Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber, Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Marika Lagercrantz, Ingvar Hirdwall, Björn Granath, Ewa Fröling
Director:
Niels Arden Oplev
Genres:
Foreign, Foreign Thrillers, Scandinavia
Language:
Swedish
This movie is:
Violent, Mind-bending, Suspenseful, Scary
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger's (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger's powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson's best-selling trilogy.
Lisbeth Salander uses her mind more than you.
Superb. A bit long, but worth the effort (Men Who Hate Women is the correct translation of the title). A Swedish tabloid journalist accuses a fellow countryman, a wealthy Swedish industrialist, of arms dealing. The journalist is charged with defamation, and is found guilty. Before serving his sentence, he is hired by the patriarch of the Vanger Concern (a rich and powerful Swedish family) to find his nieces murderer. She was apparently murdered (and her body never found) 40 years earlier. Every year, tho, on the patriarchs birthday, he receives a gift of pressed flowers in a picture frame - the same gift that his niece had always made for him. The patriarch believes the gifts to come from her murderer - and he wants that person discovered. But the evidence points to it having been a family member. Teaming up with a teen-age bi-sexual computer hacker ward of the state, the journalist finds himself getting deeper and deeper into this 40-year old mystery.
One of the best literary adaptations ever
Great cinematography
I'm an avid fan of the books and very often I'm left disappointed by literary adaptations. This, however, is an extraordinary adaptation. The book may seem to be easy to adapt since it's generally a murder mystery, but the book is so much more than that. I didn't expect the film to really delve into the purpose behind the book (i.e. violence against women), but these themes are prevalent throughout the film. The directing is effective, the score is chilling and fitting, the acting is top notch with great casting (especially Rapace). There's a reason why the trilogy has sold 30+ million copies, why the movie has broken records across Europe, why the film did so well in the US in limited release, why literary critics consider the book one of the best in modern times, and why film critics who have read the book think this is an excellent adaptation---because it's all true.
0 comments:
Post a Comment