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The Girl Who Played with Fire

Original title: Flickan som lekte med elden
  • 2009
  • R
  • 2h 9m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
100K
YOUR RATING
Noomi Rapace in The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)
As computer hacker Lisbeth (Rapace) and journalist Mikael (Nyqvist) investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.
Play trailer1:30
9 Videos
68 Photos
Cyber ThrillerActionCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.As computer hacker Lisbeth and journalist Mikael investigate a sex-trafficking ring, Lisbeth is accused of three murders, causing her to go on the run while Mikael works to clear her name.

  • Director
    • Daniel Alfredson
  • Writers
    • Jonas Frykberg
    • Stieg Larsson
  • Stars
    • Noomi Rapace
    • Michael Nyqvist
    • Lena Endre
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    100K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Daniel Alfredson
    • Writers
      • Jonas Frykberg
      • Stieg Larsson
    • Stars
      • Noomi Rapace
      • Michael Nyqvist
      • Lena Endre
    • 170User reviews
    • 237Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 4 nominations total

    Videos9

    The Girl Who Played with Fire: U.S. Trailer
    Trailer 1:30
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: U.S. Trailer
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: International Trailer
    Trailer 1:15
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: International Trailer
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: International Trailer
    Trailer 1:15
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: International Trailer
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Hacking Mikaels laptop"
    Clip 1:10
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Hacking Mikaels laptop"
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Salander visits Armansky"
    Clip 2:20
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Salander visits Armansky"
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Blomkvist discovers Dag and Mia dead"
    Clip 1:16
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Blomkvist discovers Dag and Mia dead"
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Blomkvist interrogates Gunnar Bjork"
    Clip 1:02
    The Girl Who Played with Fire: "Blomkvist interrogates Gunnar Bjork"

    Photos68

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    Top cast37

    Edit
    Noomi Rapace
    Noomi Rapace
    • Lisbeth Salander
    Michael Nyqvist
    Michael Nyqvist
    • Mikael Blomkvist
    Lena Endre
    Lena Endre
    • Erika Berger
    Peter Andersson
    Peter Andersson
    • Nils Bjurman
    Michalis Koutsogiannakis
    • Dragan Armanskij
    Annika Hallin
    Annika Hallin
    • Annika Giannini
    Sofia Papadimitriou Ledarp
    • Malin Erikson
    • (as Sofia Ledarp)
    Jacob Ericksson
    Jacob Ericksson
    • Christer Malm
    Reuben Sallmander
    Reuben Sallmander
    • Enrico Giannini
    Yasmine Garbi
    Yasmine Garbi
    • Miriam Wu
    Ralph Carlsson
    Ralph Carlsson
    • Gunnar Björk
    Georgi Staykov
    • Alexander Zalachenko
    Hans Christian Thulin
    • Dag Svensson
    • (as Hans-Christian Thulin)
    Jennie Silfverhjelm
    • Mia Bergman
    Per Oscarsson
    Per Oscarsson
    • Holger Palmgren
    Sunil Munshi
    • Dr. Sivarnandan
    Anders Ahlbom Rosendahl
    • Peter Teleborian
    • (as Anders Ahlbom)
    Micke Spreitz
    Micke Spreitz
    • Ronald Niedermann
    • (as Mikael Spreitz)
    • Director
      • Daniel Alfredson
    • Writers
      • Jonas Frykberg
      • Stieg Larsson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews170

    7.1100.1K
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    Featured reviews

    8claudio_carvalho

    Another Engaging Thriller of Millennium

    In Stockholm, the young journalist Dag Svensson (Hans-Christian Thulin) offers the thesis of his fiancée Mia Bergman (Jennie Silfverhjelm) about trafficking and prostitution in Sweden to the editor of the Millennium magazine Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist). The couple is temporarily contracted by the magazine to expose the corruption of prominent persons of the Swedish society. Meanwhile, the computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) returns to Stockholm and breaks in the apartment of her guardian, the lawyer Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), seeking her reports and uses his revolver to threaten her guardian. When Dag, Mia and Bjurman are found murdered and the weapon with Lisbeth's fingerprints in the crime scene, she becomes the prime-suspect and is accused of the three murders. However, Mikael does not believe that Lisbeth is guilty and investigates the "johns" of the thesis expecting to find the killer. Meanwhile Lisbeth researches the documents expecting to find the culprit and discloses hidden secrets about her father.

    "Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden" a.k.a. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" is another engaging thriller based on the Stieg Larsson's novel. I have just seen this film on an imported DVD and it is impressive the number of characters perfectly developed in the concise screenplay and 129 minutes running time. The sharp direction of Daniel Alfredson succeeds, giving the adequate pace to the film. The tough Lisbeth Salander and the wise journalist Mikael Blomkvist are among my favorite characters of action movies. The performances are excellent and Ms. Lena Endre is an impressively beautiful lady. The greatest flaw in the plot is the great number of gun shots in Zala's farm and no response from the neighbors. My vote is eight.

    Title (Brazil): "A Menina que Brincava com Fogo" ("The Girl Who Played with Fire")

    Note: On 15 Jul 2018 I saw this film again.
    6Xstal

    More of a Drag On...

    The dragon's taken to the sky, but this time it just fails to fly, not a patch on what had gone before and doesn't leave you wanting more, one or two distinct plot twists, though the vessel clearly starts to list and the flames are flickering to low and just about to lose their glow.
    7dromasca

    not as good as the first one, but yet a compelling thriller

    With a new director (Daniel Alfredson) taking charge of the second film in the Scandinavian version Millennium series, The Girl Whi Played with Fire is not at all a disappointment but is less striking and less memorable than the first film, who introduced the characters of the trilogy. The judgment may be more severe than the film really deserves because the it is certainly a well written and well built crime story, with solid characters brought to screen by a team of actors who each makes his job wonderfully, from the leads to the smaller parts. It is probably the surprise effect that is unavoidably gone and maybe also the more standard cinematography that replaces the frozen landscape that dominated The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. Yes, the Swedish summer can be very pleasant but the winter films better.

    There are more biographical details that we learned about The Girl in the title of the movies, and the action of the film turns around her family and her traumatic childhood we had a glimpse about already. Noomi Rapace is as good as in the first film, but she still keeps enough secrets to have us interested for her fate in the final film of the series. Michael Nyquist's character is slightly relegated to the role of the classical seeker of truth, but his acting is still so good that I continue to be concerned about Daniel Craig taking over his role in the Hollywood version in-making (although I like the actor and I believe he deserves and can make much better than a Bond).

    Maybe the secret of the magnetic force of these films is that faced with the most sordid vice or violence or put under the darkest physical or psychological threats the heroes created by Stieg Larsson remain without doubt human. Too bad that these series un-naturally end in a trilogy. The quality of the dialog and the building of tension, the sophistication of the crime story and the human dimension of the characters ask for more. On the other side, the sonata is one of the most perfect pieces in music and it always is composed of three parts. There may be logic in fate sometimes.
    7ruby_fff

    Second installment of the Swedish Millennium trilogy about heroine Lisbeth Salander made me relish the first film by director Niels Arden Oplev

    This follow-up installment by director Daniel Alfredson is a decent mystery thriller with expected action scenes and a string of plot points to keep your interest going. It provides more background information about our tenacious heroine Lisbeth's childhood and her legal guardians, mysterious police reports, and her couple of singularly close friends (Miriam and Paolo, both happened to also know kick-boxing and boxing). Of course, there is Millennium key journalist, Micke Blomkvist and his fellow investigative reporters, and most of the storyline we're following thread after thread, hoping (as everyone in the movie does) to get closer to Lisbeth. From the audience point of view, we get to see her, alright, tagging along with her varying guises to avert danger too close for comfort. She, too, wanted to get to the bottom of the alleged murders that were conveniently linked to her name. The whole movie feels like an expanded "Wallender" episode from the Swedish police-detective TV mystery series.*

    "The Girl Who Played With Fire" gave us seemingly straightforward 'facts' as the multiple characters uncover - likened to a 'treasure hunt' (or musical chairs, if you so inclined from the number game of the targets by the villains) vs. providing dramatic highs and penetrating clues, suspenseful and emotional exciting turns as in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," when we followed Lisbeth and Micke on their investigative furtive trails and cerebral deductions. What Danish director Niels Arden Oplev gave us in the first installment can very well stand on its own as a suspense dramatic thriller (which was true to the original Swedish title "Men Who Hate Women"). It's an excellent whodunit - quality entertainment, moving and satisfying wrap-up to the point of tear-jerker, in spite of some plot-required gritty (raw, not for the squeamish) scenes, which were actual arcs for the next two installments to lean on and refer to. Yes, I recall those particular cited scenes in "The Girl Who Played With Fire" when replayed and enhanced our empathy with Lisbeth's character. What this second installment did give us is preparing for the next and final movie in pursuit of Lisbeth's truth along with Micke staunchly standing up for her - so I kinda read the reviews already on IMDb for "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest". Truly anticipate for the wide release of the 'Part 2' of the second installment and getting to the nitty-gritty rhyme and reason of our heroine Lisbeth and hope for the very best for her.

    Do see "The Girl With Dragon Tattoo" if you haven't experience it yet. Yes, mind you, there are NFE (not for everyone) scenes, but they are necessary to the understanding of the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, and set up for the next two movies that follow in this worthwhile mystery trilogy from Sweden. Subtitles in English.

    * "Wallender" is a popular Swedish detective mystery TV series I was lucky to catch now and then on KCSM (in Bay Area, California) on their 'International Mystery Monday nights' at 10 PM. They are usually intense, violent crime scenes without apology, political story lines, tons of threads (or red-herrings) that compel you to stay through till the end of the 90-minute episode. There's also a British "Wallender" mystery series based on the same Swedish police-detective Kurt Wallender, played by Kenneth Branagh (who's an executive producer for the program).

    If you have a chance to catch the German-Austrian production of "Tatort: Crime Scene" - that's a favorite international mystery I highly recommend. Every TV episode is intelligently written and delivered, with crime scenes usually suggestive or chilling effects off-screen, and simply loved the pair of investigators Max Ballauf and Freddy Schenk (detective partners brilliantly played by Klaus J. Behrendt and Dietmar Bär - one's kinda skinny, the other's kindly plump). If good old-fashioned mystery style is your cup of tea, try "Maigret" the French, pipe piping burly of an endearing Parisian Inspector, impeccably portrayed by Bruno Crémer, who solves murderous puzzles ever so facile. Great sets, costumes and befitting music as we accompany Maigret, unhurriedly sauntering on police business, visiting the rural provinces of French locales.
    7TheLittleSongbird

    Worthy, if inferior, first follow up to 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

    'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is truly excellent, one would be hard pressed to find a Swedish thriller better. It wasn't flawless, but it comes close.

    It was followed by two follow ups and the David Fincher film, all worth a look but the original 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is the real deal. 'The Girl who Played with Fire' for a sequel/follow-up is worthy, although there is no doubt which is the superior film. There is too much of a different feel somewhat, the original mesmerised in its tension and intensity and constantly chilled the bone and shocked. While there is tension and suspense, the bleak moodiness and bone-chilling shock value is not quite replicated here by director Daniel Alfredson, who directs efficiently enough but there was the need of more atmosphere.

    'The Girl who Played with Fire' also feels rushed and incomplete, a longer length would have helped it and it was very clear that the film had been heavily cut. With a longer length, things would have felt more developed (something that the original did so brilliantly with a lot going on), the sex trafficking theme would have been less tame as it is a horrific situation and that didn't come through enough here and the ending (which was a shock in the book) less of a that's it feeling.

    Although somewhat televisual-like, which is not a bad thing as such but it definitely would have benefited, or at least the atmosphere would have done, from a more cinematic and moody look, 'The Girl who Played with Fire' is a good-looking film, with a good amount of grit and style. The music is suitably haunting and the writing is efficient and taut enough if not as structurally tight as before. The story is definitely intriguing, and there is a lot of action dynamically choreographed and hardly bland, with some very nice twists and turns, also loved the expansion on Lisbeth's character, a fascinating character made even more interesting.

    Performances are still fine. Michael Nyqvist is quietly commanding and the villains, if not as much as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', pose a good threat...but this is mesmerising Noomi Rapace's film.

    All in all, a bit of a disappointment after being so taken with 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' but still worthy and not bad by any stretch of the imagination. 7/10 Bethany Cox

    Who Was Almost 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'?

    Who Was Almost 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'?

    Lisbeth Salander has been played by three different actresses, including Clarie Foy in the newest version of the film The Girl in the Spider's Web. Who else was up for the role?
    Find out
    Editorial Image
    2:11

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Boxer Paolo Roberto is featured as a character in the original novel and plays himself in the movie. This is quite possibly only the fourth time in film and literature that this has happened. Previously, Richard Kiley was the tour guide voice in the movie Jurassic Park (1993), having been identified as such in Michael Crichton's novel. Lady Chablis played herself in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) after being a character in the original non-fiction book by John Berendt. Finnish painter Kimmo Kaivanto played himself in Farewell, Mr. President (1987) after being a character in the original novel by Pentti Kirstilä.
    • Goofs
      When Salander is putting her Taser gun to the blond giant's crotch, he doesn't flick a muscle. Even though he can't feel pain, his muscles would still react to the electricity and send him into spasms.
    • Quotes

      Lisbeth Salander: I don't know why I didn't say goodbye.

      Dragan Armanskij: You don't care about other people. You treat your friends like dirt, it's as simple as that.

    • Alternate versions
      There are three different versions available: the theatrical release, 2 hr 32 min (152 min); the first third of the original Swedish broadcast trilogy, 3 hr (180 min) (Sweden); and the extended cut, 3 hr 6 min (186 min) (Extended Version) (Part 1 & 2) (Canada)
    • Connections
      Edited into Millennium (2010)
    • Soundtracks
      Would Anybody Die
      Music by Jacob Groth

      Text & Soloist: Misen Groth (as Misen Groth)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 27, 2010 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Sweden
      • Germany
      • Denmark
    • Official sites
      • Music Box Films Site (United States)
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • Swedish
      • Italian
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Millennium 2: La chica que soñaba con un cerillo y un galón de gasolina
    • Filming locations
      • Götgatan, Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden(Office of the 'Millennium' newspaper)
    • Production companies
      • Yellow Bird
      • ZDF Enterprises
      • Sveriges Television (SVT)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €4,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $7,638,241
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $904,998
      • Jul 11, 2010
    • Gross worldwide
      • $67,153,225
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 9 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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