A friend gave me the book. I couldn’t finish it. The writing was too wooden and measured; or rather, the English translation was too wooden and measured. You know when you’re watching a French movie and they say 20 words and the subtitles give you only like 3. I think the English translation of the book was the exact opposite: too many words to transmit simple ideas. I found myself waiting at the end of the sentence for them too often.
The 2009 movie was good. I gave it 3 of 5 stars.
For the remake Daniel Craig landed the role as Blomkvist and David Fincher is directing. Not bad. But Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace have been in all three Nordic movies from the trilogy. At this point it’s hard to imagine anyone else.
There is going to be some solid money behind the remake, so they’ll have the funds to do it right. We shall see. The likes of Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen, George Clooney and Brad Pitt all expressed interest, as well as Scarlett Johansson, Keira Knightley, Ellen Page, Kristen Stewart, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Thirlby, Natalie Portman, and Eva Green. Also Ridley Scott, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino expressed interest. Fincher was the superior choice there. Least likely to screw it up.
To me there are three things great about the original: the computer technical detail is believable, the Nordic location, and the Nordic actors – specifically Noomi. The remake is going to be shot on location in Uppsalsa Sweden. So one out of three is all we’ll get as surely they will dumb down the techie info for the mass American audience. I can’t think of a single example where Hollywood chose to get that completely right.
As far as Hollywood remakes, it’s a mixed bag. I LOVE remakes. Insomnia comes to mind (1997 /2002 both 3 out of 5 stars) You get to see direct comparisons, and better isolate the various production departments skills. American technical craftsmanship is almost always superior (writing/producing/production/directing/editing/acting). Unfortunately that is expensive, both in terms of fiscal and moral costs – as they create marketable entertainment product, and not art.
It is impossible to upstage the Nordic production’s fidelity to the book. They will go for stylized entertainment – variation on a theme. I like that diversity. I like that imagination. I love the variety I am afforded as a consumer.
Many people don’t understand the need for a remake, indeed are indignant. I revel in the variety and contrast.
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