Swedish v. English: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Millenium Trilogy needs no introduction. I started reading the first installation when my grandmother gave me her copy. I devoured it in a weekend. Then I bought the second book, finished it in a few days, and had to wait for the third book to become available in paperback. In the end I couldn't wait for it, so I bought a used hardcover copy and didn't even come up for air before I'd finished it. These books aren't classic literature, but they do speak to important social issues, they're gritty, the characters are interesting and mysterious, and the settings of the story are fascinating to me (a traveler who has never been to Scandinavia or Eastern Europe).

Needless to say, I was excited to learn the books had been made into movies, in Swedish no less! This spoke to my love of languages, especially since I have rarely had the opportunity to hear Swedish spoken. I thought the movies were pretty great. The characters were depicted well and the screenplay made a thorough attempt to fit all important aspects of the story into a reasonable amount of screen time. Of course, I had my complaints, but in all I enjoyed the movies very much after having read the books.



In particular, I loved Noomi Rapace as Salander. She took on this roll with gusto. The on-screen Salander wasn't pretty or charming or easy to like, but she was true to the written character. At times I found her downright frightening. Basically, Rapace took on this roll as a character actor, not a filmstar darling. Michael Nyvquist was an obvious choice for Blomkvist because he IS Sweden's leading man. About 10 years ago he played an abusive husband in Tillsammans (Together). At that time he was pretty cute. Now he's a bit older and smidge portly, but I can see why he'd be chosen for this role. Anyway, I thought the actors did a great job bringing this story to light, disturbing scenes and all, and I enjoyed the films particularly because they were in Swedish.

This Christmas an American/Hollywood version of the first installation is being released. Last weekend I went to see "X-men: First Class" and saw a preview for TGWTDT. Everything in me wanted to boycott this "remake." It's not in Swedish, I heard a rumor the actors would be faking Swedish accents, and why remake something that was just completed?! Then I saw the preview.

The new movie looks fucking awesome. Daniel Craig will play Blomkvist and, let's face it, he's sexy. A relative newcomer, Roony mara, is playing Salander. Of the big name choices, I'm glad this role is going to someone less well-known. Hopefully the lack of preconceived notions about a leading lady will allow Mara to really embody the role like Rapace did.

I've also read that the American version isn't meant to be a remake of the Swedish version. The Swedish version literally put the book on screen. Supposedly the American version is going to take a different approach, so that both versions will be valid in their own rights. In the end the Swedish version will always have something the American version can't: authenticity of language and culture.

Now I just hope the movie is just as gritty as the books were and doesn't gloss over the message of the story or take away from the important details that give life to the backdrop of the story- Stockholm and rural Sweden and the social and legal system of that country. Bottom line: I plan to see this movie in the theater this Christmas. Hopefully I can enjoy the American version for what it has to offer without taking away from my enjoyment of the Swedish version.