# "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" -- anyone seeing it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951 "2011-12-21T15:04:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/121 "2012-01-11T14:33:32Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I have very mixed feelings about the film. On the one hand I did enjoy the performances but for me the best were Stellan Skarsgard (who should be a pirate) and of course Christopher Plummer. Erm…Didn’t Stellan Skarsgard play a pirate in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films? Wasn’t he Legolas’s father (whatever his name is)? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/122 "2012-01-11T14:42:58Z")
By that time he wasn’t so much a pirate as he was a piece of yardarm, or something like that – if I recall the movie correctly. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/123 "2012-01-11T14:54:04Z")
Did anyone else think the faded color picture Henrik showed Mikael of the young Harriet looked incredibly like Lisbeth, at least what she would have looked like at that age? That briefly threw me, wondering what the relation might be. Obviously the age discrepancy didn’t work but I would believe it if told that actually was a real photo of a young Rooney Mara. This was our first exposure to the story in any form but loved the movie. My wife and I both found ourselves thinking back to it several times this week after seeing it last. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/124 "2012-01-11T15:02:20Z")
i’m still slogging through the first book (started christmas eve with it), which is very unusual for me since i’m generally a very fast reader. i can’t decide if it’s the author’s style or the translation. at this rate, the movie will be out on dvd by the time i get around to seeing it. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/125 "2012-01-11T17:14:22Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > … > > Of course what I’m REALLY hoping for is that someone buys the rights and writes book four. 😉 Or at least makes a movie; there is definitely enough mystery left for one! I’d be afraid of them doing a VC Andrews on the franchise. If they could avoid that, I could get behind the idea! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/126 "2012-01-11T17:47:43Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I too found Lisbeth to be a bit too omnipotent. Yes she gets raped but she gets her revenge. And is the smartest, and the bravest, and the fuckingest and the walking around nakedest person because she is like the Honey Badger. Craig, the investigative journalist, was working on this investigation for months and in about 5 minutes she finds out more than he ever did. The daughter casually pointing out the big clue was very clumsy. I mean nobody investigating the case thought of that? Ever? What you learn about the initial and number combinations in the books is that back in the 60s Sweden had a different phone number system, without going to the book I will sort of wing it. Yclues were CJ 34567. At that time, 34567 was a plausible phone number with the 34 being the province, 5 being the town and 67 the individual phone, similar to the US being PEnsylvania 6500 as PEnsylvania district of NY city, and 6500 being the hotels actual phone number [in the US you would dial for your operator and tell her you want to make a call to NY city, PEnnsylvania 6500, and she would contact the NY operator and the NY operator would hook her end of the switching system to NYC, and that operator would hook you to PE6500. Later the system was automated and you just used numbers. Honest, you can wiki it. It took someone distanced from that particular numbering system for phones to see it simply as a series of bible chapter/verse references. I would not have made that jump because I am not in the throws of christianity intensification like Mikael’s daughter was. And as to walking around naked, different cultures, different habits. Frequently the scandanavian countries [especially Finland] have a sauna tradition that means casual nakedness tends to be ignored. Besides, many people walk around naked in their own house, in front of their lovers. My husband walks around our house naked when the roomie is away, no big deal. I am not as comfortable naked and only tend to do it in the bedroom [except for the times I had previously been to a nudist establishment.] ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/127 "2012-01-12T13:07:57Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > i’m still slogging through the first book (started christmas eve with it), which is very unusual for me since i’m generally a very fast reader. i can’t decide if it’s the author’s style or the translation. at this rate, the movie will be out on dvd by the time i get around to seeing it. It starts out very slowly… with details left out of the movie (which may tell you something). ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/128 "2012-01-12T18:43:43Z")
Oddly, I found the original one easier to follow and understand because of the subtitles. The remake has a sensibility that is easier for us non-Swedes to understand but the “accents” meant we couldn’t always follow the dialogue.:o ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/129 "2012-01-12T20:03:42Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Did anyone else think the faded color picture Henrik showed Mikael of the young Harriet looked incredibly like Lisbeth, at least what she would have looked like at that age? That briefly threw me, wondering what the relation might be. Obviously the age discrepancy didn’t work but I would believe it if told that actually was a real photo of a young Rooney Mara. > > This was our first exposure to the story in any form but loved the movie. My wife and I both found ourselves thinking back to it several times this week after seeing it last. I thought that also. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Cheech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Mister\_Cheech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Cheech)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/130 "2012-01-13T21:48:54Z")
Elusively “foreign” or otherwise, the Swedish films were made for television, and look and feel that way. David Fincher made the source material cinematic. Those who think the Swedish ones were better are the kind of people who never see subtitled films, and for whom the experience is so new and exciting that the quality of the movie(s) in question barely registers. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/131 "2012-01-14T00:15:03Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Elusively “foreign” or otherwise, the Swedish films were made for television, and look and feel that way. David Fincher made the source material cinematic. Those who think the Swedish ones were better are the kind of people who never see subtitled films, and for whom the experience is so new and exciting that the quality of the movie(s) in question barely registers. Bullshit, I watch foreign films frequently and I thought the Swedish ones were quite well done. I liked the Daniel Craig version, but I prefer the swedish trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/132 "2012-01-14T01:07:17Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Elusively “foreign” or otherwise, the Swedish films were made for television, and look and feel that way. David Fincher made the source material cinematic. Those who think the Swedish ones were better are the kind of people who never see subtitled films, and for whom the experience is so new and exciting that the quality of the movie(s) in question barely registers. What a bunch of bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/133 "2012-01-14T01:14:30Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Elusively “foreign” or otherwise, the Swedish films were made for television, and look and feel that way. David Fincher made the source material cinematic. Those who think the Swedish ones were better are the kind of people who never see subtitled films, and for whom the experience is so new and exciting that the quality of the movie(s) in question barely registers. Aren’t you a clever clogs :rolleyes: I have only seen the Swedish trilogy, and regretted that I spent too much time reading the subtitles to be able to properly enjoy the cinematography, mostly of the first film. The second and third films I found pretty boring, but I blame that on Steig Larsson for writing books in order to write about Lisbeth, rather than writing books to write good books. Probably I need to read the books to understand the appeal of _Played with Fire_ and _Kicked the Hornet’s Nest_. The first one, though, I found gripping. The ending was silly, but everything before it was forgot-my-popcorn interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Cheech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Mister\_Cheech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Cheech)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/134 "2012-01-14T01:29:45Z")
Anyone who thinks the hack work of otherwise unknown Swedish directors-for-hire surpasses the efforts of the director of “Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “Zodiac” and “The Social Network” is an idiot. Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist turn in great performances, sure, but Rooney Mara fares no worse. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/135 "2012-01-14T01:31:41Z")
What’s it like cleaning Fincher’s pool? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/136 "2012-01-14T01:54:15Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Those who think the Swedish ones were better are the kind of people who never see subtitled films, and for whom the experience is so new and exciting that the quality of the movie(s) in question barely registers. > [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Anyone who thinks the hack work of otherwise unknown Swedish directors-for-hire surpasses the efforts of the director of “Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “Zodiac” and “The Social Network” is an idiot. This isn’t allowed in Cafe Society. You can say a movie sucks, but you can’t call people names for liking it. Please don’t do this again. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/137 "2012-01-14T01:55:51Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Anyone who thinks the hack work of otherwise unknown Swedish directors-for-hire surpasses the efforts of the director of “Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “Zodiac” and “The Social Network” is an idiot. Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist turn in great performances, sure, but Rooney Mara fares no worse. #1, the directors are only unknown to you because you aren’t Swedish. #2, you assertion that the Swedish films were made for TV is, AFAIK, false. I base that on the fact that they all have a distributor and a release date. #3, Hi, Opal! ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Cheech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Mister\_Cheech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Cheech)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/138 "2012-01-14T02:36:18Z")
Sorry mod. Bo: Other television movies have been shown in theaters after the fact. Ingmar Bergman’s “Saraband” for instance. I’m also quite sure that Swedes share the same canon of acclaimed directors as the rest of the world. I live Australia, for instance, and there are no filmmakers of ours we consider to be noteworthy that the rest of the world doesn’t (Peter Weir, director of “The Truman Show,” is Australian, for instance). Sweden is not secretly hiding great filmmakers. Those of us who love movies know about them already - the aforementioned Ingmar Bergman, Tomas Alfredson (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Lukas Moodyson (“Lilya 4-ever”), Roy Andersson (“Songs from the Second Floor”), etc. No one, Swedish or otherwise, will tell you that the directors of the “Girl…” movies are remarkable outside of the Millennium trilogy, let alone comprable to David Fincher. Sorry if I sound like his “pool cleaner,” but his movies have been met with consistent acclaim (not to mention high IMDb ratings, Oscars, cult followings, etc.), and a great amount of people anticipate his upcoming projects. I’m not saying that everyone must agree with the consensus, but he is one of the most revered modern filmmakers, so it doesn’t add up to me that people would prefer the works of nobodies. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/139 "2012-01-14T02:43:16Z")
> [@Mister\_Cheech](#): > > Sorry mod. > > Bo: > > Other television movies have been shown in theaters after the fact. Ingmar Bergman’s “Saraband” for instance. > > I’m also quite sure that Swedes share the same canon of acclaimed directors as the rest of the world. I live Australia, for instance, and there are no filmmakers of ours we consider to be noteworthy that the rest of the world doesn’t (Peter Weir, director of “The Truman Show,” is Australian, for instance). > > Sweden is not secretly hiding great filmmakers. Those of us who love movies know about them already - the aforementioned Ingmar Bergman, Tomas Alfredson (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Lukas Moodyson (“Lilya 4-ever”), Roy Andersson (“Songs from the Second Floor”), etc. > > No one, Swedish or otherwise, will tell you that the directors of the “Girl…” movies are remarkable outside of the Millennium trilogy, let alone comprable to David Fincher. Sorry if I sound like his “pool cleaner,” but his movies have been met with consistent acclaim (not to mention high IMDb ratings, Oscars, cult followings, etc.), and a great amount of people anticipate his upcoming projects. I’m not saying that everyone must agree with the consensus, but he is one of the most revered modern filmmakers, so it doesn’t add up to me that people would prefer the works of nobodies. Your arguments are unconvincing, and the pedestal you seem to place yourself on (not to mention the ditch you seem to think the rest of us occupy) is offensive. ETA: Good luck with that, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2012, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951/140 "2012-01-14T03:10:14Z")
The films were done in totally different styles…which is why different people like each. Some like both. I didn’t even want to read the books until I saw the terrible, very early trailers for the American version of the '…Tattoo" film. THAT looked interesting, even though I thought they were awful trailers, in that I think they did a good job of promoting just the feel of the film. And that was enough for me. I read the books, and they fit the feel. Saw the Swedish films and…they fell short. Saw the American version, and thought it hit the mark right on. I don’t think it’s because he’s a better director…as interesting as the opening credits were, WTF did they have to do at all with the film? They didn’t even set up the mood at all. But the film itself fit my own mental version of the books, and so I like it better. Others will feel the same about the Swedish films, and that’s fine. Wish the punter\* hadn’t died, because I’d like to see what he would have thought of the film versions himself. \*author [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-anyone-seeing-it/606951.md?page=8)