I am not a fan of television murder mystery series......I have had to sit through that many midsommer murders, that just one more would make me literally hurl!
Man som hatar kvinnor (English title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has the feel of one of those murder tv shows with director Niels Oplev dragging out the no-so-convoluted twists and turns over 150 long and sometimes meandering minutes! Yet despite the mundane pace there is plenty to enjoy in this Swedish thriller that takes more than a sidewards glance at the physical and psychological abuse of women as it concentrates upon the sadism and murder within a rich Swedish family.
What makes the movie work is the refreshing way it portrays the two leads.
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) is a good natured hack that is brought into a 40 year old mystery disappearance of a young heiress. He is not typical Hollywood hero fodder, he is middle aged and rather shopworn with a paunch and a series of ill fitting jumpers......and his sidekick and object of his affection is not the usual willowy Nicole Kidman ish character but a psychologically damaged,goth, bisexual dyke with an attitude that could cut toast!!! and it is this reptilian performance by actress Noomi Rapace (above) that makes this average thriller just that little more interesting.
The unsmiling Rapace, spits out venom and pain throughout the film, and is balanced well by the benign and righteous Nyqvist; the pair make for an unlikely and compelling movie couple- a risk that the Danish studio took and won easily.
The plot I give 6/10
The cinematic partnership I give 8/10
ps...just found out that this movie was originally 2 tv episodes!!!!
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I still watch mysteries, not that I am all that mystified, I look for mistakes and have a good rate of "who done it" from the first 10 minutes, but it's fun when I am wrong.
ReplyDeleteSorry JG I'm definitely a fan of tv murder series, especially the "period pieces" like Poirot and Foyle's war. I can never follow the plot but love the sets and clothes, draw the line at Jessica Fletcher though - does Ashes to Ashes count as murder or comedy?
ReplyDeleteI loved it. I found it gripping and fascinating and I loved the pace and the look of it. And how good to have it in the original Swedish with subtitles. I do agree about the two leads and they're not finished yet. The book is the first of a trilogy and they have made all three films, which is why there were hints of the ones still to come. So roll on the next two.
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