“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” — the film adaptation of the first in the series of phenomenally successful thrillers by Sweden’s late native son, Stieg Larsson — did not come from Hollywood. No red carpet regulars pop up in the cast. No splashy marketing campaign accompanied its arrival in U.S. theaters last spring.
And the movie — now out on DVD ($25) and Blu-ray ($35) — is all the better for it.
As directed by Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev, this “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” is an engrossing and classically suspenseful story of an old-school journalist who teams up with a nose-ringed computer hacker in order to solve the decades-old case of a missing young woman from the decidedly wealthy (and creepy) Vanger family.
The timing of its home-viewing debut — smack in the middle of summer — couldn’t be better since, like the novel that inspired it, “Tattoo” is the DVD equivalent of a really smart, edgy beach read.
Those who come to this Swedish film without knowledge of the books may be struck most by the darkness of the material. Several of the narrative’s key story lines deal with the abuse of women; one rape scene in particular is notable for its unflinching brutality. That being said, the violence is hardly the most notable aspect of the film.
What may be most impressive to viewers who know Larsson’s work, as well as those who have never read a word of it, is the deft direction by Oplev, who handles the multiple plot threads — including the aforementioned case of the missing Vanger girl and the love story that eventually develops between its investigators, reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and expert digital spy Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) — with a skill that calls no attention to itself, and therefore is that much more deserving of praise.
And then, of course, there’s Lisbeth, a woman who looks like a distant, younger cousin of Joan Jett and serves simultaneously as female victim and empowered heroine.
Rapace is thoroughly convincing in the part, a fact made more evident by an interview that serves as the only semi-worthwhile extra on the DVD. During the conversation, clearly snatched from the European press tour for the film, Rapace comes across as feminine and soft-spoken, several far cries from the steely, sometimes enraged, tatted-up character she plays.
“I was so sure that people would hate me, and they don’t,” she says at one point of her work in the film. The interview bears watching if only to make it clear how completely Rapace inhabited the role.
The other special features can charitably be described as skimpy. A Vanger Family Tree, designed to help the viewer understand all the connections between the relatives at this mystery’s core, is somewhat informative. And the trailer for the second installment in the film series, “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” isn’t much of an extra, since it’s easily viewable online.
So watch “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” but do it for the thrills of the story, not for the quality of the supplemental material. And do try to watch it relatively soon. This version of the Mikael Blomkvist mystery may not have come from Hollywood, but Hollywood is definitely coming after Larsson’s trilogy.
Plans are already under way for an American version of “Tattoo,” with director David Fincher at the helm. The casting of the leads has not been determined but already has fueled much debate online, a fact that makes this version all the more precious. There are no Brad Pitts or Carey Mulligans in the Swedish adaptation — just some convincing unknown actors and a director smart enough to let a well-crafted and multifaceted whodunit take center stage.
