The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
"Män som hatar kvinnor" (original title)

A journalist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing -- or dead -- for forty years by a young female hacker.

Director:

Niels Arden Oplev

Writers:

Nikolaj Arcel (screenplay), Rasmus Heisterberg (screenplay),

Stars:

Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 12 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Nyqvist	...	Mikael Blomkvist
Noomi Rapace	...	Lisbeth Salander
Lena Endre	...	Erika Berger
Sven-Bertil Taube	...	Henrik Vanger
Peter Haber	...	Martin Vanger
Peter Andersson	...	Nils Bjurman
Marika Lagercrantz	...	Cecilia Vanger
Ingvar Hirdwall	...	Dirch Frode
Björn Granath	...	Gustav Morell
Ewa Fröling	...	Harriet Vanger
Michalis Koutsogiannakis	...	Dragan Armanskij
Annika Hallin	...	Annika Giannini
Sofia Ledarp	...	Malin Eriksson
Tomas Köhler	...	'Plague'
David Dencik	...	Janne Dahlman

Storyline

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the 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 tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

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Plot Keywords:

journalist | island | murder | hacker | computer | 

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Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content including rape, grisly images, sexual material, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Australia]

Country:

Sweden Denmark Germany Norway

Language:

Swedish English

Release Date:

27 February 2009 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Filming Locations:

Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$335,502 (USA) (19 March 2010)

Gross:

$10,095,170 (USA) (18 February 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yellow Bird Films, ZDF Enterprises, Sveriges Television (SVT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

152 min 180 min (extended) 186 min (Extended Version) (Part 1 & 2)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lisbeth's mother, Agneta, is played by Nina Norén, who is the real mother of Noomi Rapace.

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Goofs

When Mikael has a flashback of Harriet and him by the lake, one scene shows a young Mikael wearing Velcro sneakers. Velcro was invented and would have been around when Mikael was a young boy, but was not used for clothing until later.

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Quotes

Mikael Blomkvist: Why?
Martin Vanger: Why what?
Mikael Blomkvist: All of this?
Martin Vanger: Why not? I do what every man dreams of. I take what I want.
Mikael Blomkvist: How many women after the first?
Martin Vanger: I don't know. I've lost count. I had a girl in that cage when we were dining upstairs. Those kind of women disappear all the time. No one misses them...

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Connections

Referenced in Supernatural: The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Rabbits In Russia"
Kenneth Bager
Music by Kenneth Bager / M. Pfundheller / Jonas Krag
EMI Music Publishing
Licensed from Music For Dreams

User Reviews

well crafted, engaging and thought-provoking thriller

I am among, I guess, those very few people in Europe who have not read the best-selling novel by Stieg Larsson, but, not feeling in the mood to see another too emotionally engaging romance or drama, although its being my favourite genre, I went to see what is depicted by Larsson's fans as a captivating and gripping thriller.

Indeed, I can't say whether the movie proves adherence to the novel, which is something by the way difficult, considering the length of the book, however, I can say that the product is a well-crafted piece of cinema, which leaves also interesting food for thought. Used as we are, as southern Europeans, to see at Northern, and mainly Scandinavian countries, as models of democracy, economic progress and social welfare, it's quite surprising to see a modern Sweden stained by corruption and unscrupulous tycoons. Moreover, it is quite upsetting to get to know how Nazi extremist and insane ideas were rooted not so much in the history of the country, but in the conscience of people, in this case of a powerful and wealthy family, where the hatred towards the Jews has mixed with the hatred towards women, turning the lives of whole generations into a hell of ferocious violence and horror.

As far as the thriller story, it's engaging, but carried on very carefully, every aspect being under control, with flashbacks constantly reassuring us about aspects we have already perceived, without moving a little apart from a well consolidated stylistic model of this kind of movie genre. Sometimes a little slow, sometimes too indulging in violent scenes, but with a strong directing consciousness supporting it. Convincing and really good the performances offered by the whole cast, unknown to the great public, but I would underline the actress playing Lisbeth as really outstanding and upsetting in her mental and emotional distress. On the whole, it's not a masterpiece, but a good and well made movie.