The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Reviewed by J. Lunden on June 7, 2010

The most interesting aspect of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is, in fact, the girl with the dragon tattoo. Hiding behind the aforementioned tattoo, her goth aesthetics, chain smoking, and ambisexuality, Lisbeth Salander is one of the more richly complex heroines to grace the screen in quite some time. And Noomi Rapace, an actress with dynamic and fascinating presence, plays the character brilliantly.

But what if the character of Lisbeth was removed from the narrative? That’s what I kept wondering throughout the film. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a mystery/thriller about a series of murders linked to the 40-year-old disappearance of a young girl; but, honestly, the mystery isn’t very captivating or shocking, and the thrills are fairly light. Director Niels Arden Oplev has a great eye for both composition and action and I often had trouble taking my eyes from the screen, but I found that I was growing weary of the investigation—especially when Lisbeth was not involved. This is partly due to the film’s first act wherein a great deal of effort is spent establishing Lisbeth’s motivation and conflict. We see moments of startling brutality, both sexual and psychological, which reveal to us Lisbeth’s survivalist mentality. Then, suddenly, the character becomes embroiled in a mystery that has tangential emotional relevance, but whose preposterous coincidences, melodrama, etc., could have easily been conceived in any airport novel. This dislocates much of the first act’s violence, as I believe the film is going for more than just base entertainment.

I would argue that the film has many interesting stories that simply refuse to play nice within a single narrative. And at the center we have the relationship of two very engaging characters, Lisbeth and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist)—the journalist she helps to solve the film’s mystery—who offer a riveting dynamic in their own right, but are superior to the potboiler in which they’ve been placed. I would venture that this has more to do with Stieg Larsson’s book than a failing of the script. That is, I don’t think it’s a matter of adaptation, but rather a matter of the original work’s functionality. For me, there are simply too many conflicting moods for any one trajectory to prove wholly satisfying, which creates a situation where if one aspect is corrected, another must go out of balance.

At this point, it probably sounds like I didn’t enjoy the film. On the contrary, I liked the film and wouldn’t be examining it with such interest if I hadn’t. I just think a better film exists within. This may be the one exception where the Hollywood remake actually improves upon the original, especially considering that David Fincher is currently at the helm. (I’m already casting it in my head.) Still, this version is worth seeing, if for no other reason than Rapace’s outstanding performance. Hell, Fincher should cast her.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo comes to Blu-ray in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer utilizes the AVC codec, takes up 20GB of space on the disc, and has a video bitrate of 15.36Mbps.

Despite the film’s skimpy bitrate, the transfer actually looks pretty good. Colors are sometimes flat and depth could probably be greater. Black levels seemed solid and I didn’t notice any noise or digital manipulation. The film’s modest grain structure appears to be intact, as well. Overall, this is a perfectly enjoyable transfer, but Jens Fischer and Eric Kress’s cinematorgraphy deserved more bits.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is presented here with a measly Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448Kbps. English subtitles are provided in glorious white.

What a disappointment. While the film isn’t a sonic powerhouse, it has enough musical and atmospheric nuance to deserve better than this disappointing lossy track. That said, dialogue is clear, low frequency is decent and surround activity has good separation. But, still, there’s no excuse for depriving this film of its full audio potential.

Interview with Noomi (12min):
This is a nice interview with actress Noomi Rapace. She speaks about getting the role of Lisbeth, changing her physical appearance to fit the part (she worried she was too girly), etc.

The Girl Who Played With Fire Sneak Preview (5min):
This is a 5-minute sneak preview of the sequel, The Girl Who Played With Fire, presented in 1080p widescreen.

Family Tree:
A graphic of the Vanger family tree. This is something that could have easily been found online. Kind of a pointless feature.

Theatrical Trailer:
The film’s theatrical trailer presented in 1080p widescreen.

[Click images for full resolution captures]