Review- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)

David Fincher's choice of next movie after The Social Network seemed a decision at odds with a director of his standing- to remake The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo so soon after the Swedish language original based on Stieg Larsson's bestselling book. It is a decision usually left to lazy studio executives trying to capitalise on the recent success of a foreign film hit. But this is not Fincher's style and by the slight differences in the screenplay's text than those of the previous film, it is better then to think that there is more than one way to remake a novel than to to think there is more than one way to remake a film.

Having personally no prior conceptions towards The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I have not read the book and as yet have not seen the Swedish version, the only knowledge I had it was the faint grasp of the plot and the notion that Noomi Rapace's female lead performance was and is the definitive version of the character Lisbeth Salander. So my eyes were very much open to interpretation from Fincher to cast his own inimitable take on the text.

The film opens with assault on the senses bravado, perhaps the first blow to the naysayers against a second, American adaptation of the novel, with a mash up of music video aesthetics (akin to the work of Chris Cunningham) and James Bond style credits, albeit one for the spiky, jilted generation set to a Gothic punk version of Led Zeppelin's 'immigrant song'. We are then introduced to Media disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig, who appears to lose his Swedish twang after his first sentence uttered), his recent loss in libel trail against crooked business man Hans-Erik Wennerstrom becoming the catalyst for his summons to the Vanger estate to meet elderly patriarch Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer on subtle stellar form). Blomkvist is assigned to investigate the 40 year old mystery of the disappearence of his niece Harriet, an unsolved crime whose conclusion has eluded Henrik and which encompasses a labyrinthine family tree, rooted in mistrust and suspicion, as he tells Blomkvist 'You will be investigating thieves, misers, bullies--the most detestable collection of people that you will ever meet: my family.' Blomkvist takes the job under the rouse that he is writing Henrik's memoirs and on the promise that he will provide not only money but more importantly damning information on Wennerstrom, who is a former employee of Henrik.

The girl's path meanwhile, takes its time in aligning with Blomkvist's journalist and must first traverse the murky waters of her being a ward of the state due to being diagnosed as mentally incompetent, the restraints of her probation and her subsequent dealings in the world of computer hacking. These are all fully realised in a graphically harrowing encounter with her new legal guardian lawyer who betrays his position of trust with brutal consequences. The revenge for the violent act establishes Rooney Mara's Lisbeth may appear slight in frame, but still packs a gritty tenacious punch, her porcelain face (beneath the piercings) is in discord with her determined demeanor. The role of Lisbeth Salander is an iconic, strong character, one that is rare for actresses in Hollywood and Mara takes the opportunity bull by both horns and runs with it to make a formidable impression.

When Lisbeth joins the Vanger mystery as Blomkvists 'research assistant' it is a partnership that quickly works, Blomkvist controlled but thorough, Lisbeth flirting round the edges of anarchy that brings results, and so the unravelling of Harriet's disappearance comes closer and closer to its sinister conclusion. With a multi-thread plot to cover, it would be easy for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to become overlong and slow in pace but Fincher manages to make the film detailed yet punchy creating a growing, pounding sense of dark doom. His is a master auteur with twisted shadowy text, an artist of effective morose visual flair who perhaps doesn't get the recognition of how at the top of his game he is (this accolade seems to be reserved to Christopher Nolan of late). Like the sorely underrated Zodiac (2007), Fincher also shows he has a fluidity to crime centric narratives, building clue solving investigation into a tense thriller, making the wise decision to keep the Swedish setting whose snow capped landscape lends another dimension to the icy proceedings and the buried secrets of the story. If there is one misstep, it is that the pacy structure gives in to a hurried final twenty minutes that swiftly tie up all the loose ends and the last shot of the film is something of an anti climatic damp squib.

But small grumble aside The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is compelling agile thriller, Fincher takes us on a journey to the dark side, one of a sordid nature but one that we cant help but follow him on. It is bleak but hypnotic film making and shows that Fincher didn't waste his time on reworking the Swedish version. All that and he also manages to make the music of Enya surprisingly scary.