(MA) Directed by Daniel Alfredson
Noomi Rapace hit the big screen with a huge bang as the girl with the dragon tattoo, in the film based on the first book of the Millennium Trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larssen. As Lisbeth Salander, the anti-social computer hacker with a photographic memory, she set about exposing people who had abused power. One year after this, she is back but her battles are more personal. After catching up with her girlfriend, Lisbeth has to disappear because she has been named as a suspect for a double murder. Journalist of the Millennium magazine Mikael Blomquist (Michael Nyqvist) is also back, as the two people murdered were working for him on an article exposing the smuggling of children from Russia for prostitution, and he has no doubt Lisbeth is innocent.
Lisbeth and Mikael don’t actually meet up in this film until the end, but there are plenty of flashbacks as both the protagonists play detective while the real police lag behind them. An elusive former Russian agent Zala (Georgi Stayov) stays in the background while his trained thug Nidermann (Micke Spreitz) wreaks destruction and tries to kill Lisbeth several times. Corruption within the highest ranks of Sweden’s institutions is revealed as Lisbeth discovers her past and finds documentation to prove that she was very much their victim. The action is unrelenting as Lisbeth fights one battle after another even though she is often the target of physical brutality.
Familiarity with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is certainly recommended as it will make it easier to keep up with the twists and sharp turns in the narrative, as well provide enlightenment about the connections between the characters. The filmic rendition is excellent and I hope The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest comes to our screens before the Hollywood remakes arrive.
Lezly Herbert
***
