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The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest gives every fan the chance to complete their collection of the of the BAFTA® winning series and with The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire both entering the DVD sales charts at number 1, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest is set to continue that success.
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest picks up where The Girl Who Played With Fire left off. Under police guard in hospital, Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) is charged with murder and awaits the trial that has the country gripped. Cut off from all communication with the outside world, she must rely on journalist and former lover Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) to prove her innocence and expose the political cover up that threatens to destroy her freedom. In his way stands a mysterious group who will go to any lengths to keep the shocking truth of their actions a secret.
Expect conspiracies and corruption as the details of Lisbeth’s case are thrashed out in court. Millennium fans won’t be disappointed with the dramatic climax in which answers to questions are finally revealed.
Directed by Daniel Alfredson and adapted for the screen by Ulf Ryberg, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest concludes the most talked about cinematic event of recent years. The first film in the series, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo won the BAFTA® award for Film Not In The English Language and Noomi Rapace received a nomination for Leading Actress for her role as Lisbeth Salander.
Presented in stunning glossy packaging, both DVD and Blu-ray formats will include the original Swedish and English language audio versions of the film and a host of special features.
With UK book sales now in excess of 5 million copies, interest in the stories and characters continue to grow with commuters, casual readers and avid fans the world over being gripped by the intense and original narrative.
Film: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest
Release date: 11th April 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 147 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Sofia Ledarp, Annika Hallin
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Special Features:
•
Trailer
•
Interviews with Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist
Film: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Release date: 10th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 153 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sofia Ledarp, Micke Spreitz
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
The Girl Who Played With Fire is the follow-up to the most successful foreign-language DVD release of 2010, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It's also an adaptation of the middle part of the late Stieg Larsson’s best-selling Millennium trilogy crime novels. What newly installed director Daniel Alfredson didn't need then is to be related to Thomas, a talented auteur that brought us the brilliant Let the Right One In (2008). Talk about pressure.
Back at the helm of Millennium magazine, Mikael (Michael Nyqvist) decides the best way to overcome his relationship problems with hacker Lisbeth is to throw himself into a new project and thus expose a billion dollar sex trafficking ring.
But when one of his researchers is murdered, he realises there’s more to this story than first thought, especially when Lisbeth is framed for the crimes. Convinced that she is innocent, her refusal to acknowledge his existence creates obvious problems as he tries to clear her name and uncover the real killers.
Meanwhile, Lisbeth goes on the run, and soon stumbles on secrets linking her secretive past with these new murders. Fearing her life is in jeopardy, she must reunite with a lovelorn Mikael and a past she wants to bury if she is to ever regain her freedom…
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo was always going to be a hard act to follow, mainly because the epic-length thriller was so well crafted with barely any loose ends left to explore. But when you’ve got a character as good as Lisbeth Salander, its little surprise someone will want to venture into her world again, regardless of an inferior premise with laughable plot turns and pantomime villains. It even dares to follow a similar formula with its mix of mystery, detection and social criticism, leaving out, for the most part, the brilliant odd-ball romance that was arguably the highlight because it was somehow so strangely satisfying.
Michael Nyqvist, impressive in the first film, is truly outstanding in the follow-up, outshining even Noomi Rapace’s Salander. By finally growing some balls, Blomkvist has clearly read jack Bauer’s handbook on dealing with scum, discarding the torture (up to a point) but retaining the hard-as-nails, don’t-give-a-damn attitude that suddenly makes him so dangerous here (just watch him interrogate a suspect with three photographs). It’s as if he’s learnt by mimicking his beloved Salander, and yet she has disappointingly softened up a touch, isn’t too sure of herself, and sadly not as interesting because of it.
Director Alfredson continues where Niels Arden Opley left off, introducing a nice murder/mystery storyline, intersected with strong, sexual images and gritty realism that surprised so many first time round - yet the creepy romance between the two protagonists is soon ditched along with its opening potential in favour of James Bond villains, a lack of question marks, and rubbish, tension-free (other than an all too brief, well-orchestrated shoot-out at the end) 1970s Bond-style action. There are scenes involving two boxers that lack punch, while the stand-off between Salander and two bikers would’ve been more brutal masterminded by Disney - whoever did the choreography should never work in movies again.
The musical score certainly plays like a thriller, though, even if the events unfolding are anything but. Oddly, if you take out the scenes involving the two major villains of the piece, you would actually have a better film. They bring nothing but camp brutality reminiscent to watching a matinee Christmas performance at your local theatre – shouts of “He’s behind you…” by the whippersnappers muffling out your own screams of dissatisfaction. Fans can argue that Ronald Niedermann’s super-hero power, not being able to experience pain, echoes that of Salander’s photographic memory (underused here) but it’s half-hearted at the very best - embarrassing at the very least. They should just chop his head off.
Her father meanwhile, played by Georgi Staykov, may have the scars of a vicious past, along with a half-decent back-story, but it’s ruined by a veneer that’s comically tragic (for all the wrong reasons), almost matching a script able to declare, two thirds of the way through, that nobody thinks Salander is guilty – er, so why the drama? Oh, that’s right; there isn’t any, reiterated by another tame scene in which Salander digs herself out of a tight spot. The beautifully tender love scene in the opening half hour is, sadly, long since forgotten, and somebody may as well serve a dry martini because this trilogy certainly needs shaking up, not a third part.
The only mystery with The Girl Who Played With Fire is how it manages to ruin all the good that came before it. Whereas the far-superior first outing left us gasping for more, here, a lack of mystery, pantomime villains and tension-free set-pieces will make the viewer whet a kitchen knife rather than an appetite for a final part. DW
Film: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Release date: 10th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 153 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sofia Ledarp, Micke Spreitz
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Lisbeth Salander returns in the second part of Stieg Larsson’s ‘Millennium Trilogy’, continuing the story that began with the hugely successful The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Will the next part of Lisbeth and Blomkvist’s tale prove to be as dark and gripping as the last? Or will there be diminishing returns?
Lisbeth Salander has been in hiding for over a year, and her reporter friend Blomkvist’s frequent attempts to contact her are unsuccessful. Lisbeth’s eventual decision to reenter her old life coincides with a mysterious muscle-bound man approaching her guardian, the sadistic rapist Bjurmann, for Lisbeth’s police reports.
Meanwhile, at Millennium, Blomkvist’s left wing publication, new journalist Dag Svensonn delves in to Sweden’s burgeoning sex trade and is murdered for his troubles.
Thanks to a murder weapon containing her fingerprints, Lisbeth is framed for the murder of Svensonn and his girlfriend, as well as her guardian Bjurmann. To clear her name and find out the identities of the people who framed her, Lisbeth must rekindle her partnership with Blomkvist, and become embroiled in the dangerous world of underground sex trafficking…
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo has been 2010’s most successful import. A dark and dirty adaptation of Stieg Larrson’s novel, oozing with style and alternative in all the right places. Most of the critical praise has been heaped on Noomi Rapace’s revelatory performance as the titular anti-heroine. Barely recognisable under hood, greasy fringe and face metal, Rapace is consumed by the role of Lisbeth, and the result is mesmerising. The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second part in Larrson’s trilogy that, while not as engaging as it’s darker predecessor, still manages to impress thanks to an increased focus on Lisbeth.
The most striking aspect of this second instalment is the shift in tone. If the first film displayed all the tenets of a murky mystery, then it’s follow up leans more towards the action thriller genre. Sure, original bad guy Martin Vanger was perhaps an overblown serial killer stereotype, but a 7ft tall blonde assassin that feels no pain and a disfigured master villain belong in a James Bond yarn, not a noir genre piece. There is a point to these overblown characters, and the explanation of events seen in the first film links the story nicely, making the standalone trilogy opener seem more episodic.
The fractured story structure also takes some getting used to after the tight plotting of the original; however, there are so many plot strands fighting for attention it’s hard to care about any of them. Millenium's investigation into the sex trafficking business is at first intriguing, bringing a new face into the publication in the form of Dag Svensonn, whose character seems set up to be a Blomkvist protege until his abrupt demise. Later, though, the sex trafficking investigation switches from primary story catalyst to disposable subplot, as the focus is fixed squarely on Lisbeth. It is true that interest wanes whenever she is off-screen, but it seems too frivolous to dangle worthy plot diversions in front of us, only to snatch them away when it's time for Ms. Salander to shine.
The chemistry between Blomkvist and Lisbeth was a major pull of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and the sequel suffers by keeping them apart. Lisbeth’s isolation fits with the story, yet one can’t help but yearn for another tentative romantic exchange between the disparate pair. Nyqvist’s performance is perfectly fine, his world weary sleuth is as enjoyable to watch as ever, but in The Girl Who Played With Fire Blomkvist is merely a cipher, a font of exposition to break up the narrative flow of what is essentially the Lisbeth Salander story.
Messy and disjointed it may be, yet in the middle of the confused story and the offbeat characters (seriously, a 7 ft. henchman that feels no pain), is Rapace’s performance. A woman of actions, not words, who has the ability to enthral by merely tapping away at her laptop, Lisbeth Salander is a formidable screen presence, it will be interesting to see how Rooney Mara can emulate this magnificent performance for the forthcoming American remake of The Girl With Dragon Tattoo.
It lacks the style and fresh appeal of its predecessor, and the story is populated with too many cartoon villains for it to be taken seriously, but The Girl Who Played With Fire is held together at the seams by the Noomi Rapace’s flawless performance. KT
Back at the helm of Millennium magazine, Mikael is intent on exposing a billion dollar sex trafficking ring, but when two of his researchers are murdered, he realises there's more to this story than first thought after Lisbeth is framed for the crimes. Unconvinced that she is involved, he attempts to clear her name and uncover the real killers. But secretive hacker Lisbeth goes on the run and soon stumbles upon secrets of her own past. Secrets that people would kill to keep hidden.
Directed by Daniel Alfredson and adapted for the screen by Jonas Frykberg, The Girl Who Played With Fire has a huge fan base eager for the second instalment following the most successful foreign-language DVD release of 2010 in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Film: The Girl Who Played With Fire
Release date: 10th January 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 153 mins
Director: Daniel Alfredson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sofia Ledarp, Micke Spreitz
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany
Special Features:
•
Cast and crew interviews
•
Niedermann Vs. Roberto: Behind The Fight Scene
•
Sneak peak of The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest
•
Trailers
•
English language audio option
Film: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Release date: 19th July 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 147 mins
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Crime
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Sweden/Denmark/Germany/Norway
Faithfully adapted from the first in the trilogy of Millennium novels (originally entitled Men Who Hate Women) by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, this thought provoking film continues a resurgence of Swedish cinema kick started in 2008 by the excellent atmospheric coming of age vampire love story Let The Right One In.
Henrik Vanger loves his niece Harriet; loves her innocence, her intelligence, her lust for life, and the fact that she loves him for him and - not his money or power. Annually, she presents her favourite uncle with a framed picture containing a different pressed flower, which he in turn proudly displays on his office wall.
Four decades after Harriet disappears from his life during a Vanger family gathering, he is still receiving an anniversary framed pressed flower reminder of his niece from an unknown source.
Disgraced investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), facing a prison sentence for libelling a powerful business magnate, is summoned to the home of the wealthy industrialist, and offered the opportunity investigate the mystery. Vanger accepts that a member of his own dysfunctional family may be responsible for the crime, a clan of privileged Swedish aristocrats that are willing to go to almost any length to protect the skeletons in their sizeable closets.
Blomkvist is a loner forced to accept assistance by his employer in the shape of Milton security investigator Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), and it is with the introduction of this bi-sexual, androgynous, computer-hacking petit leather wearing Goth that this thriller becomes something special. Not since the Knight (Antonius Block) in Ingrid Bergman’s 1957 classic The Seventh Seal has Swedish cinema produced such an iconic character...
Salander is a compelling mid-twenties girl, with a mysterious past even more compelling than the enigmatic disappearance of Harriet Vagner. She is the opposite in every way to the subdued introverted Blomkvist. Even when we discover his long standing affair with a journalistic colleague, an affair blessed by her husband, he never rises above the level of moralistic everyman. It takes nearly an hour, a welcomed character developing slow burn, for theses two main players to come together and form a strange and productive relationship.
Nazi sympathisers, biblical references, suggested sexual abuse, and evidence pointing towards a possible serial killer, or even killers, emerge at such skilfully spaced intervals that these revelations intensify an already building suspense created by Salander’s ominous back story.
It is her past, and trying to comprehend the reasons behind her aggressive black-and-white view of life that is the movie’s true mystery. She deems Blomkvist as good, and therefore willingly helps in his investigation, while those fool hardy souls that cross swords with the Goth soon suffer at her hands. A particularly graphic revenge rape against her court appointed guardian and sexual predator Bjurman is disturbingly violent, and yet it is conversely satisfying to watch justice being done - albeit through fingers from eye covering hands. She is a tiny whirlwind of repressed rage, a dark edged heroine and worthy adversary to the strongest foe, yet more than this she is a victim, a survivor, and a character with an emotional underbelly that director Niels Arden Oplev cleverly only hints at. Indeed, this is a character that we could watch time and time again, and with two made-for-TV movies having already been screened in Sweden, and rumours of a fourth story in the possession of the late Stieg Larsson’s family, it appears we just might have that opportunity.
The cinematography utilises every inch of the provocative Swedish landscape, while the script never flinches when dealing with the movie’s many controversial issues. One very small fault is a flashback to Salander’s childhood that is never properly explained, perhaps included as a subliminal teaser to the second made for television movie, or even as a guilty little pleasure for loyal readers of the books.
With only a few minor changes to the story, literature fans should be delighted by the adaption, especially as the casting agent has utilised the Swedish acting fraternity to good measure. Noomi Rapace, in particular, is outstanding - seemingly born for the role - and it is not unfair to say that the film stands and falls by her performance.
Hollywood already has plans to remake the trilogy, if they follow the novel and successfully cast Salander then maybe, just maybe they can replicate this truly excellent movie. Wishful thinking perhaps after Hollywood remakes ruined the great Asian thought provoking horror movies of the ‘90s and early-noughties by abandoning atmosphere and storytelling for gore and special effects. Time will tell.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is a skilfully directed, well acted atmospheric suspense fuelled thriller that will stay in the mind long after the final credits have rolled, and worthy of numerous viewings to discover the subtleties of this intriguing multi layered story. MG
