Drawn from the posthumously published Stieg Larsson book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo of 2005, David Fincher offered edgy suspense, menacing thriller elements, appalling crime and an unlikely heroine and hero pair overcoming powerful forces pitted against the very serious forces of societal politics, family politics and dark secrets that have been hidden for better than forty years. Today we review The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).
Daniel Craig portrayed Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of a prominent magazine based in Sweden. After losing a libel lawsuit to businessman Hans-Erik Wennerström as portrayed by Ulf Friberg, Blomkvist is looking to step away from the magazine when wealthy Henrik Vanger, as portrayed by Christopher Plummer, offers him an unusual request that eases and causes strife in the relationship has with his magazine co-owner and married lover. That co-owner and lover, Erika Berger, is portrayed by Robin Wright.
That proposition from Henrik Vanger is vetted through Vanger’s lawyer Dirch Frode, as portrayed by Steven Berkoff. A delicate and criminal background check offered by Dragan Armansky, as portrayed by Goran Visnjic, introduces the hacker and girl with the dragon tattoo that provided the incredibly detailed and personal background check of Mikael Blomkvist. The offer Vanger makes to Blomkvist is to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of Henrik’s grandniece, 16-year-old Harriet Vanger.
Lisbeth Salander, as portrayed by Rooney Mara, is the hacker who investigates quite deeply, tactfully, and with an exceptional level of quality for the business run by Dragan Armansky. Dark events in Salander’s past add depth to her story, which is as brutal in the present and past tense. The Lisbeth Salander storyline rivals everything that Mikael Blomkvist finds while investigating Henrik Vanger’s family, the business now run by Martin Vanger, or the antisemitism that runs underneath many of the metaphorical rocks moved about during this investigation.
We see much in the background of Lisbeth Salander both in parallel to the work being performed by Mikael Blomkvist and then in concert with that work. We are introduced to some honorable work by Holger Palmgren, as portrayed by Bengt C.W. Carlsson, and then much less than honorable work by Nils Bjurman. Yorick van Wageningen portrayed Nils Bjurman. The notion of there being mystery, thriller and criminal elements within The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are addressed in edgy and difficult detail within the movie.
The directness of the content without effort to tread lightly on the source material of the novel underlying this movie offers something compelling in the direction for this film. There are credible hints for the type of movie we have here that still leaves much in terms of depth for you to find and enjoy within a new or fresh viewing of the film.
That there are many layers to the source material that are brought to the screen adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo speak credibly to the achievement that screenwriter Steven Zaillian and director David Fincher make with the movie. Working with difficult themes for mature themes without crossing a line into confusing messages or gratuitous exposition were accomplishments of delivery that lets me respect the work done here. I grant The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as directed by David Fincher 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt – Saturday, January 29, 2022
Matt Lynn Digital 