The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2010)

Having not read the original book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (literally translated to Män som hatar kvinnor – “Men Who Hate Women”) by Stieg Larsson, this is not a comparison or an analysis of the adaptation, but as a review of the film as a stand alone text.

One of the great things this film has done, is bring foreign language films to the mainstream population. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is currently being shown at most of the main multiplexes. Just as Tarantino did with Inglorious Basterds, Niels Arden Oplev has done, he makes the audience look past the language barrier and accept the film for what it is.

The year is 2006 and an investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist is hired to find the killer of a sixteen year old girl who disappeared 40 years ago. When he hits a wall, a computer hacker who has been following his progress after she researched him for a client, finds a lead he has overlooked. This sounds like a weak plot from a classic ‘made-for-TV’ murder mystery, but Oplev creates mystery and suspense from the opening shot. A film that lasts two and a half hours generally has certain low points that are less engaging for the audience, this is something that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is missing. It mixes action, suspense and mystery so that the audience is unable to switch off. 

The mystery in the plot is not the narrative itself, it is not the search for the killer, and this is where The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo steps clear of the other murder mystery programmes and films, the mystery lies within the character of Lisbeth, the girl with the dragon tattoo. There are constant implied hints about her backstory, but they are never fully revealed. She also has many personality traits that in general life have a backstory. Her sadistic guardian tells her that if she does not do as he says she will find herself back in a psychiatric ward, she has a constant fear of commitment, and a problem with authority, in particular the police. The hints into her background continue throughout the film, but are never fully explained, which is to the film’s credit. The narrative concludes, but the character’s personal lives do not. As the film was based on a book, and the book was part of a trilogy, the unanswered questions about Lisbeth will draw in the audiences to the second and third installments. Due to the trilogy aspect, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo can do spend more time on character development. Character development is the advantage that T.V dramas have had over feature films for some time, this film is showing potentially, incredibly in-depth character development.

The film also turns the patriarchal film society upside down. Despite there being a male protagonist, it is the female protagonist the audience is drawn to, due to the intrigue into her origins, she is also the stronger of the two characters. When Blomkvist does not know how to carry on his investigation, it is Lisbeth’s intelligence that brings them together, when he is in trouble, she is the character with more courage to stand up and save him. It is not a feminist text in the traditional definition of the term, as the male characters are often more dominant, or are more important on the hierarchal scale, but Lisbeth is the light at the end of the tunnel for downtrodden and mistreated women, showing that it is possible to fight back against male oppressors, something she does with great style. The fact that she is needed, makes her all the more powerful. The gothic look that she maintains should be to her detriment, but her intelligence overlooks her image and her gender.

At the beginning of the film, it is debatable whether or not the Swedish backdrop is necessary, or if it could be adapted to be set anywhere. But while looking into the history of the missing girl and her family’s affiliation with the Nazi Party in the 1930s it became clear that the film had to be set in central Europe and the natural Swedish mountains and lakes makes for a picturesque backdrop that is a high contrast to Lisbeth’s almost unnatural appearance due to her tattoos and piercings. Each location was clearly picked out meticulously and by the end, the location was almost as important to the narrative as the characters.

Despite having a predictable structure, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo made a lasting impression and the two following installments are awaited eagerly.

Written by Edward L. Corrigan 19/04/2010