the first rule of adaptations is..
The original Swedish title of the novel was "Män som hatar kvinnor," roughly translating as "Men Who Hate Women." This is a pretty darn good summary of the film - it focuses on themes of domestic abuse, rape and other such heinous crimes against the finer sex. The book opens with the statistic "18% of the women in Sweden have at one time been threatened by a man," roughly translating as "18% of women don't make a good cuppa." Laddish banter aside, the film does tackle a tough topic and skips nothing when showing the brutality that some sick bastards are capable of committing to women. The novel goes into more depth, whereas the film skirts over most of it (censorship laws and that); but what the film does show is incredibly difficult to keep your eyes on. Not "Irreversible" bad, but a touch more emotional than watching Brad Pitt (hey look, it's me!) struggle to find out what's in the box.
he'd be shite on Deal or No Deal
The film's narrative is basically a real life game of Cluedo/who shot J.R. mystery set in the town of Hedestad, an island just north of Stockholm. Ol' man Henrik Vagner enlists the help of Mikael Blomkvist (Danny Craggers) to find the killer of his niece Harriet Vagner. Sounds simple enough, only it's never Colonel Mustard in the lounge with the revolver. Unfortunately for Blomkvist the supposed murder happened about 40 years ago, the suspect is most likely a member of the Vagner clan, and there's less motive than Fernando Torres has Chelsea goals :-( it's almost like reading a coffee stained instruction manual for an Ikea wardrobe, without the English translation.
GAH, 1/3!
Like any good detective, Blomkvist enlists the help of a sidekick before getting knee deep in the Vagner family affairs. In this case, his compadre comes in the form of a young Lisbeth Sandler - a silent but deadly "orphan with a vengeance" type, who resembles exactly what Posh Spice would look like if she had taken class A drugs and listened to Slipknot for the majority of her adulthood. She's got an attitude, and boy does she use it!
Rad Spice
Lisbeth and James fuck Bond make one hell of a duo - with her supreme photographic memory and his analytical mind, the two instantly make headway into the case and begin to unravel the mystery of Harriet's disappearance and discover some haunting truths about Hedestad's occupiers. Unfortunately for them, someone on the island begins to take notice of their progress and doesn't take too kindly to it. The narrative then really picks up pace - think Kevin Spacey pistol whipping Pitt in Seven (I was actually his body double on that scene) - and the murder mystery transforms into a thriller with relative ease.
I don't want to go into too much of the plot twists and what not, the narrative of the film differs slightly from what happens in the book - bits are missed and some parts are changed but that's irrelevant. The film is Fincher as we know him best: dark, psychological and incredibly stylish. It's definitely no Fight Club/Seven but it's still well worth seeing. I will just add that I guessed who dunnit within the first 5 minutes of the film. That's what a childhood of board games through the summer gets yah (I was too pale to be allowed out in the sun) BOO-YAH.
41/50 STATES
