Men Who Hate Women
From Sweden comes a thriller directed by Niels Arden Oplev based on the best selling novel of Steig Larsson. It stars Michael Nyqvist as disgraced journalist Michael Blomkvist who is hired to solve a 40-year-old murder of a young woman. He has about six months to crack the case before he goes to jail. It also stars Noomi Rapace as the title character, a computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander. Among the other characters in the story are several men who rape, torture, and murder women. In fact the original Swedish title is Man Som Hatar Kvinnor, which literally translated means “Men Who Hate Women.” The disturbing nature of that title no doubt provoked the American distributors to change it to the almost boring sounding “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” They shouldn’t have. If the author had the guts to write the book and the producers had the guts to make the movie and if the actors, especially Noomi Rapace, had the guts to be in it, then there’s no good reason the marketers should chicken out at the last moment. Especially since people considering the lamer and tamer title might be lulled into thinking they’re going to watch something safe. If you’re going to watch this movie I suggest you bring along your guts. You’re going to need them.
The movie starts with two distinct storylines. The first is the murder mystery involving the disappearance of a young woman forty years ago. She was a member of the very rich and dysfunctional Vanger family. The elderly patriarch, Henrik Vanger, suspects that a family member murdered her as a way to hurt him. The number of suspects is limited and they all live in town. Some of them used to be dedicated Nazis. The second storyline is a character portrait of one of the most fascinating characters in recent movie history, hacker Lisbeth Salander. The exact details are shrouded in mystery but Lisbeth has a history of violence and sexual abuse. She was the victim of the sexual abuse. The man was apparently the victim of the violence. At age 24 she still reports to a sort of parole officer, a guardian is what they call it in Sweden. Her current guardian, sensing the vulnerability in her record and the way she dresses (very gothic) moves to be one more in the line of men who have hated her. She is threatened, blackmailed, and then raped in several scenes of astonishing simplicity and frankness. But that wouldn’t be the end of it when it is done to a person like Lisbeth. She turns the tables in what could be regarded as the perfect revenge: half sexual comeuppance, half permanent public service announcement.
The stories collide when Lisbeth’s job requires her to hack into Blomkvist’s computer. She sees the clues that the journalist is assembling in his vain attempt make sense of the murder mystery. Perhaps because of her history, she is able to interpret some especially vague clues and sends a helpful email to Blomkvist. It seems that the missing women was on the verge of discovering the identity of a local serial killer who preyed on Jewish women Old Testament Style. Remember the family full of Nazis? When we finally meet the ultimate killer it is not unlike a scene with Hannibal Lector. Here is something he says quite matter-of-factly: “I do what every man dreams. I take what I want.” He also muses on the way a woman’s eyes react when she finally realizes that she will not only be raped but also murdered.
Standing stalwart on the other side of this enormous amount of evil is Noomi Rapace a SCREEN PRESENCE, which deserves to be written in all caps. When I write screen presence in all caps it denotes a performance that is captivating to the point of distraction by conscious recognition of its power. I am reminded of Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises,” Sigourney Weaver in “Gorrillas in the Mist,” and Jodie Foster in perhaps anything she’s been in. I swear to God that Rapace has perfected this intense gaze that is soul piercing. She dresses as if to give a message: “Go ahead. I dare you to fuck with me because I am the one who can take it.” I have always felt that being brave has less to do with a dangerous but noble act than with a serious recognition that the act one is about to do is dangerous but noble. Any fool can act on impulse. It takes bravery to be totally aware of the danger and deliberately go through with it anyway. Lizbeth is an incredibly brave person and simply by existing more than balances out a plot that could easily have been exploitive and instead turns the movie into some sort of feminist manifesto.
Now I’m not talking about the kind of faux feminist bullshit that you would find in a Quentin Tarantino screenplay where the bad guy does the bad violence against women and the girls in matching tracksuits with badass weaponry and gung-ho catchphrases impose righteous justice to the tune of Japanese Pop Music. This movie takes it seriously. There is neither sensationalism in the violence nor glee in the retribution. This movie knows that watching a tormentor burn alive is not about to make the victim completely whole again. For all of Lizbeth’s stoicism, she still remains a damaged person symbolized quite effectively by the scar-like dragon that spans the width of her back. Consider how she reacts in her relationship with the journalist Blomkvist, who is without a doubt, a good man. Her stare temporarily falters. Her eyes dart about before quickly settling back in the defensive position. It’s as if she hasn’t the slightest idea of how to react to kindness. Shove her in a subway and she will not hesitate to fight. Be nice and her powerful stare becomes reminiscent of a deer in the headlights. (I guess that sort of thing happens when your out of practice with the experience). The movie ends on a kiss between the two that I believe can only be described as tragic. There seems to be a connection of the minds but the very act of intimacy unnerves her to the point where she has to leave the room immediately. It’s good to know that this is but the first movie in a trilogy. I eagerly anticipate the next two.
This is very dark material and as such there are a very limited number of ways it can be treated correctly. For that reason I am dismayed to hear that there might be an American version of this movie. Quite frankly, I think this is one area where American movies are not capable of perfection. Hell, we didn’t even have the balls to keep the movie title the same. They say that Kristen Stewart might play the Lizbeth Salander part. Now I have more respect for that talented actress than most, (probably because I never saw Twilight) but I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job than Noomi Rapace. She owns this character. Do yourself a favor. Go see the real thing. Believe me, after the first half hour, you won’t even notice the subtitles.
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