"The Girl Who Played with Fire": The Girl Reloaded

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" is an intriguing picture since it solely focuses on the brilliant character of Lisbeth Salander, but it makes one wonder what author Stieg Larsson was thinking. How did you know there was interest in a sequel to an unpublished novel?

Lisbeth Salander has returned to Stockholm and all hell breaks loose. There is no time to reconnect with old friends because she is the prime suspect in three murders. Two were a couple that were preparing an article about sex trafficking based around a Russian named Zala. This article was going to be published in Mikael Blomquist's "Millennium" magazine. The other victim was Lisbeth's legal guardian, sadistic pig and rapist.

The only evidence points to Lisbeth, so the only investigator on her side is Blomquist, who must find Zala before Lisbeth because of the extremes the suspect is willing to go through to torture her may be too much for even her to handle.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" shows the literary genius that Larsson possessed. For a writer who did not publish his "Millennium Trilogy", he knew what was the most interesting element of his first volume, Ms. Salander. It was either wise forethought or he was absolutely in love with the character.

It also makes on wonder how, with limited feedback, he knew he could write a third book. The mystery behind this trilogy is probably worth an anti-right wing film.

J.R.R. Tolkien's story from "The Fellowship of the Ring" was not concluded. The problem with Larsson's method is that writing a trilogy all at once means you have the ending figured out, which is odd because of the conclusion of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" seemed to have finality. If he felt he needed to write three books, he decided to spread this new tale over two volumes. Pacing goes to hell, at least that is how it works in the movies ("The Lord of the Rings", "The Matrix", "Pirates of the Carribean").

I suppose this makes the series worth a read just to compare and contrast the two entertainment mediums. Did Larsson write this knowing that it would be Millennium's "Attack of the Clones"?

Lets make one thing clear. Noomi Rapace is the anti-Hayden. This film is really good. It is a great story because we discover who Salander is beneath her hard exterior. But the drama is not as deep as its predecessor with more of an emphasis on action sequences. It is a long, strange trip compared to the first film, but not a difficult one.

Rapace is intriguing and Michael Nyqvist ups his game with his reprisal of Mikael Blomkvist. There are also enough unique new characters that fill out the cast which is something most of the Vangers from the first film were not.

"The Girl Who Played with Fire" has laid the ground work for a potentially awesome conclusion, but pales in comparison to its predecessor. It is good, but does not have the cerebral games of the first. Great performances allow this film to be worthwhile, but the open-ended nature holds it back.

This feature is for those enthralled by Lisbeth Salander, so one may have to love "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to be able to enjoy it. Since everyone should hold the character in high regard, it should not be a problem for anyone to give this film a chance.

Tacoma Film Club

https://tacomafilmclubannex.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/the-girl-who-played-with-fire-924-broadway/

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009): What Your Daughters Should be Watching.

The first adaptation of Stieg Larsson's "Men Who Hate Women" was the buzz of foreign film. It draws a modest crowd wherever it plays (like, "In Peoria") and David Fincher ("Se7en", "Fight Club") has jumped on the chance to remake it.

Why so much attention? Because the film is a modern day "Lord of the Rings" with a Hannibal Lector twist.

"Millennium" magazine's editor Mikael Blomkvist attempted to blow the whistle on a billionaire industrialist who was dabbling in the arms trade. After he is sentenced for to three months for libel, a set up to ruin the magazine seems apparent. In the publication's best interest, he has taken an indefinite leave of absence and will do his best to enjoy the six months before his sentence starts.

Lisbeth Salander is an enigmatic computer hacker who was assigned by former industrialist Henrick Vanger to verify the investigative credentials of Blomkvist. Both she and Vanger's associates feel that he is beyond straight laced and that he could not have committed the crime he was convicted for. Vanger decides to offer Blomkvist a means to earn a living before the prison term starts. The task is to find out who murdered his niece Harriet 40 years prior.

The only lead that Mikael has is phone numbers and names in the back of Harriet's bible. Neither he or the police can make sense of these, but fortunately Lisbeth is trying to prove his innocence. That means she is still hacking him to find out every possible detail, and she cannot help but crack the code presented despite it will expose her. Mikael was desperate for that break, so he decides that he will need to bring Lisbeth into the investigation. As they search for answers, more and more of themselves will be found out by each other. With their own drama developing, will they be able to stay focused on the task at hand?

It would seem that Fincher was adapting "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to be his next "Se7en". He seems to have adapted the book, and did that with quite a bit of flair to make it a separate near equal entity. A wise move because if he tried to remake this film, he would have come across as a hack.

Part one of the "Millennium Trilogy" not only has it all, but maybe too much. Trying to include so much into this film leads to some weak pacing while we wait for Lisbeth's and Mikael's stories to converge. This would work well in a novel which makes the viewer deem that this must be an accurate adaptation.

One cannot complain too much about pacing because the viewer wants to see everything no matter how dark it may get. This maybe because of the dynamic performance of Noomi Rapace. As this mystery becomes more twisted, our hard as nails lesbian becomes more soft and caring. A change that is gradual and effective as more depraved the crimes become. The audience is presented a heroine that serves as a relatable Christian foil to the Nazi past of the Vangers. A comparison between Peter Jackson's premier trilogy to Oplev's film is that this is a journey where a fellowship develops around the sense of serving the good in a world where evil's presence is constant.

The director Niels Arden Oplev captures this story's scenes beautifully on whatever format this is viewed on. Surveillance cameras, laptops, etc., whatever he wants you to watch, it looks like it warrants being the center of attention. This film seems very real which leads to a greater impact on the audience. With the horrors this story discovers, this device allows the feature to strike a deeper chord with the audience.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" is the dark psychological cousin of Middle Earth's tales. Outstanding performances and brilliant direction allows the audience to stomach such a large amount of narrative. Oplev and company have made this novel their own and Larsson should be flattered to with this tribute to him.

dicasdefilmespelascheila.blogspot.com

https://dicasdefilmespelascheila.blogspot.com/2019/08/filme-millennium-os-homens-que-nao.html

Schrodinger's Cat: Rationalizations of an Existentialist (Part 2: Sub-Subtext Device)

I was bashing my head against my desk at the day job (don't worry, the manager whose office was across from my cubicle took the day off) trying to come up with an opening to the meat of this two part blog. The best I could come up with was an attempt to attach the irony (at least in an Alanis Morrissete sense) of not having the cellular data to use Spotify for some ironic industrial rock (namely Angelspit's "Cubicle") to something, anything that seemed to be a sensible transition from the abandonment discussed previously.

Some how this blog feels like a victory learning that all I needed was to come up with the sub-sub (sub-sub-sub-sub...sub-subtext device) title to inspire the direction. Originally it was going to be called "If I'm the Cat." Despite the cuteness in the my intended blog title, I'm sure that we can get back to a lighthearted attempt at my emotionally dire strait.

Oh for some money for nothing and chicks to redistribute it to. Some one has to make some money from the whimsical concept of a rock n' roll lifestyle or more people will need to be liquidated beyond those who have reality shows on E! and TLC.

I am not coming up with any other music references, so my Penn Jillette homage has lost its fuel, along with my optimism.

Or has it, I seem to be looking on the bright side of every misstep in this writing. Too bad it is going to result in a horrid blog and "Cat: Part 3." There we are, back to my dissatisfaction.

Rationalization 3: Creativity is not intelligence.

I've been dreading this blog because of the writing process. Damn my web design background and its lessons in content length (a web page should not be more that two "page downs"). I should have completed my whining instead of celebrating the proper use of HTML. Then I could move on from telling you about how I cannot move on and write my countdown to extinction this week.

Maybe I should have decided to just play on my assumed intelligence. I say assumed because any one who knows about my first semester of my sophomore year(s) knows I have difficulty with "If/Then" suggestions (and i=-1), so my Physics Feline Philosophy being further alluded to in the title of this blog should signify the possibility of absolute nonsense. But IF you really wanted a car wreck, my assumed intelligence was going to create a new blog dedicated to applying a standing system for Major League Baseball inspired by the table system of the Barclay's Premier League. That would be high school all over again. Excluded from the Tri-Lambda's clique for not being as smart as them, but liking (and probably being further appreciative of) the same things. This time it would be the Sabermetricians.

It wouldn't necessarily be a vain concept, I could use the depressing (because the Cubs are rebuilding) blog to promote what this blog is dedicated to, "Main Event of the Dead. (if you want a treatment of my Pro-Wrestling Zombie Comedy B-movie, email me at russthebus07@gmail.com)" Of course, there is no promotional material because I'm the only one working on this film.

Rationalization 4: Only good promotion brings meaning.

I say this because if "Main Event of the Dead" has no meaning because no one is helping me figure out how to sell it. Sadly, I'm not a female poet or a Swedish reporter, so my death is not going to sell my screenplay. And to their credit, they had completed works while I have completed only a singular work. If the person who raided Steig Larsson PC found drafts, then why is Steig's name on the "Millenium Trilogy (The Girl with the, The Girl Who Played, The Girl Who Kicked)?" I'm just saying, the partner of Steig who received nothing in inheritance could have avoided Sweden's laws by putting her name on the manuscripts.

Fortunately, creativity at least has meaning, even if it is only for the creator. This is actually my conclusion on why there could be a god, too bad people bastardized it by building religions to explain something that "has been widely considered a bad move."

People search for their own meaning to something they did not create. People do so to receive something out of it. Every investment is because of that, the general idea of receiving something to feel good for it, but if do not think about what the creator gets out of it, then you are missing the point, like RELIGION.

Do I go into how "Duck Dynasty" made an atheist out of me? It doesn't seem timely...but I may have to save that for my sharing with assholish Facebook posting (MAY, as this blog explains, I don't like scheduling my releases).

All I can offer is that you can help me finally do something with my creativity, maybe make a living out of it, I'll settle on just getting an in into an industry that people can blame for my suicide instead of themselves. That isn't much of an offer, and has led me to a dark realization that may make you reconsider.

Rationalization 5: Suicide is the only way to dispense justice.

Let me just say, if someone offs themselves, unless they leave hints that you are why they committed the act, you aren't to blame. And even if they leave hints, they're probably just vengeful, so it's not your fault, but can you blame them? They get a chance to end their life with a sense of justice. Justice they deem fit, like justice should be. Justice is for making the victim feel like everything is right, not the victim's family and friends. Friends and family want to see someone suffer, only the victims knows if they should.

Too bad I give a shit. An asshole couldn't resist the suspense of, "will you need to answer for my choice?" If I chose (it's not a slam dunk) to end my life, I know it was because I don't have the worth to justify breathing, not because of other people. You could say that if people cared enough that cannot happen, but if I don't have anything to offer, how can I have any worth?

I should get rid of the means to give vengeance from beyond the grave. Then again, there are a couple of people who deserve to know I don't think well of them. Only a couple, and some local wrestling promoters (they may want to beat me to purchasing skyprowrestling.com or spwrestling.com). Some messages seem worth immortalizing, like the samurai with seppuku and monks with gasoline.

Rationalization 6: Jesus was a poser because of that resurrection bullshit. Why would I want to be associated with that?

So, the sub-subtext device I intended to use has not been explained. I'm a slave to ideal web design. I guess I will get to continue this next week with "Part 3: If I'm the Cat."

Schrodinger's Cat: Rationalizations of an Existentialist (Part 2: Sub-Subtext Device)

I was bashing my head against my desk at the day job (don't worry, the manager whose office was across from my cubicle took the day off) trying to come up with an opening to the meat of this two part blog. The best I could come up with was an attempt to attach the irony (at least in an Alanis Morrissete sense) of not having the cellular data to use Spotify for some ironic industrial rock (namely Angelspit's "Cubicle") to something, anything that seemed to be a sensible transition from the abandonment discussed previously.

Some how this blog feels like a victory learning that all I needed was to come up with the sub-sub (sub-sub-sub-sub...sub-subtext device) title to inspire the direction. Originally it was going to be "If I'm the Cat." Despite the cuteness in the my intended blog title, I'm sure that we can get back to a lighthearted attempt at my emotionally dire strait.

Oh for some money for nothing and chicks to redistribute it to. Some one has to make some money from the whimsical concept of a rock n' roll lifestyle or more people will need to be liquidated beyond those who have reality shows on E! and TLC.

I am not coming up with any other music references, so my Penn Jillette homage has lost its fuel, along with my optimism.

Or has it, I seem to be looking on the bright side of every misstep in this writing. Too bad it is going to result in a horrid blog and "Cat: Part 3." There we are, back to my dissatisfaction.

Rationalization 3: Creativity is not intelligence.

Read the rest of this blog and other stories at Main Event of the Dead.com and determine if this thought process can be translated into a B-movie comedy about pro-wrestling zombies.