Reel Rewind: “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor”

Swedish title - “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor” / English title – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”
This is not a direct translation of the Swedish title into English, which would be “Men Who Hate Women” and that should have been used as the English title – so much more appropriate than the innocuous “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” (which literally translates into Swedish as “Flickan Med Draken Tatuering”). I rate the actual English title as a Failure and “Men Who Hate Women” is what I would use.

How ironic is it that I’m seeing “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor” in the Santa Monica Public Library (for free!) and I have not actually read the novel upon which the film is based? Plus I’ve seen a documentary on the life of Stieg Larsson, the author, back in July which was my introduction to the existence of the novels and films. After seeing this first of three films, I will try to read the trilogy before seeing the next two films.

Although the first images of the film are of professional computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (played by Noomi Rapace) covered up, head down and walking in a Stockholm subway, it is investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist (played by Michael Nyqvist) who we first begin to know. Through a series of connections, Blomkvist is hired by Henrik Vanger (played by Sven-Bertil Taube) to discover what happened to his niece, Harriet Vanger, who disappeared forty years ago at the age of sixteen from a Vanger family gathering on their island of Hedeby. Henrik believes that Harriet has been murdered and that the killer, who has been sending him framed dried flowers from a different place every year for his birthday (a tortuous reminder of the gift that Harriet used to give him), is one of his family members. Blomkvist begins his search with boxes of material and interviews with the powerful Vanger family members and the original police investigator, Gustav Morell (played by Björn Granath), on the case.

Lisbeth provides the research that convinces Henrik to hire Blomkvist and she continues to hack into Blomkvist’s hard drive, even though her assignment is over. We learn that Lisbeth is on some sort of probation (she has a troubling and disturbing past) and that her new guardian is a disgusting sexual sadist and rapist. However, Lisbeth is able to have revenge on her pig of a guardian when she records the atrocious acts he forces upon her and she threatens him with legal and media exposure unless her demands for controlling her own life are met. The inking of “sadist” and “rapist” on his chest was a bit much – no need for the mutilation, though I understand the need to label what he is and have it visible.

With the regaining of herself and a new, powerful computer, Lisbeth obtains the name and number codes that Blomkvist found in Harriet’s diary and she is able to decipher the number part of the codes and anonymously e-mails the results to Blomkvist. However, through Henrik’s lawyer, Dirch Frode (played by Ingvar Hirdwall), Blomkvist is able to track down Lisbeth and he persuades her to work with him on the search for answers. Their collaboration, both professionally and personally (the rapist can’t be her last sexual encounter with a male), in figuring out the names part of the codes results in uncovering a series of killings of women from the 1940s through the 1960s. Members of the Vanger family were involved in those murders and one of them is still alive. Blomkvist is captured and tortured by Martin Vanger (played by Peter Haber) and from certain death Bromkviszt is rescued by Lisbeth. It is discovered that Martin had been raping and killing women for decades, but that he had not killed his sister Harriet. The long missing Harriet is actually alive and living in Australia. When she returns to Sweden with Blomkvist, Harriet tells of her rape and constant abuse by her father Gottfried and her brother Martin. It was to escape potential further abuse at the hands of Martin which was the reason for her disappearance and Harriet had sent the framed flowers as her way of telling Henrik that she was somewhere out in the world.

The film ends with Blomkvist being vindicated in his investigation of a Swedish industrialist for which, at the beginning of the film, he had been sentenced to three months in jail for libel. Lisbeth gives Blomkvist the material he needs on a jail visit to see him and as news of the industrialist’s suicide reaches Blomkvist, the final image in the film is of a blond, head up, smartly-dressed Lisbeth walking down the street of a tropical paradise.

I do like the film, despite some disturbing elements, however, I do question some plot points. Unless I missed it, there is no indication that Henrik ever tried to track down the shipments of the framed flowers he began receiving years ago. It is unclear how Harriet came to obtain the information for the codes she wrote in her diary which led to the uncovering of the serial killings. And why does an experienced investigative journalist reveal anything regarding the status of the investigation to a member of the suspect group, especially when that investigation has turned into a different direction? I do like that Lisbeth rescued herself and Blomkvist from their respective torturers – a woman who does not need someone to rescue her and can rescue someone herself – great! Although he is not as complex a character as Lisbeth, I do hope that Blomkvist does show up in the other novels and films. Perhaps he will be Lisbeth’s calm place. No matter, I will look forward to reading the novels and seeing the other films.



Film Facts: Director: Niels Arden Opley, Writers: Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg, Novelist: Stieg Larsson, Cinematographers: Jens Fischer, Eric Kress, Editor: Anne Østerud, Musician: Jacob Groth, Producers: Susann Billberg-Rydholm, Anni Faurbye Fernandez, Jenny Gilbertsson, Lone Korslund, Jon Mankell, Peter Nadermann, Ole Sønberg, Søren Stærmose, Mikael Wallen, Production Companies: Danmarks Radio (DR), Det Danske Filminstitut, Film i Väst, Filmpool Stockholm Mälardalen, Nordisk Film, Nordisk Film-&TV-Fond, Sveriges Television (SVT), Swedish Film Institute, TV2 Norge, Yellow Bird Films, ZDF Enterprises

Film Type: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Cast: Michael Nyqvist (Mikael Blomkvist), Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander), Lena Endre (Erika Berger), Peter Haber (Martin Vanger), Sven-Bertil Taube (Henrik Vanger), Peter Andersson (Nils Bjurman), Ingvar Hirdwall (Dirch Frode), Marika Lagercrantz (Cecilia Vanger), Björn Granath (Gustav Morell), Ewa Fröling (Harriet Vanger), Michalis Koutsogiannakis (Dragan Armanskij), Annika Hallin (Annika Giannini), Sofia Ledarp (Malin Erkison), Tomas Köhler (‘Plague’), David Dencik (Janne Dahlman), Length: 152’, Language: Swedish, Countries: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Year: 2009
Film Trailer
United States release date Friday 19 March 2010


Images:
Left: Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander and Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist from the website moviepicturedb.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “Män Som Hatar Kvinnor” poster from the website weirdscience.se

Reel Rewind: “Millennium: The Story”

English title – “Millennium: The Story” / Swedish language title – “Årtusende: Den Berättelsen”
As I do not speak, read, or write Swedish, the Swedish language title was obtained through an online translation site. Thought it would be interesting to see the film title in the subject’s language.

I suppose it is somewhat incongruous to watch a documentary about a man of whom I haven’t heard, who wrote books I haven’t read, and which were made into films I haven’t viewed. However, that lack of knowledge makes me an objective person to watch Stieg Larsson’s life unfold on the screen - no perceived ideas or opinions of the man or his work to influence my reactions. In all fairness, I must admit that I have visited Sweden and found that I liked what I saw of the country.

The core of “Millennium: The Story” surrounds the trilogy of crime novels written by Stieg Larsson which have become a literary phenomenon never before seen in Sweden. The books have been translated into twenty-five languages and are available in forty countries. Probably should pay more attention to contemporary literature, as somehow I missed the whole super hype of Män Som Hatar Kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women), Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden (The Girl Who Played With Fire), and Luftslottet Som Sprängdes (The Air Castle That Blew Up). Larsson’s books were subsequently made into films – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, “The Girl Who Played With Fire”, and “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest”.

From the documentary, a picture arises of a man whose life’s passion was the fight against the extreme right and neo-nazism in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. He conducted this fight through the pages of the quarterly magazine, Expo, of which he was the editor. Larsson’s stand against the neo-nazis made him a target of attack and he was so protective of his long-time girlfriend, Eva Gabrielsson, that he didn’t marry her in order to keep her from being directly connected with him. However noble that decision was, it has caused inheritance controversy in Sweden. Because they weren’t marry and Larsson didn’t name her in a will, Eva does not receive any money from the books or films – it all goes to Larsson’s father, Erland and his brother Joakim. Eva has a project with a Danish film director to do the story of Stieg Larsson’s life.

Erland and Joakim recount Stieg’s childhood in northern Sweden from living with his grandparents until age nine, to getting a typewriter for his twelfth birthday (sharing the noise of it with Joakim in their bedroom!), to winning an argument with Erland at age fourteen, and to trying to choose between being a journalist or a writer – Stieg ended up being both. Despite the unexpected inheritance, both Erland and Joakim are still living simply and the money stays in a bank. They may give some of the money to Expo and are considering projects that have been proposed to them. There is no mention of Eva in terms of any money for her. I wonder what Stieg would say.

In his novels, Larsson uses Stockholm as the setting for the story. The documentary shows a tour group who are visiting the actual places mentioned in the books and which had meaning in Larsson’s own life. It was good to see familiar landmarks that I remember from my trip to Stockholm much too long ago. Larsson has all “the good guys” live in one part of Stockholm and “the bad guys” live in another – an actual dividing line between good and evil which is not found in the real world. Larsson’s world consisted of exposing the extreme right, writing fiction and non-fiction books, loving and protecting Eva, sleeping little, eating poorly, and smoking between sixty and eighty cigarettes a day. If Larsson actually smoked eighty cigarettes for twenty-four hours straight, that would be a little more than one cigarette every twenty minutes. No doubt that level of smoking contributed to his untimely heart attack and death.

“Millennium: The Story” cycles between the tour group, Larsson’s family, his international rights agent, his publisher, the writers at Expo, a financial backer, and film goers throughout the documentary. Although there are some subtitles, much of the film is dubbed in English and at times the actual footage is not as sharp as usually seen on the screen. But I did like what I learned about Stieg Larsson and it is truly unfortunate that he did not live to see the world wide impact of his novels, though I suspect Larsson would prefer a world wide impact on ending the extreme right.

This free screening of “Millennium: The Story” was a Laemmle theatre promotion for the opening of the second film in the trilogy – “The Girl Who Played With Fire”. Following the documentary, the first film – “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” – was shown, but I did not stay to watch it. Glad I saw the documentary and happy to know something about the man behind the three novels.


Film Facts: Director: Laurence Lowenthal, Production Companies: Impact Presse, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie

Film Type: Documentary, Length: 53’, Languages: Swedish, English, French, Country: Sweden, Year: 2009


Images:
Left: Photo of Stieg Larsson from the website travelbetweenthepages.files.wordpress.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Millennium: The Story” created by Adrean Darce Brent

Right: Poster of “Millennium: The Story” from the website dragontattoofilm.com