Directed by Niels Arden Oplev
Stieg Larsson was an investigative journalist when he wrote three books (The Millennium Trilogy) but died of a heart attack before the first book was ever published. His dark and compelling stories have risen to the top of best seller lists around the world – 21 million copies in 40 countries at last count. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Repace), an anti-social computer hacker with a mysterious past which has turned her into a lawless avenger. Larsson actually based Lisbeth on the childhood character Pippi Longstocking by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. The modern 24 year-old Lisbeth has a photographic memory and is completely at home in the cyber world, but has difficulties with the real world.
Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is a middle-aged investigative journalist who gets roped into investigating the disappearance of a young girl forty years previously. Harriet Vanger disappeared from an island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own family. When Mikael and Lisbeth make connections between Harriet’s disappearance and a number of grotesque murders at the same time, they begin to get closer to unravelling a dark and appalling family history, and also discover what the close-knit wealthy family will do to protect their own.
The film exposes the abuse of power by both individuals and institutions and some scenes that mix sex with violence are quite graphic. Tantalising flashbacks begin to give hints about Lisbeth’s past and her motivations, but unfortunately we’ll have to wait for the next instalments to find out all the details. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo screens at Somerville 15-21 March and Joondalup Pines 22-28 March at 7.30pm, with 10.45pm screenings at Somerville 18-21 March.
Lezly Herbert
