Spiritualized

My mum recommended the Steig Larsson trilogy of books (of which this is the first) to me last year and I read all 3 consecutively as I was completely hooked a few pages into the first one. I'd rate them as 3 of the best books I can remember reading, but I love complex thrillers and these are really well written. The contrast (yet contination of sorts) of the story line between the 3 was really compelling.

Today I took my mum to see the film as it's not my dad's sort of thing. We both really enjoyed it - the performances by Swedish actors I'd never heard of made it easier to slip into rather than some Hollywood megastar all over the screen. It was really well shot - some careful close ups of faces during key moments (pasty faces and craters galore), awesome scenery and well composed set pieces. The performances of the actors was hard to fault, with leading lady Noomi Rapace particularly excellent. As soon as she appeared on the screen I felt the director had got her just right from the character in the book. It's nice to see a film remain faithful to the book it was based on with only a few plot lines left out - if the whole book had been included the 153 minutes would have stretched on far longer.

Anway, I haven't been to the cinema to see anything but kids films for ages so this was a real treat. Some well gratuitous moments but all important to the plot. Recommended by me.

Ive read all three books too and found them really good. The second book wasn't the big hit, but one and three are outstanding.
The movie was great too but i don't know how it would be without the books. I feel that some scenes still need more explanations. But 153 minutes is a long time for a movie. Also a little critic maybe that the movie was mainly focused on Lisbeth Sander, who, from my point of view, was more a secondary character in the first two books. But than, the german title is not really useful to get an idea about the story itself. I think that the english translation may fit better - and so the movie makes more sense.

The 4th book maybe released also. Steig has finished it almost before he died. But the whole story should be ten books (dekalogy?) so we will never know what would have come.

My girlfriend absolutely loves these books (got the third one for her at Christmas), haven't read any of them myself but my sister is well into them now too.
Looking forward to seeing the film in the next week or so. The other two films will be hitting screens before the end of the year.

I'm excited about the other 2 films. I have to say I thought all 3 books really excellent - second included - and found the pace just kept going. I have never read a trilogy one after the other like that. I agree with Nightwash that without the book some of the scenes (like the part payed by the guardian) required more explanation. As I was so familiar with the book I had no trouble following any of it - and it's a complex tale - and I felt the film was almost made for people who'd read the book.

Incredibly I'm told that this film was granted a 13+ certificate in Canada and a 12 in France! Can that be possible? Two of the scenes early on are extremely heavy and the general gist of what is revealed at the end is so totally horrible the idea of my 14 year daughter old seeing it is worrying.

I also thought the film had enough of Mikael investigating the scenario without Lisbeth to make him a major character (quite a performance from Michael Nyqvist). Inevitably 'the girl' would have to take centre stage as that's how films work despite it being a little less so in the book.

I never buy books in hardback as they are so expensive but if the 4th part appears - and it is as Stieg Larsson wanted it - I'd buy it on the day of release such was my reaction to the other 3. The background to his death, his family & his girlfriend is another book in itself. A tragic loss of genuine literary talent.

Anway, it was a buzz taking my mum - in her 80's - to see a film she really liked, and one that I enjoyed too.

runcible wrote:Incredibly I'm told that this film was granted a 13+ certificate in Canada and a 12 in France! Can that be possible? Two of the scenes early on are extremely heavy and the general gist of what is revealed at the end is so totally horrible the idea of my 14 year daughter old seeing it is worrying.

Well, this is now a common problem - the ratings are not made with common sense anymore but more on focus how successful the movie will/should be. Looking at Harry Potter some of those movies should have been rated 13+ (or maybe even higher) but since they have to get all the kids into the theatres they rated it very low.
Honestly i think that all this rating stuff is a big bullshit especially here in germany. You have 18 as the highest rating and if they think that the movie should be rated higher (because of whatever) they tend to cut scenes. Also really relevant scenes and dialogues which are needed to follow the story. Hellraiser is a good example here.

Back to topic: Im really looking forward to see the 2nd part. Its nice to have some worthful movies outside of hollywood. Funny that i first heard about the movie in the preview while i was waiting for Final Destination 4 to start. Bought the books afterwards and read them before i bought the first one on DVD. Wanted to see it in the theatre but thats not always easy with a little girl and no relatives around.

All 3 films are great. The third ties the story up nicely and is pretty faithful to the book given the constraints of time etc.

They Transmit wrote:All 3 films are great.[...]

You have already seen all 3? Makes me wonder a bit since the 2nd will be in the theatre somewhere this year. Or did you mean the books? Or have you read a storyabout the movies? If yes, a link would be nice.

Alright Nightwash.

I work in the film industry and have seen screeners of all three films ages ago. All three films have been out on general release in Europe since early 2009. The first in Feb, then the others later in 2009, Sept. & Nov. respectively.

I did like your veiled "you are lying" approach though.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132620/releaseinfo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216487/releaseinfo
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343097/releaseinfo

They Transmit wrote:I did like your veiled "you are lying" approach though.

Never ment to say that youre lying. Sorry for the misunderstanding but the last movies are not released now. Maybe the trailer for 2nd is out for "normal" audience (have to check this).
Anyway good to know the release dates. Hopefully i can make it to the cinema this time.

S'cool man, was all light hearted banter.

Meant to be seeing this later today. Will let you know what I think of it.

I really enjoyed this, even if I did nod off for about 5 mins towards the beginning (I blame the late night on Saturday and comfy art-house cinema seats rather than the slow build up to the film!). The performances were remarkable and, like Runcible mentioned earlier, I always find it easier to relate to them when they're not big-named Hollywood stars. The cinematography was excellent too, aided by the beauty of the Swedish landscape. The ending seemed to get all wrapped-up rather conveniently and quickly in the end but I guess they didn't want to drag the film out much longer than the 2 and half hour mark.

On a side note, I went to see Kick-Ass on Friday night which I guess is a film in the complete opposite direction, just an entertaining, enjoyable comic book adaptation. Quite faithful to the source material too apart from the ending (he says, trying not to give anything away!).

I love film European films. For me it's a lot more believable when its a different language and you've no idea who the people are.
I can get into it a lot more than the Hollywood fare.
I'm pleased Kick ass is good as I read the comics and thought they were great fun.

So Neil - when are they coming to the UK? I couldn't see the dates on your links. I'm really looking forward to seeing these!

There's no official date for a UK release as yet. I think the release window will be reduced between the first second and third films though given the critical success of the first one. If I get any info I'll pass it on. I'm not really i touch with the person that sorted me the screeners first time round.