The Millennium Trilogy has been devoured by billions of readers: its characters are now amongst those you will always carry with you and would never want to leave. They are one of the reasons why, only a few years after the Swedish movies have been made, an American remake has just come out.
Yesterday I finally had the chance to see David Fincher’s version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Since it has become one of my favourite books of all time, I must admit I was afraid to be disappointed. I really like the Swedish movie and I was afraid that Fincher, despite being one of the best directors of the last few years, would fail to give the right picture of Larsson’s novel and heroin.
Luckily, I came out of the cinema quite relieved. I can’t really understand why people say that the film doesn’t add anything to the Swedish version: to me, it adds a great deal. It was much more accurate, much more similar to the book. I found the rape scene even more disturbing. I felt the fear I had while I was reading the book. And just like in the book, I saw Lisbeth going back home and washing away the blood: disturbing, yes, but it’s another sign of the character’s strength.
The ending was much more like the one in the book as well: Lisbeth, now in love with Mikael, buys him a Christmas present and then throws it away after seeing him with his colleague Erika. You don’t see that in the Swedish movie: it’s much more realistic, it’s not the classic happy ending. It’s pure Larsson. I guess it will be difficult to forget actress Noomi Rapace’s interpretation. It was one of the reasons I found the Swedish movie so great.
However, Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salander is much more how I imagined her: much thinner, androgen, more pierced, more goth-punk. She looked younger and her tattoo was great too. She talked much less, she was much more straightforward. She even had the absurd t-shirts described in the book: the “Fuck you you fucking fuck” t-shirt was amazing.
All the actors were perfect. Daniel Craig’s Blomqvist was much more like I had imagined him, while Stellan Skarsgard was a great Martin Vanger. Mikael and Erika’s relationship was much more evident and Robin Wright was as sexy as I imagined Erika Berger. Even the locations were much more like I had imagined them.
I also liked the small changes in the plot that Fincher made: differently than the book, Mikael doesn’t sleep with Cecilia Vanger; Harriet Vanger, the missing girl that brings Mikael Blomqvist into the investigation, is not in Australia but in London, disguised as Anita Vanger. If you’re reading the book it’s much easier to keep track of the Vanger family’s genealogical tree, but in a movie summing things up makes things clearer. This way, Fincher focused more on the main characters and on their relationship.
Also, the director mentioned some crucial facts from the next books, without revealing everything. Shall there be an American trilogy then? I guess the only bad things I could say about Fincher’s version is that it came out too early: the Swedish version of The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest (the last chapter of the trilogy) arrived in British cinemas only last year.
It is quite easy to compare Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo with the Swedish one after such a short time. However, there were also two bits in the movie I didn’t like much. I would have omitted the opening break with a cover of “Immigrant Song” and Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, all covered in black grease just like in a Rihanna video, twisting in strange ways. It doesn’t add anything to the movie: it just looks like the director is showing off.
What’s more, the soundtrack was perfect but… I don’t really get why, in Martin Vanger’s basement, right when he’s about to kill Mikael, he puts on a song by Enya. It is supposed to be a scary scene… A moment of accelerated heartbeat… And you put on Enya? Oh well. As I said, I’m a huge fan of the Millennium Trilogy and I’m happy that the film didn’t leave any bitter taste in my mouth.
It was a much more accurate version than the Swedish movie, on a bigger budget, with well-known actors. And even though I think it was too early for it to come out, I have to say I’m happy it did: I’m not sure I can live without Lisbeth yet.
Pictures from Stanze di cinema, Movie City News