Diagnosis Movies: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
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Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 10:12am
With films like Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999) and Zodiac (2007) under his belt, director David Fincher sets the bar high for the dark and twisted. Now he has taken Stieg Larrson’s disturbing novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and remade what others already saw as an astounding Swedish film. Could he live up to expectations?
From the opening sequence and its sado-masochistic imagery, the answer is yes. Immediately, you get a glimpse into the mind of Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo herself, against the backdrop of gritty rock music and a woman symbolically rising from the ashes. Whether you consider Lisbeth a hero or the antithesis of a hero, Fincher does not try to explain away her oddity. He just shows her as she is, a socially-impaired woman fighting her inner demons and a history of abuse.
A disgraced journalist recently sued for libel, Mikael Blomkvist is in dire straits when he accepts a freelance job to investigate the disappearance of a young woman from 40 years earlier. It is then that he hires Lisbeth as his no-nonsense assistant. Rooney Mara delivers a breakout performance as the title character. With a simple glance, she sends a ripple of apprehension through the room and haunts you with her intensity. She is simply electric and, paired with Daniel Craig as Blomkvist, is a force to be reckoned with in this unsettling crime thriller. Together, the two unfold layer after layer of corruption in one of Sweden’s most notable families.
The screenplay is relatively true to the novel although some segments are blatantly missing, such as Mikael Blomkvist’s affair with Cecilia Vanger. What needs to be there is included and, for some, perhaps too explicitly. Those with faint stomachs should steer clear. Violent rapes and attempted murder are portrayed with such graphic detail that the images may stay with you longer than you’d like. A sinister turn using Enya’s 1988 hit “Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)” as background music kept me awake that first night. It is Fincher at his deviated best, though I hear the odd song choice was inspired by Daniel Craig.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a pop culture phenomenon. Fincher’s version is a cinematographer’s dream and, during this award season, is ripe for nominations. The film has already garnered nominations for Best Actress and Best Score at the upcoming Golden Globes, though it was snubbed for Best Director and Best Picture. I am comfortable in predicting that the Academy Awards will bestow more honors on this edgy film. After all, the Academy would not want to incite Lisbeth’s wrath.
My rating: 4 stethoscopes
Editorial: Dr. Tanya Feke is a physician at Middlesex Hospital Primary Care - Durham and guest columnist for the Town Times. She was press credentialed to the LA Film Festival in 2009 and 2010 and continues to pursue a love of film. Her reviews are rated on a five stethoscope scale.
