According to Wikipedia, this movie was released in the U.S. as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but the original title was (in Swedish: Män som hatar kvinnor) “Men Who Hate Women.” It is the first of a movie trilogy based on the award-winning crime novels by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson.  The three movies were big hits in Scandanavia and Europe.  The books are called the “Millennium Trilogy.”

It has been running for six weeks here in Santa Rosa, and when we went, the theater was full, mostly with people 40+. In an interview on PBS, the director of the movie said that the American marketing people thought that the original Swedish title was too tough for English-speaking audiences, but the original title is accurate. The movie is grisly without being titillating. It is absorbing and gripping, and (because it is part of a trilogy) it doesn’t leave you with all the answers neatly wrapped up.

It reminded me of the French movie “La Femme Nikita” in which a street urchin was trained to be an assassin and one of her teachers, Jeanne Moreau, showed her how to act like a lady. In the American remake, Bridget Fonda was tutored in loveliness by Ann Bancroft. This Swedish movie is just as tough and just as riveting. In the PBS interview, the director said that there was some talk in the US of remaking the movie in Hollywood.  I am sure they would take the sharp edges off it and make it ordinary.

I am looking forward to the next Swedish installment!