Last year, I nervously went along to a publisher's preview screening of “Män som hatar kvinnor” (aka The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), not quite sure what to expect. After all, plenty (the majority?) of book-to-film adaptations fall pretty flat. For every triumph or masterpiece like The Lord of the Rings, there are plenty more fan favourite books that are turned into pretty dreadful films.Adding to my nerves was the fact I wasn't sure how the crime fiction-loving female friend who accompanied me might react to a film with some pretty nasty violence against women in it. Fortunately, the Swedish production (with English subtitles) of “Män som hatar kvinnor” (aka the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) was absolutely fantastic. On reflection, it was overall the best film I saw at the cinema in 2009.
You can read my full review of the film here.
So I am now very much looking forward to the New Zealand release of the second film in the series - The Girl Who Played with Fire - a release which is rapidly approaching. And for whatever reason, we actually get the film here in New Zealand before many other English-language countries (I'm not complaining), with the film hitting our cinemas from 27 July. So only a few weeks to wait. Apparently it will be released in the UK in August, and Australia in September.
In the meantime, to whet your appetite further, wherever you are, you can watch the English-language trailer for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo below.
Have you seen the first film? What did you think? Have you read any of the Millennium Trilogy books? Are you looking forward to the movie release of The Girl Who Played with Fire? What do you think of crime novel-to-film adaptations? Which have been great? Okay? Disappointing?
Thoughts and comments welcome.
I missed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as I had to cancel after my fall down the stairs and subsequent broken patella, but I have ordered it on DVD. As the series in book form got better and better I will be definitely going to see FIRE unless those stairs get me again.
ReplyDeleteAs far as adaptations go I think TGWTDT was a really first rate film - to encapsulate the complicated plot and themes into a relatively short film must have been difficult but they did get the most important things in, plus they had great actors for the two main parts (and there is no way on earth that Hollywood will do as well when they do their re-makes). So I'll be lining up to see TGWPWF even if I do have to wait until September.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking I avoid film & TV adaptations of books I've enjoyed because they're almost always disappointing in some way - even if they're good films it's quite rare for a film maker's imagining of the characters and settings to match my own. Another one that did stand out for me though was the film of Umberto Eco's The Name of The Rose which is one of my favourite historical crime fiction books and I avoided the film for several years but it's actually very good and pretty close to what I had imagined.
Great news - will be definitely looking out for it - have already spread the word amongst those I know who enjoyed "The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo". Not only did I go to the movie but I've also bought the DVD. My brother who normally avoids movies with sub titles also thoroughly enjoyed it and has said he's definitely going to this one.
ReplyDeleteI've only read _Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_, but the others are in my TBR queue. I haven't seen any of the films yet, but I will see them as soon as Netflix makes them available (_Girl...Tattoo_ the 1st week in July).
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the movie, I thought the actors were spot on, and although the film mainly followed the search for the missing girl, it did briefly touch on some of the other themes in the book. I have seen several reviews of the following 2 Millenium movies, which havent been well received. Sounds like they were rushed through within a short space of each other. I hope this isnt true.
ReplyDeleteLinda