Don’t be put off by the ‘let’s read a good movie’ sub-titled nature of this Swedish trilogy. If you dismiss films just because they’re not in English, you are missing out on an entire world (literally) of fine cinema and excellent entertainment, and this series is a prime example.
The series is based very closely on the books by Swedish novelist Steig Larsson. It centres around the misadventures of the movies’ title character, a Swedish girl in her mid twenties called Lisbeth Salander (played brilliantly in all three films by Noomi Rapace), a skilled computer hacker whose shady and violent past creates a troubled and quite anti-social individual. Despite this, investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist, who is fully prepared to play second fiddle to Rapace’s almost psychotic performance) falls in love with her whilst they investigate together a serial killer in the first movie, and the pair become entangled in a plot of crime, intrigue and blackmail that more than sustains the interest over three lengthy movies.
These are not movies for the faint of heart. Their tone is unrelentingly dark and there are explicit scenes of rape, torture and violence peppered across the three films. They are also fairly intricately plotted, with many characters, storyline twists and turns and quite complex dialogue (which remember, you have to read) to keep up with, so strict concentration on the movies is advised. Frivolous, background entertainment these movies are not, but be patient and persist with them and the rewards are great, as all three movies are very entertaining and involving in their own right.
It is with trepidation that one reads that Hollywood is re-making the first movie, with James Bond (ie Daniel Craig) in the role as Mikael. The re-make is to be released in December, and you can only hope that they do original justice. Only time and viewing the film will tell.
That aside, the original three part Swedish made series comes highly recommended. And make the most of them, for aside from a questionable Hollywood re-make, there is very unlikely to be any more in this series. Stieg Larsson died in 2004, apparently leaving only sketches of what was apparently intended to be a ten book extravaganza. One can only hope that they actually leave it at a tasteful three, and don’t attempt to milk it further.
