My husband and I were lucky enough to see an advance screening of the Swedish film version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as part of the Chicago European Film Festival at the Siskel Center. What can I say? It was outstanding. It didn't once jar with my preconceived mental image of the story. Michael Nykvist and Noomi Rapace are outstanding as Blomkvist and Salander, respectively--the general consensus at the screening was that it was so nice to see actors who looked like real people--and I myself am desperate to chop off my hair in emulation of Rapace. Best of all, the director pulled no punches when it came to the grittier elements of the story--they were on full display, rape, sodomy, and all. Overall, it was a brilliant film realization, and I hope the next two, which are apparently already airing in Sweden, are every bit as wonderful.
On an unfortunate note, I've also learned that Hollywood has optioned the rights to the three books so as to make an Americanized version, no doubt aimed at those among us who don't want to bother reading subtitles and like our films to be sanitized and R-rated. I'll withhold my final judgment, but I'm preparing to hate the Hollywood versions.
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