With a fascinating title design by Tim Miller and groovy music theme, a torture scene that threatens the male protagonist’s manhood and the protagonist played by Daniel Craig, the English language Hollywood studio version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (MA) could well be called CARDIGAN ROYALE.
Eschewing James Bond’s suits and tuxedos for cardigans and scarfs, Craig plays investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. He doesn’t have a license to kill but at the beginning of the film he is accused of character assassination of a Swedish big shot and is bankrupted by libel litigation.
To his fiscal salvation comes a retired Scandinavian magnate who offers him dirt on the big shot that has bankrupted him in return for investigating a forty year old mystery. To crack the case he teams with a punk computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander, body pierced, inked, and psychologically sallied by a series of male abusers.
Because the case involves “men who hurt women”, as Mikael puts it, Lisbeth takes to it with ferocious and voracious vengeance. Rooney Mara is outstanding as Lisbeth, whose surname suggests a lizard like amphibian, a creature whose temperature adapts to that of its surroundings. Salander’s cold blooded countenance is a reflection of repeated cold-hearted abuse inflected upon her by state appointed guardians, the most recent of which is quite sickeningly depicted.
Nazis, incest, and fratricide – “the most detestable collection of people – and they’re family” exclaims the scandalised Scandi patriarch.
Some may argue that a remake is unnecessary but in a giant English speaking world, it means the story will be accessible to a wider audience. Remember, the book on which it is based would not have become an international bestseller if it had not been translated from Swedish.
This version is a much more stylish film than its Scandinavian predecessor – perhaps too slick for some purists – and boasts a cast that is far more recognisable to an international market.
Christopher Plummer is superb as the retired tycoon industrialist that sets Mikael sleuthing, as is Steven Berkoff as his loyal lawyer. Robin Wright is terrific as Mikael’s colleague and part time squeeze, with stellar support supplied by Stellan Skarsgard, Joely Richardson and Geraldine James.
Director David Fincher has assembled many of his cohorts from his previous film, The Social Network, including Cinematographer JEFF CRONENWETH, DONALD GRAHAM BURT (Production Designer) Editors, KIRK BAXTER, A.C.E. and Angus Wall, and TRENT REZNOR and Atticus Ross (Composers).
And to keep some Scandinavian sanctity, one of the numerous producers is SØREN STÆRMOSE, most recently producer of the Swedish language versions of Stieg Larsson’s MILLENNIUM Trilogy.
At 158 minutes running time, it’s a credit to the production that it never flags or feels flabby – quite the contrary -it is fleet with a fluidity that seems to elude so many film makers even with films half its length.
(c) Richard Cotter
12th January, 2012
Tags: Sydney Cinema Reviews- THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO, Reviewer Richard Cotter, Christopher Plummer, Steve Berkoff, Robin Wright, Stellan Skarsgard, Joely Richardson, Geraldine James, Rooney Mara, Tim Miller, Daniel Craig, David Finch, Jeff Cronenweth, Donald Graham Burt, Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Soren Staermose.