If you haven’t checked out the swedish thriller/mystery The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo then you’ve probably at least heard of the new phenomenon by now. If not, well, this guy Steig Larsson wrote a trilogy (the Millennium Trilogy) before he died in 2004. The books were about a duo of a journalist and wild goth chick named Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. The two solve intense mysteries involving lots of graphic details.
They were published starting in 2005 as posthumous writings of Mr. Larsson. However, it wasn’t until they decided to make film versions that the story became oh so popular here in the land of Freedom and pop culture idolization. The film (or should i says “films” because they were all three released in the same year) was released in sweden this past year (the year of our lord 2009). I caught a stint of the publicity when i saw the trailer and checked it out. However, i dismissed it, not expecting it to come to my town, being that it was a foreign film with a reputation. And, my hopes did not fail me, we didn’t get it. So, it slipped out of my head until I started seeing people read the book. I kept catching teachers and students at school nose deep into this book. And so it had hit us. People were overtaken by the almost spooky thought that Larsson was speaking from the grave. Now, it has gone so far that an American remake of the film is set to release in 2011 (imdb). I would love to advise to ignore this, but … it looks fucking awesome. The first film itself was an intense and intricate thriller that rocked my nerves, but this american “version” just might compare. It’s the director that knocks me off my feet.
David Fincher (Fight Club, Benjamin Button, Se7en) is set to direct the film. The screenplay is written by Steve Zaillian (who won an oscar for Schindler’s List). With a director and screenwriter duo that seem to create nothing but fabulous, masterful pieces, how could this thing go wrong? Not only that, but Daniel Craig (James Bond 007) is to play Blomkvist. Craig himself is one of the best actors out there right now. Now, it was rumored for some time that Carey Mulligan (An Education) was to play Lisbeth, but I read something to where she dismissed those claims and said that Fincher turned her down. So, I can’t be positive, but it looks like this film might just rock the cinema big time, and i certainly hope that it does.
If you haven’t seen the original, go out and rent it today, you’ll be pleased you did.
Graker and Tandy: A Movieblog 