TRAILER: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This came out a couple of weeks ago. It's the trailer for director David Fincher's film adaptation of Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think it's possibly one of the best movie trailers I've ever seen.

Being a huge fan of the novel (first in the Millennium trilogy), I've been anxiously awaiting a preview for the American remake—which comes on the heels of the successful (and highly enjoyable) Swedish adaptation trilogy. I have no idea what it's like to watch this if you didn't spend a month of your recent life devouring Stieg Larsson's 1,500 page masterpiece on the New York City subway, as I did (although I'm not the only one). All I can say is that I'm terribly impressed by what I see here. Every time I watch this I catch something I didn't notice before. It's a testament to the book's lasting impact (and to the film's apparent fidelity) that one can immediately recognize scenes, locales, and characters from the vivid snapshots that strobe over Trent Reznor and Karen O's insane cover of Immigrant Song.

I'm obviously reserving judgment on the actual movie. The thematic centerpiece of Tattoo, and really of the whole trilogy, is a very frank discussion about violence against women—of the invisibility of crimes like abduction and rape. In fact, the book's original Swedish title is Män som hatar kvinnor, which roughly translates to "men who hate women." I'm not convinced that an American audience will necessarily flock to the theaters to see a "rape movie." And I'm not convinced that Hollywood is willing to sacrifice what might be a guaranteed tentpole flick in order to make a less profitable, but more honest, movie.

That said, if ever there was an American director up to the task, it's David Fincher, who isn't exactly known for shying away from the violent and disturbing. (He made this movie. Oh yeah, and this one.) The fact that the trailer has already dubbed Tattoo the "feel bad movie of Christmas" bodes well (I guess?).

I hope you consider reading Stieg Larsson's books. They're quite good. Buy the first one here, and try to read it before Christmas!