The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I’ve been hitting a string of great movies in 2010 and, as of May 2010, this is the best movie I’ve seen so far. It is a masterpiece of the mystery/crime genre. A genre that usually doesn’t hold much clout with me.

Sure, I read a lot of James Patterson and Harlan Coban, but only as fictional fluff. The term “beach reading” comes to mind. These are not works of literary power or artistic vision. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, however, is a masterwork. The movie is an adaptation from late writer Stieg Larsson.

The plot is not unfamiliar to whodunit fans. The film opens with journalist Mikael Momkvist (Michael Nyqvist) being slammed with a libel lawsuit and losing the case. He is sentenced to jail time, but before he has to serve the time, he is hired by Henrik Vanger, (Sven-Bertil Taube) the former head of a multi-conglomerate company, to investigate the unsolved disappearance of his niece in the 1960s.

Sounds typical, right? Well, yes. But here is the monkey wrench. Lisbeth Salander, ( Noomi Rapace) the real star of the film, is investigating Mikael’s possible transgressions and is partially responsible for finding evidence that convicted him.

Having to define Lisbeth’s character in a small review is probably an exercise in futility. See the film instead. It is her complexity, mystery, and even shock and awe that allows this film to turn from good to great.

Mikael discovers Lisabeth’s investigation into his life and, impressed by her research abilities, hires her to help him investigate the niece’s disappearance. The relationship between them is odd and as they delve deeper into Herik’s dark world, the movie relies on Lisabeth, not as a sexy sidekick, but as the centerpiece of talent and intellect to “cracking the case.” No Dan Brown-style expositional characters here.

In Lisabeth, I finally have the feminist character I’ve been waiting for since I got into movies. Lisabeth is intelligent, sexy, deeply-troubled, and most of all, totally uncompromising. She’s often victimized and in a scene that doesn’t feel contrived, even for a moment, she rains down utter revenge on her victimizer.

A character of this kind would never be popularized in American fiction. Maybe brought here, but never popularized here. She is too dark. Too troubled. Too enigmatic. Instead, we get Samantha from Sex and the City.

The film will be remade in the states and Lisabeth’s character, and the film’s dark content, will be toned down. But to what extent? Apparently Noomi Rapace was fairly unknown in Sweden, which producers claimed allowed Swedish audiences to more easily identify her as the “real Lisabeth.”

American producers would be wise to follow suit. They can ride the popularity of the books and Swedish films to get an audience. No need to hire an A-list actress. They could even hire a famous actor for Mikael’s part and use that as leverage for the movie. Or maybe a famous director? David Fincher is the man for the job. The rights to the book will sell for a large sum. Let’s hope they don’t use that as a reason to start hiring Dakota Fanning as Lisabeth.

Regardless, the greatness of this film starts and ends with the writing of Stieg Larsson and the execution of Noomi Rapace. An American version will never be necessary.

Release date: March 2010 in the United States

I say: A+

You’ll say B+