Review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) by Julian T — 29 Dec 2011

I went into this film a bit skeptical, as I have not read the novel, the film is subtitled, and nearly 3 hours long. Despite my initial hesitance, this is a great movie.

The first thing that I noticed was its haunting and desolate feel. The scenery, cinematography, score and lighting combine to create a feeling of total desolation, both in a physical sense and in a sense of social detachment.

An incredibly taunt thriller, full of twists and turns, and it is extremely well acted by a terrific cast full of Swedish actors, none of which I'd ever heard of. Very dark and disturbing at times. While the run time is long, it sucks you in from the beginning, and never has you wondering how long you've been watching.

Unfortunatly for this version, David Fincher's American imagining is superior in nearly every regard. I was apprehensive that a redo would be able to touch this, but it surpasses it handily.