When you think of Sweden you think of large, bulky people; the bland, colorless food they eat; and the flat, frozen expanse of barren wasteland that they call home. But I ask you, when a man takes the time to ruminate on this land of golden-haired giants, how often does he think of taut mystery/thrillers starring petite bisexual goth computer hackers? Probably never. Truly I say to you, maybe this ruminating man should pull his head out of the sand and watch The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Not just because it is made by Swedish people and they speak a funny language, because it is an awesome movie
I like seeing movies that I know next to nothing about. In the worst case scenario I see something new without the burden of my preconceptions; In the best case scenario I am completely blown away by the reality that such an amazing thing exists in the world. I imagine it's much the same way Christopher Columbus felt when he discovered America. The greatest discovery made in Dragon is the girl with the dragon tatoo herself. as a bisexual goth computer hacker, she is about as unique a character as I've ever seen. She makes her co-star seem about as exciting as a boiled potato. The character could have turned into a miserable Matrix-parody if it hadn't been played by an actor as capable as Noomi Rapace, who is surely destined to be remembered as one the greatest movie hackers in Swedish, if not world, history.
Dragon starts with two disconnected story lines that twist and turn unpredictably, even though I did manage to guess one of the mysteries. At times the movie is hard to watch and I'm not talking about the numerous computer research montages. It gets into subject matter that I don't think American movies touch on much. I was definitely uncomfortable, but that added to the experience rather than taking away.
Cost/Benefit Analysis: I paid full price and don't regret a thing about it. I positively recommend this movie. Special bonus: It's part of a trilogy! That means more to love. Extra-special bonus: there will probably be an American remake. That means that if you see this movie, you can be all pretentious and tell people that the remake could NEVER be as good as the original Swedish version. "Didn't you see it? Oh, you simply must. It's DIVINE!"
4 comments:
Dearest Pompous Thomas- Have you read the book? It's really good! I'm in the middle of the 2nd one, great series so far!! I am looking forward to seeing the movies - I think I'll like the Swedish versions more than the American. Who do you think will play Lisbeth? Natalie Portman or Kristin Stewart, someone like that? Who do you think would play Mikael? Adrian Brody is probably too good looking, you think? ~Moonshin*e
Hi Moonshin*e! I haven't read the books. My aunt has and says that they're really good. I'm not sure that I want to read them because I heard that the writer died after only writing 3 parts of a planned 10-part series. Why do people make these grand plans, I wonder? The American versions might actually be good, but I don't know if I care. It might be fun to compare the two trilogies and argue over which version of each story is best (I hear that the Swedish Girl that Played with Fire is a bit of a dog.
If they're going to cast the American version with actors that look like the Swedes, it should probably be Ellen Page and Liam Neeson. Do the Swedish characters look like the characters as they are described in the book? I think A-Brod might be a bit too young :/
Pompous- I think the books are fabulous, it's a bummer steig died before finishing his ten book series, but have you read about him, SUPER interesting guy.
I think Liam Neeson would be a great choice for Blomkvist. I think the girl will be hard, cause Hollywood will want some starlet and I don't think that's best for Lisbeth's character. Once i finish the third book I'll be checking out the Swedish films!!
In the books Lisbeth is described short and skeletony. I've only seen the movie trailers so not sure how their overall mannerisms compare, i bet the did a good job though.
Almost done with 'played with fire' soooo good!!! But I digress, your blog is about movies, not books. My B. -Teh Moonshin*E
Hey m00nsh1n3: Don't worry about mentioning books! I've actually thought about expanding this blog to include books, tv shows, etc. The only thing holding me back is the difficulty I already have keeping up with all of the movies I see. I currently have a backlog of 4 or 5 movies and that's only the movies that I've seen new in the theater. I stopped writing about older movies a long time ago.
Regarding the Swedish Lisbeth: she's pretty much the best part of a really good movie.
Post a Comment