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Year: 2010
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish w/ English subtitles
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Annika Hallin, Lena Endre, Per Oscarsson, Peter Andersson, Jacob Eriksson, Sofia Ledarp, Johan Kylen, Tanja Lorentzon, Georgi Staykov, Michalis Koutsogiannakis, Anders Ahlbom Rosendahl, Mirja Turestedt, Niklas Hjulstrom, Hans Alfredson, Micke Spreitz
Eye candy: Rapace, Hallin, Endre, Ledarp, Lorentzon, Turestedt
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Run time: 148 minutes
DVD distributor: Alliance Films
The third installment in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy is good. It’s a solid, competent finale to a really good trilogy of films. And it’s far better than the second movie, The Girl Who Played With Fire. (In that it makes sense, and it’s possible to follow the plot.) It is NOT as good as the first movie, which was spellbinding. What sets this third one apart, however, is that it’s the ultimate performance in the series by Noomi Rapace, reprising the role of Lisbeth Salander for the third and (presumably) final time. She has been great in all three, this time she’s masterful.
More on Rapace in a minute. First, a quick deconstruction on the books. Because I think most people who were interested in these movies first read the books. The Stieg Larsson trilogy has been hailed as a contemporary vision in feminist iconography. Some of that makes sense – all rapists, molestors, abusers, stalkers and woman-killers get their comeuppance, and every woman in the novels is strong, powerful, brilliant, and totally together.
But by the time I got to the third book, I realized a few things. It all clicked in for me when Lisbeth Salander, almost inexplicably, bought herself breast implants. Why would this girl, who ostensibly doesn’t care at all what anyone thinks of her appearance, get her boobs done? Then the rest fell into place a little bit - consider this – every woman in the series is, yes, tough and smart and great at her job and better than most of the men. But they are also…beautiful. Every one of them. And almost every one of these beautiful, powerful, brilliant women sleep with the same man.
That same man is crusading investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. It is interesting to note that Larsson, who wrote the books, is himself an investigative journalist. And has written a book where the one basically flawless character is Blomkvist. He is so self-assured and charismatic that every hot woman he meets (and he meets only hot women) comes on to him and hops into his bed. (It should be noted that they all come after him, he never makes any effort to initiate the proceedings.) The women know about each other, and don’t care, as long as they can spend some time with this magnificent man!
Blomkvist is, of course, entirely successful with every woman in his life, and none harbour animosity toward him except for those who fall in love with him. (And how could they NOT fall in love with him, he’s flawless!) But he is also successful beyond the wildest dreams of any investigative journalist in his professional life. He and his magazine, Millenium, are constantly uncovering massive corruption scandals that reach the highest levels of Swedish society and government. Quite a life, this guy has!
On an unrelated note, I am currently preparing a series of screenplays that will revolve around an intrepid radio personality who solves crimes through his radio program, becomes a national celebrity with a syndicated program that earns him millions of dollars, and who bangs the hottest women on the planet two and three at a time, only to wake up each morning to see them cooking me – I mean him – breakfast. It will be lauded by feminists everywhere!
Back to the movie. The thing I like best about the transfer of the books to the screen is that the films have (for the most part) done away with this unnecessary plot device. The second and third movies made it clear Blomkvist was nailing his editor, Erika Berger. But that’s about it as far as the sex goes. It actually makes the story better and the movies are much more of a feminist fantasy than are the books, on closer inspection.
And so now we get the final film, directed once again by Daniel Alfredson, and Noomi Rapace. Rapace makes the absolute most of her final screen appearance as Salander, a character she has come to define by herself. I could no longer read the books without picturing Rapace as Salander, and I will not be able to watch the American version of these films, the first one coming out this year, without making the comparison.
Although there’s less of a back story in Hornet’s Nest than in Played With Fire, more focus is put on Salander herself this time. And although she spends time in only three locations in the movie – the hospital, the prison and the courtroom – it’s a welcome change that she gets the bulk of the screen time. She is as emotionless as ever, as cold and brilliant and intense as I have come to expect. But when things start going her way, and the evil men in her life start to receive their comeuppance one by one, the veneer cracks just a little.
What’s amazing about Rapace’s performance in those moments is that the little half-smile that plays across her face is NOT an indication that she is trying to hold back that emotion. In most scenes like this, you think the character would be bursting into peals of laughter were she alone, but that she’s repressing the urge in the company of others. Not Lisbeth Salander. She is not capable of such subterfuge. No, Rapace makes it clear that this little half smile is the most emotion Salander is capable of showing. And therein lies the brilliance of these moments. And of this movie. And, to an extent, of the whole series.
The trilogy is complete with the release of this third one on DVD and Blu-Ray January 25th from Alliance Films. I highly recommend picking up all three. Make a weekend of it or something.