Based on the first novel of the internationally successful Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson, Niels Arden Oplev’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (originally titled in Swedish as Men Who Hate Women) is a cleverly dark, eye-opening adaptation of the crime thriller interlaced with sashes of sadism and sexual brutality.

The Plot

Investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) loses a libel case accused by industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström (Stefen Suak). Receiving a chance to recover his reputation and magazine, Blomvkist agrees to work for Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), an elderly entrepreneur with a twisted family history.

Claiming to be writing Vanger’s autobiography, the troubled journalist envelopes himself in the inexplicable case of his missing great-niece, of whom Vanger had presumed for dead forty years. Along the track, Blomvkist inadvertently encounters Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a gifted hacker with exceptional investigative skills and an enigmatic, sinister background. As the unusual pair persist with the family mystery, they discover disturbing secrets both in and out of the case.

The Thoughts

This was a film for which I had little precognition for, thus its expectations were hazy. Being one of the very few cinematic adaptations for which I had not read the book, I anticipated a worthy watch. It turned out that ‘worthy’ was an understatement.

The pace of the film is fairly slow; a feature that I was initially unsettled with, nevertheless as the plot heightened I was grateful that the audience was given a ‘between-the-blinds’ perspective that effectively aided the suspense. Michael Blomvkist, played by Michael Nyqvist, was portrayed as charismatic, persistent and subtly heroic – something that did not change throughout the film – but it was Noomi Rapace’s incredible performance of the intriguing Lisbeth Salander that had indeed left me speechless.

With her punk-gothic style and an equally bold, edgy personality, Salander proved to be a strangely seductive character; one that I was instantly captivated by. The description “bad-ass” simply would not do her justice; she may in fact be a third generation, computer-hacking femme fatale - the shaved head, heavily pierced, spike-clad type, with a remarkable tattoo of a dragon behind her masculine, washboard front.

The film, although is a classic ‘whodunit’ for the majority, skilfully weaves a sick, perverse foundation with disturbing scenes of abuse which may not be for the faint-hearted. Admittedly, such a dark cinematic opportunity would have been exaggerated and disappointingly predictable had it been captured by the Holy Hands of Hollywood, hence watching this Swedish thriller reminded me of my admiration for foreign films.

The director Niels Arden Oplev cunningly introduces the different personas peek-by-peek and gives enough time – a whole 152 minutes – for the audience to absorb each scene before revealing another head-scratcher.

I found myself empathising with both of the central characters, each in a different way, but as mysteriously misconstrued Salander comes across, she and her dragon tattoo transmit a “Comfortably Numb” sensation that penetrates right through the skin.

The Film Buzz Review Rating: 8/10

UK Cinema Release Date: 12 March 2010

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Writer: Nikolaj Arcel (screenplay), Rasmus Heisterberg (screenplay)

Links: IMDB, Official Site