The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Based on the best-selling novel by Stieg Larsson (who sadly passed away before the novel was published), this film shows us a gritty Sweden, and gives us a glimpse into the lives of some very interesting characters. (In fact, the novel was the first of the so-called Millennium trilogy; stay tuned for reviews of the other two films in coming months).

Convicted of libel for an article he wrote in the Millennium magazine, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) steps down from the magazine for six months while awaiting sentencing.

He is hired by a lawyer for the Vanger family (Ingvar Hirdwall), and asked to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of Harriet Vanger (Ewa Fröling), who was sixteen when she went missing. It turns out she was his babysitter when he was younger, so he feels a strong personal connection to the case.

Meanwhile, a young hacker by the name of Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) has been following Blomkvist’s movements online, watching his every move and searching through his computer files and preparing a lengthy report on him for her employers.

Salander is a former patient of a psychiatric ward, and has been released into the custody of a guardian. At the beginning of the film, she is assigned to a new guardian (Peter Andersson), who has very strict rules on her use of her own money, forcing her to do unthinkable things every time she wishes to make a personal purchase.

Their paths continue to intertwine in greater and stronger ways throughout the film, but I don’t want to go into too much detail on that.

The first thing I want to mention here is the casting of this film, in particular the roles of Blomkvist and Salander. These two performers give their absolute all to their roles, and it really shows. Rapace is stellar as Salander, not holding anything back in her portrayal of this dark and slightly disturbed - and horribly mistreated - character.

These performances are helped along by the choices made by the cinematographer (Eric Kress), and the director (Niels Arden Oplev), in what we actually see on screen. There are a lot of very close-up shots, particularly during the more violent moments of the film, which serves two purposes. Firstly, it gives us a much deeper insight into the characters in these horrific moments. Secondly, it allows these scenes to take place without the need to show anything gratuitous or unnecessary; a lot of the more ‘difficult’ moments are more implied than explicitly shown, which I appreciate profoundly. There is a lot more power and effect in implied violence than gratuitously shown violence, and this film is a perfect example of how this effect can best be achieved.

The score to this film (by Jacob Groth) is equally incredible. Strong in just the right moments, and more subdued in also just the right moments, it complements the action and suspense well.

The script itself (adapted by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg from Larsson’s novel) is tightly paced, and very detailed when it comes to the case that Blomkvist is investigating. Of course, a lot of the plot is directly from the novel, but as a film, it works equally well. On reading the novel, I would not have expected it to translate to the screen as well as it has; there are a lot of long descriptive passages in the book I could have personally done without, but on screen, these are dealt with in as few shots as possible, which makes for a well-paced thriller that will not fail to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I must advise you not to watch this film too late at night; you will almost certainly have trouble sleeping afterwards.

This is definitely one of the better book-to-film adaptations I have seen in a while.

7 1/2 out of 10.