The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

So, after a day off I am returning to take a peek at The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a North American re-make of the 2009 film of the same name, both are based off of the book by Stieg Larsson.  David Fincher stepped into the director's chair for this film, which is a mystery/thriller about a publicly shamed journalist (Daniel Craig) who is hired by a rich man to uncover some unpleasantness within the history of his family.  While he is working on the project, he teams up with a computer hacker (Rooney Mara) who is quite dark, quite disturbed, and has a dragon tattoo.

In some ways if follows the format of a typical mystery/thriller with the basic information gathering, interviewing, with moments of suspense thrown in amoungst it all.  While having the feel of a typical movie of the genre, it still works to be its own film as it never rushes anything and progresses at a pace to give us a real sense of characters and setting.  It also avoids some common cliches such as scenes of misdirection and jump scares.

It is set on an island in Sweden, where Mikael (Craig) goes to stay while investigating the rich family who also live on this island.  When we first are introduced to it, it is very bleak, with snow and a cold wind that we can almost feel.  We start to get an understanding of the isolated lifestyle of the family, as well as a vibe that while it may be a beautiful location, there is a cold harshness around it.  There are a lot of scenes shot in drab colours, and only a few where there is a fresh vibrance.  It seems this goes well to provide an environment for Lisbeth (Mara) to fade into.

Lisbeth is really what makes this movie work, as her character movies from being a peripheral part of the movie to the ultimate point of connection for the audience.  She has been deemed mentally unfit by the state, lacks all social abilities, and displays next to no emotion.  It is in Rooney Mara's performance that this character comes to life, as she nails this very nuanced role.  It is a real testiment to a story and to the acting when the near emotionless person becomes the one the audience feels the emotion towards.  It is because we are given glimpses of a very wounded survivor under the gothic exterior of the character and, even in her strength, see a tremendous vulnerability.

There are some who may not enjoy this film, that is for sure.  It has a run time of two hours and thirty eight minutes, and it is not exactly action packed.  As well, there are some scenes of nudity and sexual acts (some consensual and some not) that could be discomforting for some. 

Now, while those elements could deter some folk, I would say that they all have their place within this film.  The movie runs long because it is, in all reality, about the girl with the dragon tattoo on her back.  She is someone who keeps everyone at arm's length, and we need that time with her to be let in to gain a feel of her thoughts and emotions.  And while there are not car chases, we are treated to engaging scenes that are well shot, well scripted, and well acted.  As for the nudity, it is a bit of a must for this story as well.  It is how we see Lisbeth when she is being violated in the most horrific ways, but also how we see her as she starts to almost connect her sexuality with her emotions.

This film gets high praise from me, and it just solidifies my fandom in both David Fincher and Rooney Mara.  While Mara has not been around for a long time, she is showing some amazing acting skills in a number of different roles and is someone who will be receiving an Oscar soon enough, and got a well deserved nomination for her role in this film.  So much power from this movie comes at the very end, where no words are needed and it is just the scene as well as the posture of Mara that left an emotional fingerprint on me that has me yearning to see the next installment in this trilogy.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars