The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher is one of the best directors alive and it’s not surprising that he’s made an excellent film. The differences between the American and Swedish adaptations are enough to invalidate the argument of a pointless remake, but I’m still unable to convince myself that I should be satisfied with this new version, I’m not, even though the quality is clear. In short, watching a whodunit when you know who the killer is, is as much fun as going to the sea to watch dolphins, even though you know that dolphins don’t live in that sea. You can enjoy the fresh sea breeze, work on a tan, have a cold alcoholic beverage… but you still know that you won’t see any dolphins. (13/01/2012)

David Fincher's directorial style is beautifully easy to recognize, he imparts it to every one of his films. Brilliantly crafted dialogues, musical score, uncompromising atmosphere. This film could have been made in a number different ways. Essentially, it is a considerably clichéd and well-known story about a serial killer, but in the hands of a master, it becomes a unique cinematic delicacy, where ordinary things are presented in a completely extraordinary and distinctive manner. In the end, it is a seemingly well-behaved and coherent film that is brutally eccentric and demonically precisely shot. I wouldn't expect anything less from Fincher. (05/06/2012)

An atmospheric illustration of a subordinate storyline from the novel; nothing more, nothing less. On one hand it is terribly little for Fincher (a special aspect of his preceding five adaptations of novels was that he always used his own interpretation and viewpoint, and Larsson offers much in this respect; too bad that he cut it down to this unimportant thrilleroid part), on the other it must be said that there are illustrations by nobodys and illustrations like those by Zdeněk Burian, which enrich the original story and become inseparable. And, in the same way that Craig is Blomkvist and Mara is Lisbeth (although an utterly different Lisbeth than Noomi), this is Burian. And yes, Fincher is still the same formal pedant under whom Reznor is growing into one of the timeless greats. Just Enya, removed of innocence once and for all, disappointed. (11/01/2012)

My slight disappointment stems paradoxically from my ignorance of the book, which is obviously not very suitable for filming. This is because the quantity of names becomes annoying after a while, although otherwise, Fincher does great work as usual in all other components, so we do get a great soundtrack (but this time it's too "off the charts" for the Oscar race:)), excellent cinematography (which underlines the pedantic narrative), and precise actors. But I'll definitely go see it again. The fact that the gardener is the murderer will soon dawn on even the slower folks, but that's beside the point. How we get there is the first priority this time. Fincher is the best director alive right now, period. (15/01/2012)

Much better than the Swedish film, much more faithful to the book, with much better chosen actors... I didn't expect that. The biggest asset of Fincher's version (which is by no means a remake of the film, but a new version of the original) is Rooney Mara, who plays Lisbeth Salander. She looks much weirder than Noomi Rapace and gives a much more inscrutable impression, throwing completely irresistible blank stares - she's just great. Daniel Craig plays second fiddle, but he plays it like a virtuoso. The casting of the other roles is also successful without exception, I was very pleased with Robin Wright, and I was also impressed by the performance of the lieutenant Bjurman. David Fincher evoked a very gloomy atmosphere from the very beginning (the credits must have cost as much as a Czech TV movie) and didn't let it go until the end, whilst the screenwriter (unlike the one who messed up the Swedish film) managed to squeeze everything important into two and a half hours, not strangely twisting anything and leaving out only things I could have done without in the book. To deduct stars from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for being "just" a mere genre film would be silly. (23/10/2013)