REVIEW: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Directed by David Fincher
Starring Daniel Craig and Mara Rooney
I’m at a unique place in reviewing this film, mostly because I had just read the final page of the book a mere two hours before the start of the film. I had spent an all-nighter engrossed in the popular thriller that every detail was still vivid in my mind.
I remember thinking that this was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because I knew now what to look for, bad because I knew exactly what to look for. I was afraid I spoiled myself and would be less receptive to whatever tricks Fincher had up his sleeve. I was wrong.
His adaptation is unashamed in it’s brashness and depravity. This is a film that tackles scenes of horrific, violent savagery with comfortable ease. Fincher uses everything in his arsenal, from gorgeous cinematography that captures the chilling landscapes of both the island and it’s inhabitants, to a haunting beat that pulses throughout the film that bursts out with an amazing intro cover by Trent Reznor and Karen O (It’s the same song in the trailer music, and by God it’s amazing).
The result is a dark, brooding and very graphic thriller that plays and teases with you. But from time to time it will grab your head and dunk it into the freezing water. Like a book, sexual violence to women is a major theme here and the movie uses it with no hesitation. What excites me most is that aside from the detective story, this is a movie that forces us to look deep into humanity’s soul and question its very dignity. It’s a major theme with Fincher’s killer thrillers (Zodiac, Se7en) and like those others, he is very successful in it.
But of course none of that would matter; in fact all of Fincher’s fancy storytelling wouldn’t matter; if the performance didn’t carry it. And perhaps that’s probably what a lot of people are wondering, what with Noomi Rapace’s famous take on the heroine. Well I haven’t seen the Swedish adaptation so perhaps it’s a blessing that I wouldn’t be force to make compare. But in short, the cast was nothing less than riveting.
Daniel Craig makes a wonderfully nuanced Mikael. Shedding his James Bond charm, Craig’s Blomkvist is still manages to balance the character’s essence. He expertly weaves between being a journalistic missile to a man broken by his own arrogance and inability to think of the consequences. But within that, he also ekes out a pleasant humor that convincingly sparks immediate chemistry with his steely-eyed partner.
Now much has been said of Rooney Mara’s transformation from the sweet girl from Social Network to this terrifying outcast. And all of it is true. Her Salander is like a walking stick; frail and pale. She darts around with such quick dexterity it’s like a mangy cat hissing at anyone who gets too close. Her look in the movie ranges from the most outrageous to something far more practical to being just plain naked. She definitely does not shy away from showing off her bony, pierced body. But perhaps what sold me the most about her performance was the eyes. While I’ve seen little of Rapace, what I saw in her eyes was that of ferocious intensity, of a girl who’s gives little shit about the rest of the world. That too is present in Mara’s eyes, but it’s overshadowed by that of a hollow despair. Her Salander may be one of the loneliest creatures in the world, staring blankly at the evil in the world and merely shrugging it off with not so much as a “fuck you too”. This is a girl whose past leads her to believe that the whole world is a depraved and that it’s its natural state. And when she turns lose, it’s less intimidating and more terrifying and sad. There is no hesitation, just primal rage, as she just charges. But her scream sounded less of anger but of pain, and in one pivotal scene where she looms overhead, her eyes black with hate, you can also see a hint of shame, almost begging you to answer the question, “Why?”
The film isn’t without it’s flaws, though I believe some of it has to do with my criticism of the book’s plot structure. That said, this may be a film that may put off curious casual moviegoers from the book. It’s somber tone does make it the feel bad movie of Christmas (which may be why the movie failed to make a profit in the box office). But to fans of trilogy and of films itself, this a clever, dark and superbly crafter thriller that is made all the more entertaining by the performance of it’s leads.
9/10
