The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

[Art Andrews]

And just as a note, I usually post when something effects me in a strong negative manner, especially when many others seem to like it, because I want to understand what everyone else thought was so great about it to see if there was something I have missed. It isn't just to trash a movie, but to get a deeper understanding of what others think.

 

[TheDoctor]

I didn't care for the Swedish version - it strayed much farther from the source material than the American version. The American version was quite good. I can't vouch for any story/plot things because, being the third time I've seen the story (book, swedish film, american film), everything was pretty familiar to me.

As for the rape scene - I could definitely have done without it. I don't think it adds any more to the story to SHOW it than it would have if it IMPLIED it - in fact, it would have left it up to the imagination of the audience to imagine what he did to her. The worst part of it is that it doesn't build anything into Salandar's character - it doesn't send her into a depression, and neither does it send her crusading for her own rights - it's a speed bump in the road for her. Even in the films where they had a chance to show how it affects her character, they blew it.

DISCLAIMER: I'm pretty sure ALL sex scenes where they show the couple having sex is un-necessary. I've never seen a scene involving sex where an implication wouldn't have done just as well. Do we need a ten minute sex scene or can we have Kirk kissing the woman then fade to him putting on his boots on the side of the bed? I got the same story out of it. Even in the sexually charged James Bond films, they imply, not show.

 

[Art Andrews]

As for the rape scene - I could definitely have done without it. I don't think it adds any more to the story to SHOW it than it would have if it IMPLIED it - in fact, it would have left it up to the imagination of the audience to imagine what he did to her. The worst part of it is that it doesn't build anything into Salandar's character - it doesn't send her into a depression, and neither does it send her crusading for her own rights - it's a speed bump in the road for her. Even in the films where they had a chance to show how it affects her character, they blew it.

Thank you. You made my point much better than I did myself.

 

[Birdie]

As for the rape scene - I could definitely have done without it. I don't think it adds any more to the story to SHOW it than it would have if it IMPLIED it - in fact, it would have left it up to the imagination of the audience to imagine what he did to her. The worst part of it is that it doesn't build anything into Salandar's character - it doesn't send her into a depression, and neither does it send her crusading for her own rights - it's a speed bump in the road for her. Even in the films where they had a chance to show how it affects her character, they blew it.

Again, the scene plays heavily into what happens in the second two books as a plot device. As to whether it should be shown - that's really an artistic choice on the part of the director. I would argue that the brutality of the rape is necessary to understand Salander's character, and the nature of her revenge.

When Bjurrman first assaults her (the, ahem, BJ), her reaction is to take a camera with her next time so she can get some power over him, and blackmail him into leaving her alone.

The brutality of his second attack is unexpected to Lisbeth and the audience, and her revenge shows us a lot about her character - she's smart, resourceful and downright dangerous. Up to that point we've seen her as an aspergersy outsider. Now we know she's a force to be reckoned with.

It also gets us to root for her. The revenge she takes on him looks downright psychopathic if we don't see what she's been subjected to.

Later on in the trilogy we discover that Bjurrman's abuse of Lisbeth closeley reflects the treatment of her mother by her father, leading to an extreme act of violence in her childhood that creates her whole pathology.

It also leads to Bjurrman's hatred and need for revenge againsts Salander which is the basis for the events of the second book.

The director could, of course, have watered the whole scene down, shown it off camera etc, but that would be diluting the stories and the motivations of the characters.

Bear in mind that the Swedish movies were created as a TV miniseries that adapted the whole trilogy, and Fincher wants to adapt all three. The scene pays off far more in The Girl Who Played With Fire than it does in GWTDT.

 

[Noeland]

I think the rape scene, how she reacted to it, and how she ultimately dealt with it spoke volumes about her character. She is an internal person, and her reaction is not overt or over emphasized. It is subtle. These are very subtle films, that work in nuance and small moments. I'm including Fincher's film in that statement. His film was less subtle, but still, the scene was exactly what it was supposed to be. You're not supposed to like watching it. That's the idea.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

I generally dislike Swedish films. Ingmar Bergman was an abomination (Yeah, I said it... and I might get my citizenship revoked over that statement haha) to the film industry. I hold him responsible for creating an air of thought that either meant Swedish films had to be either tragically angst-ridden or comically ludicrous. And that Swedes are suicide-prone introverts (expect the blond females, which are all gorgeous sex maniacs that run around nude day). While he was alive, happy endings were sneered at and reviled- never mind creating an impossible barrier for creating something even CLOSE to action, horror, fantasy or scifi. He's the reason that Sweden doesn't have any "Troll Hunter"-type films.

That said, I actually like both versions of TGWTDT and though I too found the rape scene very disturbing I do think it was necessary to drive the point home. Though in one way, I think the rape scene in Buffy could be regarded as MORE jarring considering the tv show surrounding it.

One thing I noted in Finchers version was that the accents everyone was using made the film pretty believable somehow. Usually, even in more serious films, Swedes are portrayed with muppet-chef type accents (and the names Inga or Sven). Now, I grew up in the US, so I meself sound pretty American (you can only just barely tell that there's something "off" when I haven't spoken a lot of english in a while) and I'm certainly not averse to poking fun at accents... I'm just kinda befuddled why eeryone gets the Swedish "bad english" accent so wrong.

 

[Birdie]

A lot of the supporting cast in the Fincher movie were Swedes, which was a smart move. I'm not a huge fan of his movie, but at least he didn't ship it lock, stock and barrel to the US like most foreign remakes. That would have been a train wreck.

 

[terryr]

As for the rape scene - I could definitely have done without it. I don't think it adds any more to the story to SHOW it than it would have if it IMPLIED it - in fact, it would have left it up to the imagination of the audience to imagine what he did to her. The worst part of it is that it doesn't build anything into Salandar's character - it doesn't send her into a depression, and neither does it send her crusading for her own rights - it's a speed bump in the road for her. Even in the films where they had a chance to show how it affects her character, they blew it.

DISCLAIMER: I'm pretty sure ALL sex scenes where they show the couple having sex is un-necessary. ..

I could never have imagined that.
And it showed how brutal he was, and yet appeared normal to the world, therefore she was the problem and wouldn't be believed. She knew this and brought the recorder.
And if can anyone can watch that and not think it would affect her, .....

But yeah, most loving making scenes are overdone. When they suck face for 5 minutes complete with slurping sounds it makes make gag.
A look of love is better than naked bodies every time. In real life, seeing other people screw is funny, not sexy.