The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his search for the killer of a woman who has been dead for forty years.

Director:

Niels Arden Oplev

Writers:

Nikolaj Arcel (screenplay), Rasmus Heisterberg (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Fröling

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 17 wins & 35 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' (as Thomas Köhler)
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 suspects 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:

disappearance | journalist | hacker | female hacker | f rated | 

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Taglines:

The Trilogy Begins

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | 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 [Spain]

Country:

Sweden Denmark Germany Norway

Language:

Swedish English

Release Date:

30 April 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Filming Locations:

Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$335,502, 21 March 2010

Gross USA:

$10,095,170

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,395,170

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yellow Bird, ZDF Enterprises, Sveriges Television (SVT)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

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

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When having dinner at Martin Vanger's house, Mikael is offered a 21-year-old whiskey. This is Bushmills 21-year-old single malt, the oldest Irish single malt whiskey available as of release.

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Goofs

When driving over the "Höga kusten"-bridge, they are driving the wrong way.

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Quotes

Mikael Blomkvist: [about Martin Vanger] For fuck's sake, Lisbeth. His father trained him to murder at age sixteen. Anyone would be sick in the head with that kind of upbringing.
Lisbeth Salander: Shut up about the victimizisation! He almost killed you. He raped and murdered and he enjoyed it. He had the same chances as us to chose what he wanted to be. He was no victim. He was a sadistic motherfucker who hated women.

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Alternate Versions

Extended/TV version runs 30 min. longer and has its aspect ratio changed to 1.78:1.

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Connections

Referenced in Workaholics: True Dromance (2012)

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Soundtracks

Eccomi Qui
Music by Sara Indrio Jensen (as Sara Indrio) & The Filin Project

User Reviews

Nice piece of work

My low regards for Swedish film industry aside, this is a really well crafted movie. Director Oplev apparently knows the ropes enough to make the Swedish crew seem plausible. The old school with SB Taube and Hirdwall usually deliver good characters, and Nyqvist as well. The younger talent strikes me as a bit more stiff usually and deliver dialogs as they read directly from the script. Not here. The only one that I find off, is actually Lena Endre. Not that she is bad, but she is just as we always see her. Music-wise, a big step in the right direction. I think of Howard Shore scores from Seven and Silence of the lambs. Too bad that the movie sound, the dialog in particular, doesn't hold the same standard. Also, not to give anything away, in the final scenes- bear in mind Bourne Ultimatum last scenes, and Silence of the lambs final. In short, hats of to this magnificent film. This is the proof that you don't necessarily make a good flick just on million dollar budgets as in Arn(lame), but with the right talent. In this case I salute director Oplev.