Dealing with a subject that needs to be discussed
Rooney Mara’s portrayal of Lisbeth Salander is right on target. From her anti-social behaviour, to her seemingly cold and indifferent movements, down to her obvious blonde eyebrows below her jet black mohawk, her character leaps off the pages of Stieg Larsson’s bestselling novel by the same title.
I tackled the 800 plus page novel between Christmas and New Years, a difficult read not because of the page count but because of the difficult subject matter. The book is a page-turner with intense and thrilling suspense but it also takes an in-depth, critical look at dark social issues like violence against women, racism, government and corporate corruption. The book may target Sweden specifically, but it could be about any country.
I feared Hollywood making a movie for reasons that I always feel when a book that I enjoy is converted to the big screen: accuracy of the plot, faithfulness to the vision of the author and the competency of the actors’ portrayal of the characters.
With this movie, I was also concerned about how they would portray the graphic, violent scenes on screen. I was worried about censorship. The book describes in great detail sexual violence, a dark and disturbing reality that should not be glossed over, yet it is not often that I have seen a mainstream film deal with such real, painful and disturbing themes.
The trailers for the film hardly scratch the surface so if you have not read the book, the four-minute rape scene in the first part of the movie would likely take you by surprise. I had a debate with a friend over the benefits and problems associated with trigger warnings, and neither of us could come to a concrete conclusion whether they should be used or not, but if you plan to see this movie (and I do recommend it!) then consider yourself warned that you will be confronted with uncensored images of violence that are not glorified, but are exposed for the criminality they are.
Justice is also an issue presented for question and debate in the film. When government corruption, including both judicial and amongst the police force, is ever present, then how is justice to be achieved? In the case of Lisbeth Salander, she takes justice (some might say revenge) into her own hands. Her punishment served is almost as difficult to watch as the assault against her. But I will leave that to your judgement.
Overall the movie has a good mix of the elements of suspense, mystery, thrill, sex and provoking critiques of the dark side of social society, but the best part is the killer soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails, How to Destroy Angels) and Atticus Ross (How to Destroy Angels). The duo also composed the score for The Social Network and won the Oscar for best original soundtrack. Their genius is evident from the opening credits as Karen O sings their rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” to eye dazzling graphics of dripping oil. I do recommend this movie, I only hope that when you see it you will come away thinking more profoundly about these problems in our society and how you can have an impact to change the norms and spread word that rape and violence against women is not okay.
