that he would not have killed him, and implied that it was not Martin's fault he was how he was, as he had been taught by his father to kill from such a young age, Lisbeth makes the point that he was a sick **** who made the choices to do what he did himself, I think implying that despite her unmentionable young life, she did't become a serial killer (though she did carry out horrific acts herself, which again points back to the ide of the revenge ethic expored in the film). Of course the film ends with Blomkvist getting the news that Wennerstrom committed suicide, something Blomkvist was at least partially responsible for, again pointing to the revenge ethic

, and just a damn fine thriller to boot.

yerayeah

I saw this without ever reading the book and I thoroughly enjoyed it, thought it was a great thriller and that the story kept unravelling at a nice pace throughout. It was slightly disappointing that

Lisbeth's motives were never fully explored though, and that it was never explained why the flower at the start came from Hong Kong

, but that could just be looked on as a good reason to read the books I suppose!!

The Swedish landscape was perfect for a story such as this imo, so cold and bleak. Along with the score that was excellent throughout, it created a dark, mysterious atmosphere I thought...

pinksoir

yerayeah wrote: »

Lisbeth's motives were never fully explored though, and that it was never explained why the flower at the start came from Hong Kong

Yeah, I'd agree with your first gripe there alright. We're left wondering for the entire film and it's never satisfyingly dealt with. I guess the second gripe of yours is a goof/plot hole and it could be overlooked. Bit careless though. Maybe both are better explained in the extended version though...