It's not quite fair to say that I like all Swedish cinema, since I have not seen much. All of the Swedish movies I have seen, though, I have really liked. This movie was filmed beautifully and doesn't shy at all away from the dark nature of the book on which it's based. There are several scenes (both rape scenes and the graphic glimpses of the cold case murders especially) that would need to be sanitized and drastically edited to be included in a Hollywood film. David Fincher is set to direct the American version of this, and while I love him and most of his work, I'm not sure that a story that needs to be this dark and gritty will get its due justice as a mainstream film. Hopefully I'm wrong! The performances in this were flawless, especially Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander. I eagerly look forward to the American release of the second two films in this trilogy, set to be released in the US this fall.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars
Absolutely loved this film, and can't wait to see the rest of the Swedish trilogy. As for the American remakes, colour me curious-but-guarded.
ReplyDeleteIt's all gonna boil down to who they cast as Lisbeth (five bucks says they change her name), and just how dark they are willing to go.
Sweden DOES make some great films! Okay, so maybe I have only seen this and Let the Right One In, but they are two definitive films that Americans just can't produce.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, I don't think making an American version of this film is a good idea. For one thing, they don't have Noomi Rapace, and I can't really see Carey Mulligan, Kristen Stewart or Ellen Page taking on this role.
This movie is just too good!!