Scots Taffer on 30/9/2010 at 02:31
I watched the first of this trilogy en route from Singapore to Brisbane and found it to be an interesting take on the somewhat stale mystery/thriller genre by its injection of a mysterious character whose past was pleasantly left mostly unknown. It was a bit grim and graphic for the first hour with the anal rape (x2) and all but it lightened considerably after that (serial killing and nazism is light?).
I remain, as ever, very skeptical that the American remake will retain half the restraint of character development without overselling the narrative or background somewhat - also curious to see what their proxy for nazism will be... just the typical we're rich kids so we're doing what everyone wants to do debauchery?
Anyway, I wanted to hear people's opinions of the sequels as well as the books. The second movie has just hit cinemas here, though I discovered via wikipedia that they've all been released already (and are available through nefarious means).
Thoughts? I'm hearing the second one isn't as good and features some indestructible blonde meathead. :(
Angel Dust on 30/9/2010 at 03:04
Call me a heretic if you will but I've been in two minds about seeing this because of the upcoming remake. Normally seeing the original is real no-brainer but the fact that David Fincher is going to be directing the remake has me extremely interested as the material seems very well suited to his artistic sensibilities. If the remake gets an unfavourable reception than I'll check out this one.
The books I can't comment on since my reading list is already too long and this seems like the kind of thing I'd rather see in the cinematic form. My Dad likes 'em though! :p
Thirith on 30/9/2010 at 08:59
From what I've heard, while the first film was made for cinemas, the second and third were supposed to be TV movies but, due to the success of the first, were released to theatres. Apparently it shows that parts 2 and 3 are made for the small screen.
Also, this is probably common knowledge, but the series wasn't designed to be a trilogy AFAIK. The writer wanted the series to be much longer but died after the third novel.
Nameless Voice on 30/9/2010 at 10:52
The first film is very good, but I felt that the second and third were a bit of a let down. They lacked much of the interesting mystery aspects of the first film, and they didn't really tie up the story that well either (there were a few plot holes and the character motivations didn't seem as believable). The second and third films are also basically one film chopped in half, complete with the second film basically in the middle of nowhere.
They're making an American remake? I can imagine that being awful, though it might be amusing to see just to compare what sort of a mess they might make of it.
PotatoGuy on 1/10/2010 at 21:40
Just finished the third film, and quite liked it. I was surprised to see the kind of elements they kept from the book. For instance, I didn't exspect Niedermann to pop up at the 3rd film, or the Svavelsjö MC at all. Since I read the books first I don't notice this, but it wouldn't surprise me if people would have some difficulty following and understanding the 2nd and 3rd film. As NV said, the plot holes aren't helping.
On a side note, I think a part of the enjoyment I had while watching this was because the films were Swedish. I think I would have less fun if it were English ones, or (god save me) Dutch ones. Languages are atmosphere, I guess.
Nicker on 3/10/2010 at 07:43
I have only seen Dragon Tattoo so far and I like a lot about this film. It's always refreshing to see a European treatment of a story after a steady diet of Hollywood. There were some fine performances and good writing but in the end it amounted to a string of competent set pieces that never really gelled for me. I probably would have liked it more if had not been touted as a work of particular genius, as opposed to simply being rather good.
A feature film is really only long enough to tell a short story, except in the hands of exceptional writers and directors. Oplev does not rise to the task. He needed to pack a lot of subtext and interior dialogue into the scenes. Because he had only limited success with that, he failed to develop the characters realistically (especially Lisbeth whose impulsive shifts of affection seem to come out of nowhere. Also I found the reciprocal rapes to be distracting. That brutality, if the director really felt it necessary, would have been better used as an emotional focus later on, during the unfolding of the main plot. The film never returned to that intensity.).
It feels like Oplev was overwhelmed by the density of the novel and the script and never found the clear choices that would have made it a real mystery, a real thriller or a real love story. Close but no cigar.
Scots Taffer on 3/10/2010 at 08:58
Good point, Nicker. The dramatic intensity of the opening hour really made the finale pale in comparison, which is probably why the resolutions of the central mystery felt a bit lacking.
