The Swedish film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo took home Best Picture and Best Actress awards at this year’s Guldebagge Awards, Sweden’s equivalent of the Oscars, and has already grossed over $100 million worldwide. That may not sound all that impressive, but the Niels Arden Oplev’s thriller hasn’t even been released in the United States yet! That all changes March 12.
The movie is an adaptation of the first book of the Millenium trilogy, a thriller series by the late Steig Larsson. The stories follow the intertwined lives of Swedish financial muckraker Mikael Blomqvist and a young private investigator and hacker who’s driven by a fierce vindictiveness at those who’ve wronged her, Lizbeth Salandar.
Actor Michael Nyqvist, director Niels Arden Oplev and actress Noomi Rapace attend ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ photocall held at the Palais Des Festivals during the 62nd International Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009
According to a Variety review, the movie fails at the impossible task of fleshing out the rich and detailed atmosphere of the book, but is still a compelling view. The heart of the storyline, an intriguing whodonit, remains intact and compelling and Noomi Rapace has been said to have created a mesmerizing and ferocious Lizbeth Salandar.
The book is truly a delicious detective novel, it’s highly detailed but moves well and the characters are intriguing and well-constructed. The tech-savvy virtual sleuth Lizbeth Salandar does a wonderful job of breathing 21st Century life into the detective genre. Author Steig Larsson died from a heart attack in 2004 after an amazing life that not only included being one of the best-selling authors in the world, but also many years as an outspoken opponent to right wing extremism through lectures and as editor of Expo magazine.
Here’s a bio from his site:
Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer and journalist.
Prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in November 2004 he finished three detective novels in his trilogy “The Millenium-series” which were published posthumously; “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo“, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest“. Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide (summer of 2009), and he was the second bestselling author in the world 2008.
Before his career as a writer, Stieg Larsson was mostly known for his struggle against racism and right-wing extremism. Starting in the late 1970’s, he combined his work as a graphic designer with holding lectures on right-wing extremism for the Scotland Yard. During the following years he became an expert on the subject and has held many lectures as well as written many novels on the subject. In 1995, when 8 persons were killed by neo-Nazis I Sweden, he was the main force behind the founding of the Expo-foundation, a group intended on exposing neo-Nazi activity in Sweden. From 1999 and on, he was appointed chief editor of the magazine Expo.
During the last 15 years of his life, he and his life companion Eva Gabrielsson lived under constant threat from right-wing violence.”
Wow! Now that’s a detective novelist’s resume!
If you haven’t read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you can pick up the paperback now for about $5.
Here’s the trailer for the film:
