The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(2009 Film)

Tags

2000's, Crime, Foreign Language Film, Lisbeth Salander, Michael Nyqvist, Millenium Trilogy, Noomi Rapace, Stieg Larsson, Sweden, The girl with the dragon tattoo, Thriller

Film Title

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Director

Niels Arden Oplev

Cast

• Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist
• Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander
• Sven-Bertil Taube as Henrik Vanger
• Peter Haber as Martin Vanger
• Peter Andersson as Nils Bjurman

Based on the first part of a record shattering book trilogy written by the late Stieg Larsson, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a brutal, bleak and brilliant Swedish thriller with twists and turns galore and an original heroine to boot. Not a film for the faint of heart, mainly because of its violent content but still a thrilling and compulsive watch.

The plot of the film follows disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who is due to serve time in prison for his part in a libel case. Around this time, he is called up by the powerful Henrik Vanger to investigate a particularly personal case. The case is about the disappearance of his great-niece Harriett 40 years prior, Vanger has a suspicion that one of his close but extremely dysfunctional family may have murdered the woman. Blomkvist is further aided in his puzzling quest for answers by Lisbeth Salander(the eponymous girl with the dragon tattoo), an enigmatic, computer hacking goth with a violent past involving time in a mental ward and being put into foster care. Between the two of them, they attempt to uncover a most curious and murky case with many twists and turns along the way.

One thing that struck me when watching the film was its pace. For a thriller, it unravels at a slow, thoughtful pace but is all the more effective as we discover the many secrets of the case at the same time as Blomkvist and Salander. The structure works when the two are sifting through the case at their own time, each unearthing something useful or shocking before they eventually meet in person.The visual look of the film is another interesting part of the whole piece, the many cross cuts between the genius Lisbeth Salander hacking a computer shown with Blomkvist investigating adding a distinctive flair to the film and giving it a technological, almost cyber punk edge. The main character of Lisbeth fixes the attention throughout the film as a result of Rapace’s outstanding performance. She is a startlingly original heroine who is both highly clever, damaged and kick ass. Noomi Rapace captures the tough, intelligent side of her as well as showing an underlying vulnerability and rage within this mysterious young woman. Even when she is not speaking her intense presence oozes through, we are never really sure what she is thinking or what she will do in a certain situation. She has great chemistry with Nyqvist who is also fine as the crusading and inquisitive journalist.

As I have mentioned earlier, the film won’t appeal to everyone because of its violent and graphic content. There are many  scenes that are hard to watch, because of the grisly theme of female murder and the horrendous abuse inflicted upon Lisbeth by her sadistic guardian . This is clearly a movie that is not for the faint-hearted, so be warned before viewing it. Also, even though some may shy away from the long running time, once the suspense and shocks kick in you won’t be able to drag your eyes away from the screen. Once the film hits its stride, it grips like a vice and remains a compelling watch until the end.

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The Descent

Tags

2000's, Alex Reid, Horror, MyAnna Buring, Natalie Mendoza, Neil Marshall, Nora Jane Noone, Saskia Mulder, Shauna Macdonald, The Descent

Film Title

The Descent

Director

Neil Marshall

Cast

• Shauna Macdonald as Sarah
• Natalie Mendoza as Juno
• Alex Reid as Beth
• MyAnna Buring as Sam
• Saskia Mulder as Rebecca
• Nora Jane Noone as Holly

Headed by an all female cast, The Descent emerges as a shocking, nail-biting horror film that is both effective in terms of atmosphere and characters. Marshall builds up tension and then unleashes horror without warning  on the viewer.

The main story revolves around Sarah, who a year earlier lost her husband and daughter in a car accident. Still reeling from this, her thrill-seeking friends decide to take her on a bonding session. The sextet consists of loyal Beth, adventurous Holly, Med student Sam and her older sister Rebecca. Spearheading the group is the adventurous and ambiguous Juno, whose relationship with Sarah is examined throughout the narrative. The group enters a cave in the Appalachian Mountain Range to pot hole. Everything seems ordinary enough until they end up trapped inside. They soon discover that they are not alone in the cave and must battle against a horrific force to face any chance at survival. Claustrophobic scares, jump moments and fraying relationships soon form the backbone of the film as the girls battle to survive the subterranean threat known as the Crawlers.

Although the basic premise may sound like the same old horror story, The Descent actually proves interesting and spine chilling viewing because of its use of foreboding silence and all female cast. All of the actresses create convincing portraits of ordinary women thrust into brutal circumstances.Comparisons can be drawn between The Descent and Deliverance; as both have a strong single gender group and both have to fight against a territorial and violent threat.  Many references are also made, especially the ominous sound of ‘Dueling Banjos’ as the girls approach the cave. Also, unlike some horror films in which there are characters that we don’t care for, The Descent establishes the friendships and individuality of each girl and furthers our feelings towards them. Sarah is by the far the most interesting of the group, as she transforms from a quiet, withdrawn girl to vengeful primal in order to survive the carnage. One shot of the film that sticks with me is Sarah, after emerging from a pool of blood and newly baptised as the modern primitive, violently defending herself against the Crawlers. So much is conveyed in the shot and it clearly establishes Sarah’s own descent into a animalistic state of mind. Her relationship with the adventurous and headstrong  Juno also provides secondary conflict and plays out throughout the film before the brutal finale. For all of the women the main threat appears to be the Crawlers, yet fraying relationships as tensions boil and blood spills provide just as many scary and horrifying results.

The film should also be praised for its eerie sense of claustrophobia that pervades the earlier scenes before the shocking and nerve shredding onslaught of Crawlers. When watching the film, we genuinely feel like we are in the cave, attempting to climb through various chasms. Lighting also plays an integral part, framing scenes in a green hue of night vision and unnerving contrasts between darkness and light.

A brutally effective film which also raises many questions, The Descent is essential viewing for those who want a horror film with believable characters, atmosphere and plenty of scares. One thing is certain, you may think twice about venturing into a cave or pot holing after viewing this film.