Reviewed by Ramona Prioleau
When it was announced that David Fincher, one of the most celebrated suspense directors working in film, was expected to adapt The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a best-selling mystery novel from Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, it seemed like a match made in heaven.
Fans of the book knew that the director, famous for near-perfect films such as Se7en and Fight Club, could do the spiraling suspense story justice more than almost anyone else. But as is the case with all novel adaptations, there was plenty of worry in book fandom. This concern was compounded by the fact that the novel had already been adapted to a film in Sweden just a couple of years previously. Expectations were high, almost too high, but luckily, as is so rare, those expectations were met.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) elicits in its audience the same feeling that the page turning novel does. One can’t look away as the path of Lisbeth Salander, played here by Rooney Mara, crosses with that of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig). As the two slowly work to uncover a mystery left forgotten for decades, the suspense builds slowly and expertly until the film’s brilliant climax releases it all in a satisfying catharsis.
The novel works quietly and slowly, and it’s rather incredible how well the film replicates this. There are shocking and exciting scenes early on, but, like Larson’s novel, nothing is rushed. The story draws you in, holds your hand while it introduces the characters and their mysterious lives. Then, it grabs you by the throat. It kicks you down. It punches you in the gut. There have been plenty of book adaptations that are faithful to the events of their written counterparts, but there are few that are as faithful to the feeling than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Fincher’s direction is impeccable, though he stays out of the way more than in some of his other films. There are plenty of finely framed shots and sequences, but for the most part Fincher allows the compelling narrative to speak for itself. The coloring and lighting are also phenomenal, and the whole film has an near-oppressive grayness thrown over it. The dark rooms and the rainy Europe only accentuate the ever-growing sense of dread.
Craig and Mara also play off each other tremendously well. Craig distances himself from Bond with Blomkvist, playing a slightly less charming version of himself. The real star of course is Mara though. Her Salander is mysterious and attractive, brutal and fascinating. She captures the heart of the character and completely disappears within it. Mara has one of those faces that’s easy to recognize, a face that, in another movie, may pull one out of the narrative, but nothing like that happens here. Instead, the young actress gives one of the best performances of her career. It’s a shame she wasn’t involved in 2018’s The Girl in the Spider’s Web.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is nearly three hours long, but it passes by quickly. Each scene leads to the next, each clue uncovered digs the audience deeper into the past while simultaneously hurling them into the future. The narrative lurches, churns, and gets stuck in one’s head. It’s an exciting lesson in suspense film-making from a master craftsman. M
October 2023
