The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - Page 2

I think I might be a horrible person. While I didn't hope for a tragic conclusion, I found the ending a bit too much 'fairy tale' for me.
To use the garish 'star' system it moved from four to three stars in the last thirty minutes.

Well, if you watch the sequel, you'll see those three stars descend to half a star.

Loved the atmosphere, but my feelings on the actual film range from despondence to confusion to disgusted to numbness. Ultimately, I don't think I got anything special out of the film. There are a bunch of interesting ideas floating around, but nothing secure holding them together.

I was under the impression that the film itself was brutal and dangerous (a friend read the book and told me it was chilling and disturbing), but after all was said and done, I came away surprisingly desensitized from what should be a catastrophic moviegoing experience.

Well, the original swedish title of the film is "men who hate women," if that helps to centralize the film's basic concept. The film's english title suggests that there's a single main character, the eponymous "girl with the dragon tattoo," but if you consider it a portrait of a cultural misogyny, then the film's focus becomes clearer.

The cultural misogyny I definitely get---it's just the message I'm ultimately supposed to get out of this that leaves me fumbling my thoughts. Lisbeth's character arc is a frustrating one, as I don't think she earned my undying sympathy by the end of the film.

I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to. Certainly in the books, by the end of the first story, her arc is really only just beginning. She remains a pretty dangerous, remote enigma who is potentially as psychotic as she is a force for good, if you want to call it that. What she does as retribution is in no way necessarily the right thing, but you would be hard pushed to argue the bastards get what they deserve. Blomkvist has the same reaction. He's shocked at just how ruthless she can be, but he can only guess as to what must have happened to her to make her react that way.

I thought they did a very good job of adapting the book. A lot of the problems that people seem to be having with it (I personally don't, I thought it was mostly pretty good) are the same in the book. I thought Rapace was good as Salander, although she didn't have the almost brittle fragility and gawkiness she's described as having (which serves as counter point to how fucked up and dangerous she is). The guy that played Blomkuist was very good, although not as much of a ladies man as he is in the novel.

As for why Salander shags him so easily, she doesn't like that she feels a connection with him/ is intrigued by him so she uses sex as a way of controlling those feelings. As far as her backstory goes she's learnt horrific lessons regarding love and sexuality so it makes sense to me that she's fairly fucked up about it. Blomkvist as a line where he suggests that the killer was always going to be so sick because of what his father had trained him to be from the age of 16, and I think there are certain echoes there with Lisbeth.

Well, except that she completely disagrees with him on that point. Everyone's responsible for their own actions.

Finally caught up with this, after playing it for months and currently hosting the sequel. I thought the first hour was rather slow. Structurally, the whole subplot about Lisabeth and her evil parole officer could easily be cut-- considering that the film plays so coy with her early backstory it's odd that it's so explicit about her later traumas.

And was I the only one who guessed from the start that it was the missing girl, alive, mailing the flowers? It was the simplest explanation-- is it intentional that the characters assume the worst?

"Well, except that she completely disagrees with him on that point. Everyone's responsible for their own actions."

I agree. But that's her take on things. Lisbeth also has a strong streak of self-loathing. She's got a lot of pent of anger, resentment and hatred towards a lot of things, including her own past and why she is the way she is. Blomkvist shakes up some of her long-held and cultivated beliefs and world-views and that makes her uneasy.

I watched this on Netflix this afternoon. Lisbeth's matter-of-fact approach to the sex thing sort of caught me off guard. Honestly, the only thing I could come up with as a reason for her doing that was the idea that she wanted to defuse the issue. Yeah, I understood by that point she had pretty major emotional issues, but it was still a bit of a shock. It didn't feel "empowered" so much as it came across as "Well...better get this over with so the guy can stay focussed on the job."

Then, toward the end, when she brought him the "light reading" in jail I didn't think she'd actually give him any emotional connection moments until the kiss. I LOVE the reading that she had stepped away from emotional vulnerability at the end. I can see that in a heartbeat.

Dug the lead actors. Dug the look and feel of the thing. The mystery wasn't all that, but it wasn't bad. The rape stuff...still not sure how I feel about it. Although her revenge on the guardian was, indeed, a fist pump moment.

Just saw this today. A good satisfying film in the all. The mystery isn't that complicated but its a nice solid Thriller (Especially the Serial Killer Confession in the end), made extra special by the Lisbeth Salander character.

I can't help but think how the remake will be like. I can totally see Daniel Craig as Blomkist. But the original film already did quite a faithful adaption of the book, so I wonder what new changes they will do to it?

Lisbeth is such a Franchise character that (if the Book Rights weren't settled) I can easily see her getting more film entries (or a spin-off TV Series) after the Original Trilogy is done.

I watched The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo tonight. I thought it was a pretty good mystery/thriller. I'll admit that the rape scene was disturbing, but it wasn't as bad as the rape scene in Irreversible. On a lighter note, am I the only one who thinks that the guy playing Blomkvist kinda resembles Michael Emerson?

Haha, I see what you mean, but you'd have to add thirty lbs and a skin condition, I think.

I know this might sound weird. But i sorta preferred this Swedish version over Fincher's take. Am i the only one that feels that way?

 

The sequence on how Mikhael researches the photos is explained much more clearly. Roney Mara's take on Salander is fine. But i thought it lacked the harder edge that Noomi Rapace gave to the character. But its a matter of opinion really, they both did a great job.