The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

[Your Usual Table]

EDIT: Removed

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Still waiting to see it.

I don't agree with the 'why is it necessary to remake a perfectly good film?' backlash around this, for the simple reason that the Swedish films weren't that great: they just felt like above-average TV movies. (Although Noomi Rapace was excellent.)

[Reed John]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I liked the Swedish films but I thought the English version was a little better in most respects except not being in Swedish.

I haven't read the book (it doesn't seem like it would be as good in book form), but I think Rooney Mara was maybe better cast. Noomi Rapace was outstanding, but I think the character works better as younger and smaller. I really liked Rooney Mara although her bleached eyebrows were a bit freaky at first.

It did sort of slow down toward the end, which I didn't really understand.

Even in this version, it plays a bit like a TV series in the way there are multiple subplots that pay-off at different points and still more subplots left to be resolved.

It's been a while since I saw the Swedish version. Did Fincher cut out a bunch in the middle. I feel like I recall a lot more exposition about ***spoiler***the family and the Nazi stuff.***end of spoiler*** The Fincher version seemed to move to the denouement much faster after finally setting up the main mystery. And I believe this version doesn't reveal as much about her back-story as the Swedish version. That will all be covered in more depth in the sequels.

Although the initial weekend here was disappointing (how could they expect it to be big when it's so family-unfriendly and it's going against the excellent Mission Impossible plus tons of other Christmas movies??), they are planning to do the sequels.

**spoilers***
The rapey bits were very hard to watch. I could only stomach them because I knew that she gets her proper revenge.

[MsD]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I liked the Swedish films, and disagree about the quality being substandard, but the sexual violence is distressing. She's such a great character, I have to root for her, but I kind of wish she was investigating something more Poirot-like; an elegant bullet through the temple. My friend wants us to go see the US version but I think she'll have nightmares.

[Reed John]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

********

It's also distressing that the long lost sister's response to knowing that her father and brother were unimaginable monsters was to fuck off to England and disappear, knowing all that time that the father and brother were still doing it.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

MsD wrote:

I liked the Swedish films, and disagree about the quality being substandard, but the sexual violence is distressing.

I didn't say substandard – the originals were Danish-Swedish co-productions and essentially TV movies, and it shows. There were competently done, but there was just nothing cinematic about them. Also Michael Nyqvist was badly miscast as Blomqvist.

The original films pretty much removed all of Blomqvist's womanising; did the Fincher version put it back in?

As far as the sexual violence goes, it's pretty much intrinsic to the book (whose original title was Men Who Hate Women). The detective story element is only part of the story, but I agree, it was hard-to-stomach in the film (and in the book, to be honest). But it's also essential to understanding Salander's character.

As I said, Noomi Rapace was very good, but I agree with Reed — she looks too much like a grown woman, when compared to her description in the book.

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I was quite surprised to discover this is a 12 certificate in Germany (or at least it is in Munich).

From the discussion, I'm assuming that particular scene is as explicitly dealt with as it was in the Swedish version (and in the original book).