Reflections
on “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2009)
Directed
by Niels Arden Oplev
Screenplay
by Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel
Based
on the book by Stieg Larsson
Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace et al.
“The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo” is a Swedish neo-noir thriller that has two major assets – its storyline
of topical relevance concerning the abuse and murder of young and vulnerable
women by wealthy or influential men who operate apparently unchecked by law
enforcement, and the film’s enigmatic heroine, or anti-heroine, who plays with
convention and reverses stereotypes.
Wealthy businessman
Henrik Vanger seeks information about the disappearance or, he suspects, murder
of his niece Harriet some 40 years previously and he hires famed journalist
Mikael Blomkvist to investigate.
Mikael is a man of integrity and principle who has been framed by a corrupt businessman and who is awaiting a prison sentence for libel. He pursued an investigation into mega wealthy businessman Hans-Erik WennerstrÖm but he is outplayed by WennerstrÖm who feeds Mikael false information that allows WennerstrÖm to take Mikael to court where he is sentenced to a few months’ imprisonment, though that is deferred for a short time. WennerstrÖm is clearly unscrupulous, devious and willing to sacrifice the freedom of others in order to further his cause and to protect himself, and this episode constitutes an introduction to the themes of abuse of power and the inadequacy of the justice system that will be further explored in the film.
Eventually, Mikael is
joined in his investigation by Lisbeth Salander, a troubled, rebellious and
intelligent young woman with a chequered past who has highly developed skills
in the field of cyber security, poorly developed social skills and is utterly
determined to see justice done, at least in her eyes.
Mikael’s investigation
into Harriet’s disappearance quickly reveals Nazi connections within the Vanger
family as well as links to unsolved murders. It transpires that Harriet was
brutally abused by her father Gottfried and her brother Martin and she
uncovered links to a number of murders, putting her own life in danger, so she
disappeared or escaped, leading her uncle Henrik to believe she may have been
murdered.
Many years later, and in
a situation that echoes that of Harriet, Lisbeth is savagely abused and raped
by a man in a position of trust and responsibility, her legal guardian assigned
by the courts, who is willing to exploit his status and influence to indulge
personal desires at the expense of those in his care.
It appears that despite
the façade of civilisation, ideals and equality in society, misogyny, brutal
abuse and criminality are alive and well across all strata of society, and this
is confirmed and emphasised by the experience of both Harriet and Lisbeth
Salander.
The clear implication is
that morality and ethics need not apply as some rich men or some in positions
of authority act as they wish, gratifying themselves without considering the consequences
for or impact upon their victims, and the law, there to protect the innocent
and the abused, applies only to those willing to conform or those not powerful
or affluent enough to cover their tracks. Given this premise, our film may
fairly be called a film noir with Mikael and Lisbeth representing conventional idealism
and personal accountability respectively.
Lisbeth is an intriguing,
unconventional and enigmatic heroine or anti-heroine. She has suffered in the
past and is living with the consequences of trauma in her childhood. We see the
result in her outlook, her relationships, her lack of trust and her almost
total self-reliance, operating by her own judgment and certainly not confined
by societal structure and legality. She is not defeated but she is damaged,
with her traumatic experience, only really hinted at in this film, leading her to
a dedicated pursuit of truth, principle and accountability, often at the
expense of financial gain and personal comfort and without recourse to recognised
institutional networks of protection and care. After she suffers severe abuse
at the hands of her so-called guardian, she displays endurance, clarity of
thought, resilience and intelligence in outwitting and gaining vengeance upon
her abuser, all qualities the audience finds admirable.
Refusing to fall in love,
though she feels affection for some, she insists on retaining control of her
life. She gains by the proceeds of criminal activity, stealing from the corrupt
businessman who targeted Mikael for seeking to denounce him, while clearing
Mikael’s name and condemning WennerstrÖm
in the process, and as such she is the perfect film noir heroine. She acts in accordance
with her acumen and her own sense of justice, which may explain why she is
drawn to Mikael who shares her belief in justice though he is more
straightforwardly and conventionally idealistic.
Noir elements are further
accentuated when there is something of a clash between Mikael’s idealism and
Lisbeth’s personally principled revenge – she saves Mikael from Martin’s
torture but chooses to allow Martin to die in a car crash. Mikael tells her he
couldn’t have done what she did but rather than judge her by traditional standards,
he is grateful for her existence and recognises the value of her actions
despite the questionable circumstances that created her and led to her dubious deeds.
There are times when moral judgment needs to be fluid.
Lisbeth Salander is the
true star and point of interest in the film. She is enigmatic and there is a
mystique surrounding her, a mystique and fascination that risk being eradicated
if her character is explored and explained to any great extent. To make her
back story the focus is, I think, a mistake, at least in film versions of her
adventures. It is better to drop incidental hints about her past along the way,
maintaining our intrigue, than to explicitly reveal her past which may satisfy
our curiosity but which may also reduce our fascination with the character. Stieg
Larsson constructed his trilogy around Lisbeth’s character and back story so
that she is the element around which the themes pivot, but I would suggest that
in the cinema the themes are the essential element, to be explored by a
character made incidentally human and intriguing, rather than have the character
become the focus. It seems to me that this mistake has been made with the James
Bond, Doctor Who and even Jason Bourne franchises.
My thanks for taking the
time to read this article. I hope you found it of some value.
Stuart Fernie (stuartfernie@yahoo.co.uk)
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