All families have secrets

I have just watched an amazing film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, please enjoy my review of it....

Mikael is a journalist who has been given a prison sentence for running a story on a high powered business man as they claim it is all lies, he gets given 6 months before having to serve his sentence. He does the right thing and steps down from the magazine he writes for and it is not long before he is offered a new job.

Lisbeth is a computer hacker who works for a company who have recommended Mikael for a detective job, she believes that he is innocent and has been framed for his recent crimes. She is able to hack into all of his computer and see all his files and fully backs her decision that he is the man for the job.

Mikael is called to investigate a disappearance which happened 40 years ago. A large wealthy family who have lots of problems and secrets had a young girl go missing and they believe she is dead. It is the girls, Harriet’s uncle who asks for Mikael to find out what really happened to her.

Mikael accepts the job and soon his leads come to a standstill, that is until Lisbeth hacks his computer and sends him help. Mikael tracks her down and soon she is helping him with his investigation. Just what will the pair uncover about the disappearance of Harriet and is a family member really connected to it?

I have only given a really brief outline for the plot for this film as I don’t wish to give away any spoilers for those who may not have watched the film or read the book yet, there is a lot more to the story so please don’t think it is a as basic as I have made it out to be. I did not fully know what to expect from this film but decided to give it a watch as it has been given excellent reviews. I am pleased to say that both me ad hubby thought this was an excellent film but we did find it was very gruesome in places and I felt some of the sexual scenes were quite unnecessary. The story was told to us in an excellent way which kept me guessing right to the end of the film. I though I had worked out who the killer was and how he had done it but I was so far off the mark, I enjoyed this fact as it meant the film was not at all predictable. I did think we had a few small unnecessary side stories which did quite disturb me at times but overall the story was excellent.

The acting was also very good, the role of Mikael was played by Michael Nyqvist and he did a very good job. He was a very strong character and I felt I got to know a lot about him. He came across as honest and genuine and very good at his job. I felt there were a few times when he could have been more emotional and giving with his feelings but overall he played a great part. The role of Lisbeth was a more complicated one, she was a tough young lady and I felt she was holding a lot back at times. We did get to see her being treated very badly at the start of the film and in a way this did help me to understand her way of thinking but I don’t think we needed as much detail in these scenes as what we did get. The flash backs we got from her also gave her an air of mystery and I was always wondering what happened to her in her past to make her the way she is today. She gave a good performance and I felt she handled the story and all of her lines very well.

We did have some very good support actors but none of them really stood out and all of Harriet’s family members all seemed to blend into one.

The film was a thriller and I did get this right from the start of the film, there were a few jumpy moment but it was not at all scary. There were a lot of disturbing scenes which I was not expecting and these involved seeing photographs of murder victims who had been mutilated and hung, I felt the attention to detail was excellent but I don’t think we needed to see as many as we did and the majority of it could have been left to our imaginations. The special effects and makeup used on the victims was of a very high standard and I think a lot of credit should be given to the creators of this. We do have a few special effects in the film and they fitted in very well and were well made.

The setting for the film was Sweden and I got a very good feel for the country and way of life form how it came across in the film. We did have the majority of the film set in the snow and cold areas and I loved seeing how dense and baron the land could be compared to the fast paced cities. I loved the setting and as a result we did get one or two lovely scenery shots. The film is set in Sweden and we do have the option of watching this in the native language on the DVD but we opted for the English speaking version which meant the lips sync was out all the way through but after a few minutes we did manage to forget this and just enjoy what we were watching. I felt the music was also very good and fitting for the film, there was a definite orchestral feel to the majority of it and I felt it helped with the drama and tension of the film. I was always able to tell when something bad was about to happen from then music!

This film is based on a best selling book but unfortunately I have not read this so I cannot make any comparison between the two.

The DVD which we have does have some bonus features. I have not watched these so I cannot make comment on them but I will include them in my review for those who like these features so then you can decide if you wish to purchase the DVD or wait to watch the film on the TV. What we get as standard on the DVD is:-

Exclusive sneak peak of the Girl who Played with fire, Interviews with Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth Salander) and Producer Soren Staermose, Photo gallery and more, Includes both original Swedish version and English language versions.

The DVD cast me just £5 from Asda and I felt this to be a very good price. The running time of the film is 152 minutes and before watching I felt this was going to be overly long but once I really got into the story I forgot about the run time and just got so into the story I never gave the time a second thought. The rate is an 18 as there are scenes of sexual violence and I do definitely agree with the rate as even I found some of the scenes disturbing.

I am happy to give this film the full 5 stars despite the few flaws I have mentioned. The story and acting was excellent and I think it is well worth a watch and paying for the DVD. There are some gruesome parts but the strength of the story still makes this film worthy of the full 5 stars.