The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I saw it yesterday. A good movie but not exactly one for holiday spirit!

Pluses: Very good screenplay. Everything made sense, no need for suspension of disbelief, the characters stayed in character, the plot was believable. And they didn't do that horrible "modern" thing that I hate so much: non-linear plot development that leaves me wondering whether we've just moved forward or backward in time so I have no idea where we are or what the hell is going on. The acting was stellar, the locations were sumptuous; all in all the production and direction were top-notch.

Now for the Minuses: This new film trend of utterly gruesome violence leaves me ready to vomit. Maybe I'm just too old, but I didn't even like it 30 years ago when it first became fashionable and it wasn't quite so gut-wrenching realistic. The sexual depravity and violence in the rape scenes was meticulously detailed and utterly outrageous. I would certainly warn any women reading this to find another woman who has seen it and ask whether she was as outraged as this man was. Furthermore, the photos of the psycho killer's previous victims were beyond the pale, and since this had been going on for decades they kept finding new ones to throw in our face.

There's an animal scene that will give me nightmares for a month. Even though I knew it was coming I didn't know when and I didn't know it was going to be so bad. Animal cruelty is the last taboo in filmmaking and apparently it has now fallen.

I have never spent so much of a movie with my hands in front of my eyes looking through the cracks between my fingers. And it's a long movie, about 2 1/2 hours, so my fingers got really tired.

So if you're thinking of seeing it, you'd better have a strong stomach. If you do, it's certainly worth the effort.

Spoiler

Although aside from my comments about the visuals I thought it was a great movie, I was disappointed in the very last scene in the ending. Okay, it might be a little too romantic and optimistic to expect the hero and the dragon girl to end up as lovers, I understand that. But I would like to have been left with the possibility that it could happen. What's the harm? Instead, we had to see this extremely young, poorly socialized girl from an abusive background get her hopes up (perhaps somewhat irrationally but not too irrationally since I shared them) that she was about to embark on a new safe and sane chapter in her life, and then see them dashed to bits before her very eyes.

Gratuitous violence I understand although I don't appreciate it. But gratuitous heartbreak? What's the point? After all I had to put up with to sit through that film, I would very much have appreciated being able to walk out of the theater on an optimistic note.