> REVIEW
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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Evil shall with evil be expelled…
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By Helen Adkins | December 2011
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
WRITER(s): Steven Zaillian/Stieg Larsson (source)
When David Fincher announced he was to remake Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo there was much anticipation and excitement. So what if the original version was released only two years ago by director Niels Arden Oplev and critically acclaimed? If anyone can pull off a remake like this, Fincher can.
The American director’s version is as faithful to the novel as Oplev’s was, but he also brings the material up by its cinematic bootstraps. Fincher’s dark handiwork is all over this, from the gruesome set pieces of sexual torture to the cinematography of a Swedish winter, enhancing the inhospitality of the wealthy island where Nazi’s and psychopaths hide behind respectable veneers.
Those coming fresh to the film won’t be disappointed. Set inSweden, Mikael Blomkvist, a discredited investigative journalist meets Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation and agrees to write his biography, but ostensibly is hired to research into the disappearance of Vanger’s niece Harriet forty years earlier.
Moving to the island of Hedestad, Mikael investigates the mostly hostile Vanger family, one of whom one is surely a suspect. In trying to solve the mystery, Mikael crosses paths with Lisbeth Salander, a delinquent, enigmatic, security specialist, played with precision and guts by Rooney Mara.
Daniel Craig also puts in a great performance as the slightly weatherworn Mikael, with Stellan Skarsgård , Christopher Plummer, and Joely Richardson as members of the tortured Vanger family.
There’s no denying that it’s strikingly similar to the original bar language. Rumour has it that Fincher refused to watch Oplev’s original and that may have been to his detriment. It means his film was also loyally filmed on location, while Fincher uses Swedish actors in many roles and even has his British/US actors speaking with light Swedish accents. Rooney Mara is stunning as Salander but no better than Noomi Rapace in the original.
What Fincher doesn’t do is go into the depths of Swedish culture, politics and class that Larsson explores in his book, concentrating more on the emotion and relations between his characters. As a result this is a tale that could arguably have been transposed successfully to a US setting to become more than an English speaking remake, particularly under a director as superior as Fincher.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Solid, well executed and well crafted by Steven Zaillian, who tackles Larsson’s
plot (complex at the best of times) with skill and pace. 4
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Fincher delivers with his trademark style, supported by fine cinematography
and outstanding performances from Mara and Craig. 4
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Highly enjoyable, particularly if you haven’t seen the original but still a treat
even if you have. Yet, there is a feeling of lost opportunity in terms of Fincher
truly making this his own. 3
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