The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Adapting any novel is a challenge; faithful readers can be very demanding, wanting films to live up to their high expectations.

Adapting any novel is a challenge; faithful readers can be very demanding, wanting films to live up to their high expectations. When it comes to putting such a hyped up and critically acclaimed novel on to the big screen, the task is that much harder.

Larsson’s debut novel is dark, twisting and impossible to put down. And while the Swedish makers of this film have done an excellent job of evoking the bleak atmosphere of the book, the awkward chopping of the plot failed to hold me in quite such thrall. Despite this I think they met this ambitious project with equanimity and overall have a successful film on their hands.

Michael Nyqvist is convincing as Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist called in to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a teenage girl named Harriet Vanger, 40 years earlier. Her wealthy uncle, Henrik Vanger, suspects one of the family had a hand in her death and as Blomkvist looks for clues much darker secrets are uncovered.

Hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), the girl of the title, believes she can help Blomkvist to get some answers and travels to the remote Swedish island where he is staying with the Vangers. Both she and Blomkvist are the subject of their own subplots which weave into the main narrative.

Salander is a ward of the state and subjected to much abuse. It is her story that is perhaps the most compelling thread of this film. She is not your typical victim and although her behavior is violent, almost sadistic at times, she elicits understanding and support from the outset. Her self-sufficiency is refreshing in a female character and the filmmakers stayed true to Larsson’s subversion of gender traditions.

As Blomkvist and Salander get closer to the truth of what happened to Harriet the plot becomes more gruesome, with murder, Nazism and sexual abuse all surfacing from under the woodwork. And although the director handled the incredibly tense dénouement with great effect, the tying up of the final loose ends drags on rather unnecessarily.

At times this film shines and at these moments it is gripping, well acted and beautiful to the eye. But the adaptation, probably inevitably, has to lose many of the small details that wonderfully explain the character’s motivation and add to the depth of the plot. It is when they are masking over these losses that the story becomes clumsy.

To be fair, this is by far a better film than the one I anticipate Hollywood will produce. The makers of this movie never overplay their hand and the good scenes are kept taught. Rapace especially is wonderful as Salander and the rest of the cast are excellent too.

The film, at over two and a half hours in duration, is possibly a bit long and could do with the slower scenes being pared down. It is easy to be critical of this adaptation of such a well-loved novel but all in all it is a great watch. Fans of the novel shouldn’t really be disappointed and those new to the story should be kept on the edge of their seats.