Rii
Rear Admiral
aka 'Män som hatar kvinnor'.
Like anyone else who's visited a bookstore of late, I was aware of the existence of Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl...' novels, but - perhaps on account of their usual proximity to the Twilight novels - I didn't bother to investigate.
Until, that is, I separately stumbled across over a matter of days the Foreign Policy article 'We're all Swedes now: how the world caught up with Stieg Larsson' (from which my current signature is derived) and Roger Ebert's four-star review of the Swedish film adaptation of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.
The praise heaped by Ebert and others on Naomi Rapace's portrayal of Lisbeth contributed to my decision to check out the film adaptation ahead of the novel, and having done so I certainly don't regret that decision. It's a compelling film, albeit one that is, in parts, difficult to watch:
So for those who've seen both the film and the novel, is this the usual story of the novel being far superior to the film, or do the superb performances of Rapace et al. bring something to the table that the written word can't offer? I plan on getting to the other films and the novels in any case, but I'm interested to hear from those who've gone before me.
Incidentally, apparently there's a Hollywood adaptation in the works also, to which I can only say: blech. Hopefully it suffers the same fate as the planned 'Battle Royale' remake.
Like anyone else who's visited a bookstore of late, I was aware of the existence of Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl...' novels, but - perhaps on account of their usual proximity to the Twilight novels - I didn't bother to investigate.
Until, that is, I separately stumbled across over a matter of days the Foreign Policy article 'We're all Swedes now: how the world caught up with Stieg Larsson' (from which my current signature is derived) and Roger Ebert's four-star review of the Swedish film adaptation of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.
The praise heaped by Ebert and others on Naomi Rapace's portrayal of Lisbeth contributed to my decision to check out the film adaptation ahead of the novel, and having done so I certainly don't regret that decision. It's a compelling film, albeit one that is, in parts, difficult to watch:
Best shot? Lisbeth struggling to light a cigarette with trembling fingers following her rape at the hands of her 'Guardian'.
Best scene? Following a vaguely confrontational scene between Mikael and Lisbeth re: Martin's fate; Mikael's compassionate reconciliation and Lisbeth's whispered "thank you".
Most surprising? The sudden transition to rural Australia and having to adjust one's eyes to an entirely different colour pallette.
Best scene? Following a vaguely confrontational scene between Mikael and Lisbeth re: Martin's fate; Mikael's compassionate reconciliation and Lisbeth's whispered "thank you".
Most surprising? The sudden transition to rural Australia and having to adjust one's eyes to an entirely different colour pallette.
So for those who've seen both the film and the novel, is this the usual story of the novel being far superior to the film, or do the superb performances of Rapace et al. bring something to the table that the written word can't offer? I plan on getting to the other films and the novels in any case, but I'm interested to hear from those who've gone before me.
Incidentally, apparently there's a Hollywood adaptation in the works also, to which I can only say: blech. Hopefully it suffers the same fate as the planned 'Battle Royale' remake.
