Can’t Take It Anymore 50:37 nhe, 12. How Brittle The Bones 52:26 nhung hoi hop, co tieng chuong 13. Please Take Your Hand Away 54:1 5 . Compare and contrast Lisbeth Salander and Erika Berger. In what ways do these two women wield power? How do their difficulties differ throughout the text? Berger and Salander are both strong, independent women, but they exercise their independence in different ways. In Salander’s case, this independence manifests itself in her desire to be free of her guardianship and her pursuit of economic control.
Though Salander’s guardianship exists to ensure she is always under someone’s authority, she rejects that subordinate position. When Nils Bjurman tries to force her to submit to him, he strikes out physically to maintain control over her life and her body. Additionally, her decision to drain money from Wennerstr¶m’s accounts, besides serving to punish Wennerstr¶m, solidifies her financial freedom. Though Berger doesn’t have to deal with same problems at Salander, she too exerts her influence and her will both in the journalistic world and in her personal life.
She runs a tight ship at Millennium and would rather face her challenges than give up on the magazine she runs, and her frequent strong- willed disagreements with Blomkvist prove her willingness to assert herself and her own opinions. Her sexual affairs additionally demonstrate that she doesn’t allow social norms to constrain her, but rather lives her life as she chooses. The two differ most significantly in social status and in the conflicts they face throughout the text. Berger enjoys a significant amount of privilege and social influence as Millennium’s editor.
The difficulties she confronts in the story occur mostly in the journalistic world, and crop up as backbiting or nasty personal attacks and accusations. In many ways, Bergers social status protects her from the violent and often physical conflicts Salander endures. Salander herself realizes that her lack of economic power, her gender, and her youth make her vulnerTABLE. Since she does not have Berger’s financial power or social status, she finds herself forced to resolve matters often with violence and often with little outside help.
Ultimately, though the two women share a fiercely independent streak and neither backs away from conflict, they are extremely different people. 2. Discuss Blomkvist’s ethics throughout the novel. What are his ideas about right and wrong, and how do they evolve? At the beginning of the novel, Blomkvist exhibits a clearly defined sense of ight and wrong, especially in regards to journalism. He’s careful to publish only what he believes to be true, and as a result, his conviction for libel devastates him.
As Salander notes early on, Blomkvist values his credibility and his ethics because he views journalists as necessary checks on corruption. Though Salander dismisses this view as naive, Blomkvist’s entire motivation for accepting Henrik’s job offer rests in his desire to restore his credibility. At the end of the novel, Blomkvist claims to retain this view, and in a television interview restates his belief that Wennerstr¶m’s downfall ndicates a need in Sweden for ethical journalists who will examine the economy for evidence of corruption at every turn.
Naturally, Blomkvist believes himself to be a part of this revolution, and Millennium itself exists to fulfill this philosophy. As the story progresses, however, Blomkvist both becomes complicit in and commits several deceptive acts that seem, at first glance, to contradict his idealistic ethical stance. At first, this shift in his ethics manifests itself as complacency when, at Salander’s request, he agrees to refrain from informing the police about Martin’s dungeon and his various rimes. As a result, despite profound discomfort with the notion, he participates in the cover-up that Frode orchestrates.
Later, Blomkvist uses arguably unethical tactics himself in order to take down Wennerstr¶m. Most notably, he makes use of the material Salander hacked from Wennerstr¶m’s hard drive and requests that she hack into Dahlmann’s computer as well. Afterwards, with Berger, he agrees to attribute the hacked documentation to an anonymous source rather than reveal his illicit methods. Though Blomkvist considers the deceptive methods necessary to bring down Wennerstr¶m, his illingness to use such tactics suggests a shift in his sense of ethics. 3. What role does technology play in the novel?
In The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, technology serves two key purposes: it empowers the powerless, and it serves as a useful tool to combat corruption. For example, Salander, victimized by Nils Bjurman and constrained by a legal guardianship, uses technology to protect herself and to gather information about those in power. Though she cannot physically dominate anyone, which is the reason Bjurman is TABLE to rape her, her hacking skills and computer knowledge give her a measure of power, and her use of security technology ltimately permits her to blackmail Bjurman with the recording of her brutal rape.
As a result, without her computer Salander feels powerless, and when hers breaks we see she will go to almost any length to replace it. Technology also offers Salander and Blomkvist a measure of protection against Martin. Surveillance equipment lends Salander the ability to rescue Blomkvist when Martin captures him in the dungeon. Technology levels the playing field for both of the protagonists and allows them to pursue justice and truth. Additionally, technology allows Blomkvist and Salander to uncover corruption.
Blomkvist and Salander discover Dahlmann is the Millennium mole when they hack into his computer, and Salander’s recovery of Wennerstr¶m’s hard drive reveals the depth of his financial misdeeds. Even Salander’s job with Milton Securitys private investigation division utilizes technology as a mean of seeking out corruption, dishonesty, and hidden truths. One of the central truths of the novel seems to be that, thanks to technology, very little can truly remain hidden for long.
In the digital age information is availTABLE to people Of various social classes and genders, and can be used accordingly against systematic oppression. Thus, in the novel, technology functions as a useful, even necessary tool for those rendered defenseless in a corrupt society. David Fincher turns the film noir white with this steely, stealthy adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Taking the thriller genre’s staple ingredients of murder, sexual sadism and familial corruption, he casts them into the cold, throwing the action across a remote private island, where big pale houses sit against a big pale sky.
Outside the snow is flying and the river has frozen. Inside, behind closed doors, it’s positively arctic. 1. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (US) 2. Production year: 201 1 3. Countries: Rest of the world, USA 4. Cert (UK): 18 5. Runtime: 152 mins 6. Directors: David Fincher, Niels Arden Oplev 7. Cast: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Joely Richardson, Lena Endre, Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber, Robin Wright, Rooney Mara, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Sven-Bertil Taube, Yorick Van Wageningen 8.
More on this film Top of Form Bottom of Form Daniel Craig gives a spry, winning performance as Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced Stockholm journalist who accepts a commission from wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), who lives far to the north mid a smattering of brothers and sisters he can hardly bear to speak to. Nominally, Vanger wants Blomkvist to research his memoirs, though what he’s really after (or what he says he’s after) is the identity of whoever abducted his teenage niece more than 40 years before. You will be investigating the most detesTABLE people you are ever likely to meet,” Vanger announces with relish. “My family. ” The film’s arrival is the latest instalment in the curious afterlife of the author, Stieg Larsson, who died from a heart attack in 2004. Since then, his posthumously published novel – the first part of his Millennium Trilogy – has sold upwards of 30m copies, as well as spawning a successful Swedish-language film version in 2009. No doubt many viewers will now be familiar with the yarn’s constant twists and turns.
Happily, it barely matters: Fincher’s expert handling makes this feel as though it’s been lifted fresh from the icebox – assuming “fresh” is the right term for a film so steeped in the murk of human cruelty, and so excitedly disgusted by its subject-matter. Blomkvist’s investigation eventually brings him into contact with Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a turbulent computer hacker and ward f the state, brutalised by the authorities and burning with rage. Salander trusts nobody, possibly not even herself.
When Blomkvist tells her, “l want you to help me catch a killer of women,” it’s the first time she manages to look up and meet his gaze. If only more high-concept Hollywood thrillers were as supple, muscular and purely gripping. In less experienced hands, this would surely have wound up as lurid, trashy pulp. Yet Fincher plays it straight and keeps it serious. He brings a sense of space and rough edges to a machine-tooled plotline that bounces us remorselessly from clue to clue. He akes us care about Blomkvist and Salander as they rattle over the island and through the corridors.
The route leads them past Nazi skeletons in the closet and arcane references to the Old Testament – all the way down the steps to the basement. Sooner or later, films like this one always wind up underground, in the basement. It’s where the secrets are buried, the lights are turned on and the tale turns infernal. This article was amended on 23 December 2011. The credit list in the above box included people who worked on the Swedish adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. This has been corrected.
Men Who Hate Women Violence against women is a central part of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Larsson uses Lisbeth Salander and Harriet Vanger to demonstrate the failure of the Swedish government to protect women from such violent crimes. The sex and violence in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is portrayed in such a shocking manner that is intriguingly entertaining to readers and makes the book more fulfilling to the reader by challenging their own ideas about sexual violence and how the government handles it. The violence in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is abounding.
While it isn’t the entral focus of the novel, it is certainly a main point Larsson wants us to walk away with. The mystery of the novel involves Harriet Vangers disappearance but it is quickly discovered by Blomkvist, a reporter, and Salander that Harriet’s disappearance involves violence and it doesn’t stop with her. Gottfried, her father, and Martin Vanger, her brother, are serial killers, who enjoy torturing and sexually assaulting women together. Gottfried also assaults his daughter, Harriet. After his death, Martin takes over and Harriet decides running away is her only escape from the abuse.
Lisbeth Salander, he brilliant and yet socially inept hacker who is working with Blomkvist to solve the mystery of Harriet’s disappearance, is also the subject of much violence. When her guardian has a stroke, another guardian takes over and assaults Lisbeth first by forcing her to perform oral sex and then later brutally raping her. Larsson seems to believe that the Swedish government has failed to protect women against these violent crimes. Neither of the women who are subject to the repeated abuse turns to the authorities in the novel, each for their own reason. Harriet chooses to flee and Lisbeth chooses to get evenge.
After Lisbeth’s rape, Larsson gives us a peek inside her head about why she chose not to report He writes, “If Lisbeth Salander had been an ordinary… [continues] The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 Swedish- American mystery thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Stieg Larsson. This film adaptation Was directed by David Fincher and written by Steven Zaillian. Starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, it tells the story of journalist Mikael Blomkvist’s (Craig) investigation to find out what happened to a woman from a wealthy family who disappeared forty years prior.
He ecruits the help of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Mara). Sony Pictures Entertainment began development on the film in 2009. It took the company a few months to obtain rights to the novel, during which they recruited Zaillian and Fincher. The casting process for the lead roles was exhaustive and intense; Craig initially faced scheduling conflicts, while a number of actresses were sought for the role of Lisbeth Salander. The script took over six months to write, which included three months of analyzing the novel. With a production budget of $90 million, filming took place in Sweden, Switzerland nd Norway over seven months.
Pre-release screenings occurred in London, New York City and Stockholm. Critics gave the film very favorTABLE reviews, applauding its dark, grim tone and praising Mara’s and Craig’s performances. The film grossed $232. 6 million over its theatrical run. In addition to being included in the best-of lists in several publications, the film was a candidate for numerous awards, ultimately winning seven accolades including an Academy Award for aest Film Editing. [3] Plot[edit] In Stockholm, Sweden, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, co-owner of Millennium agazine, has just lost a libel case brought against him by businessman Hans-Erik Wennerstr¶m.
Meanwhile, Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant but troubled investigator and hacker, compiles an extensive background check on Blomkvist for business magnate Henrik Vanger, who has a special task for him. In exchange for the promise of damning information about Wennerstr¶m, Blomkvist agrees to investigate the disappearance and assumed murder of Henriks grandniece, Harriet, 40 years ago. After moving to the Vanger family’s compound, Blomkvist uncovers a notebook containing a list of names and numbers that no one has been TABLE to decipher.
Salander, who is under state legal guardianship due to diagnosed mental incompetency, is appointed a new guardian, law. yer Nils Bjurman, after her previous guardian has a stroke. Bjurman abuses his authority to extort sexual favors from Salander and then violently rapes her not realizing she has a hidden video camera in her bag. At their next meeting she stuns him with a Taser, anally rapes him with a dildo and marks him as a rapist with a tattoo on his chest and stomach. Using her video recording she threatens blackmail, insisting that he write a glowing progress report and allow her full control of er money.
Blomkvist’s daughter visits him and notes that the numbers from the notebook are Bible references. Blomkvist tells Vanger’s lawyer Dirch Erode that he needs help with his research, and Frode recommends Salander based on the work she did researching Blomkvist himself. Blomkvist hires Salander to further investigate the notebook’s content. She uncovers a connection to a series of murders of young women that occurred from 1947 through 1 967, with the women either being Jewish or having Biblical names; many of the Vangers are known antisemites. During the investigation, Salander and Blomkvist become lovers.
Henrik’s brother Harald identifies Martin, Harriet’s brother and operational head of the Vanger empire, as a possible suspect. Salander’s research uncovers evidence that Martin and his deceased father, Gottfried, had committed the murders. Blomkvist breaks into Martin’s house to look for more clues, but Martin catches him and prepares to kill him. Martin brags about having killed women for decades, but denies killing Harriet. Salander arrives, subdues Martin and saves Blomkvist. While Salander tends to Blomkvist, Martin flees. Salander, on her motorcycle, ursues Martin in his SUV.
He loses control of his vehicle on an icy road and dies when it catches fire. Salander nurses Blomkvist back to health, and tells him that she tried to kill her father when she was 12. After recovering Blomkvist deduces that Harriet is still alive and her cousin Anita likely knows where she is. He and Salander monitor Anita, waiting for her to contact Harriet. When nothing happens, Blomkvist confronts her, correctly deducing that Anita is Harriet herself. She explains that her father and brother had sexually abused her for years, and that Martin saw her kill their father in self- efense.
Her cousin Anita smuggled her out of the island and let her live under her identity. Finally free of her brother, she returns to Sweden and tearfully reunites with Henrik. As promised, Henrik gives Blomkvist the information on Wennerstr¶m, but it proves to be worthless. Salander hacks into Wennerstr¶m’s computer and presents Blomkvist with damning evidence of Wennerstr¶m’s crimes. Blomkvist publishes an article which ruins Wennerstr¶m, who flees the country. Salander hacks into Wennerstr¶m’s bank accounts and, travelling to Switzerland in disguise, transfers two billion uros to various accounts.
Wennerstr¶m is soon found murdered. Salander reveals to her former guardian that she is in love with Blomkvist. On her way to give Blomkvist a Christmas present, Salander sees him and his longtime lover and business partner Erika Berger walking together happily. Heartbroken, she discards the gift and rides away. Conception and writing[edit] The success of Stieg Larsson’s novel created Holly. vood interest in adapting the book, as became apparent in 2009, when Lynton and Pascal pursued the idea of developing an ‘American” version unrelated to the film adaptation eleased that year.
By December, two major developments occurred for the project Steven Zaillian, who had recently completed the script for Moneyball (201 1), became the screenwriter, while producer Scott Rudin finalized a partnership allocating full copyrights to Sony. [6] Zaillian, who was unfamiliar with the novel, got a copy from Rudin. The screenwriter recalled, “They sent it to me and said, ‘We want to do this. We will think of it as one thing for now. It’s possible that it can be two and three, but let’s concentrate on this After reading the book, the screenwriter did no research on the subject. 8] Fincher, who was requested with partner Cean Chaffin by Sony executives to read the 9] was astounded by the series’ size and success. As they began to read, the duo noticed that it had a tendency to take “readers on a lot of side trips”””from detailed explanations of surveillance techniques to angry attacks on corrupt Swedish industrialists,” professed The Hollywood Reporter’s Gregg Kilday. Fincher recalled of the encounter: “The ballistic, ripping-yarn thriller aspect of it is kind of a red herring in a weird way. It is the thing that throws Salander and Blomkvist together, but it is their elationship you keep coming back to.
I was just wondering what 350 pages Zaillian would get rid of. ” Because Zaillian was already cultivating the screenplay, the director avoided interfering. After a conversation, Fincher was comforTABLE “they were headed in the same direction” . 16] I imagined someone who could move through the streets of Stockholm almost invisibly even though she looks the way she looks it’s almost like a forcefield Steven zaillian[20] The writing process consumed approximately six months, including three months creating notes and analyzing the novel. [1 7] Zaillian noted that as time rogressed, the writing accelerated. As soon as you start making decisions,” he explained, “you start cutting off all of the other possibilities of things that could happen. So with every decision that you make you are removing a whole bunch of other possibilities of where that story can go or what that character can 7] Given the book’s sizTABLE length, Zaillian deleted elements to match Fincher’s desired running time. [17] Even so, Zaillan took significant departures from the book. [20] To Zaillian, there was always a “Iow- grade” anxiety, “but I was never doing anything specifically to please or isplease,” he continued. l was simply trying to tell the story the best way I could, and push that out of my mind. I didn’t change anything just for the sake of changing it. There’s a lot right about the book, but that part, I thought we could do it a different way, and it could be a nice surprise for the people that have read Zaillian discussed many of the themes in Larsson’s Millennium series with Pincher, taking the pair deeper into the novel’s darker subjects, such as the psychological dissimilarities between rapists and murderers. [20] Fincher was familiar with the concept, from projects such as
Seven (1995) and Zodiac (2007). Zaillian commented, ‘A rapist, or at least our rapist, is about exercising his power over somebody. A serial killer is about destruction; they get off on destroying something. It’s not about having power over something, it’s about eliminating it. What thrills them is slightly different. “[20] The duo wanted to expose the novels’ pivotal themes, particularly misogyny. “We were committed to the tack that this is a movie about violence against women about specific kinds of degradation, and you can’t shy away from that.
But at the same time you have to walk a razor thin ine so that the audience can viscerally feel the need for revenge but also see the power of the ideas being expressed. ‘T4] Instead of the typical three-act structure, they reluctantly chose a five act structure, which Fincher pointed out is “very similar to a lot of TV cop Tim Miller, creative director for the title sequence, wanted to develop an abstract narrative that reflected the pivotal moments in the novel, as well as the character development of Lisbeth Salander.
It was arduous for Miller to conceptualize the sequence abstractly, given that Salander’s occupation was a distinctive part of her ersonality. His initial ideas were modeled after a keyboard. “We were going to treat the keyboard like this giant city with massive fingers pressing down on the keys,” Miller explained, “Then we transitioned to the liquid going through the giant obelisks of the keys. “[29] Among Miller’s many vignettes was “The Hacker Inside”, which revealed the characteris inner disposition and melted them away.
The futuristic qualities in the original designs provided for a much more cyberpunk appearance than the final product. In creating the “cyber” look for Salander, Miller said, “Every time I would show David a design e would say, ‘More Tandy! ‘ It’s the shitty little computers from Radio Shack, the Tandy computers. They probably had vacuum tubes in them, really old technology. And David would go ‘More Tandy’, until we ended up with something that looked like we glued a bunch of computer parts found at a junkyard Fincher wanted the vignette to be a “personal nightmare” for Salander, replaying her darkest moments. Early on, we knew it was supposed to feel like a nightmare,” Miller professed, who commented that early on in the process, Fincher wanted to use an artwork as a template for the sequence. After browsing through various paintings to no avail, Fincher chose a painting that depicted the artist, covered in black paint, standing in the middle of a gallery. Many of Miller’s sketches contained a liquid-like component, and were rewritten to produce the “gooey” element that was so desired. David said let’s just put liquid in all of them and it will be this primordial dream ooze that’s a part of every vignette,” Miller recalled. “It ties everything together other than the black on black. “[29] The title sequence includes abundant references to the novel, and exposes several political hemes. Salander’s tattoos, such as her phoenix and dragon tattoos, were incorporated. The multiple flower representations signified the biological life cycle, as well as Henrik, who received a pressed flower each year on his birthday. One had flowers coming out of this black ooze,” said Pincher, “it blossoms, and then it dies. And then a different flower, as that One is dying is rising from the middle of it. It was supposed to represent this cycle of the killer sending Ultimately, the vignette becomes very conceptual because Miller and his team took “a whole thought, and cut it up into multiple ifferent shots that are mixed in with other shots”. In one instance, Blomkvist is strangled by strips of newspaper, a metaphor for the establishment squelching his exposes. 29] In the “Hot Hands” vignette, a pair of rough, distorted hands that embrace Salander’s face and melt it represent all that’s bad in men. The hands that embrace Blomkvist’s face and shatter it, represent wealth and power. [29] Themes Of domestic violence become apparent as a woman’s face shatters after a merciless beating; this also ties in the brutal beating of Salander’s mother by her father, an event revealed in he sequel, The Girl Who Played with Fire A cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” (1970) plays throughout the title sequence.
The rendition was produced by soundtrack composers Atticus Ross and Nine Inch Nails member Trent Reznor, and features vocals from Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer Karen 0. [30] Fincher suggested the song, but Reznor agreed only at his request. [31J Led Zeppelin licensed the song only for use in the film’s trailer and title sequence. Fincher stated that he sees title sequences as an opportunity to set the stage for the film, or to get an audience to let go of its preconceptions. 2] Software packages that were primarily used are 3ds Max (for modeling, lighting, rendering), Softimage (for rigging and animation), Digital Fusion (for compositing), Real Flow (for fluid dynamics), Sony Vegas (for editorial), Zbrush and Mudbox (for organic modeling), and VRAY (for rendering). [33] Soundtrack[edit] Main article: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (soundtrack) [The instrumental sounds are] processed and stretched and manipulated into a setting where it may sound harmonically familiar, but if you tune into it, it’s not behaving in a way that you’re accustomed to that type of sound behaving. nd experimenting around in that is an interesting place to work. ”Trent Reznor[34] Fincher recruited Reznor and Ross to produce the score; aside from their successful collaboration on The Social Network, the duo had worked together on albums from Nine Inch Nails’ later discography They dedicated much of the year to work on the film, as they felt it would appeal to a broad audience. [36] Akin to his efforts in The Social Network, Reznor experiments with acoustics and blends them with elements of electronic music, resulting in a forbidding atmosphere. We wanted to create the sound of oldness”emotionally and also physically,” he asserted, “We wanted to take lots of acoustic instruments C… ] and transplant them into a very inorganic setting, and dress the set around them with electronics. “[34] Even before viewing the script, Reznor and Ross opted to use a redolent approach to creating the film’s score. After discussing with Fincher the varying soundscapes and emotions, the duo spent six weeks composing. “We composed music we felt might belong” stated the Nine Inch Nails lead vocalist, “and then we’d run it by Fincher, to see where his head’s at and he responded positively.
He was filming at this time last year and assembling rough edits of scenes to see what it feels like, and he was inserting our music at that point, rather than using temp music, which is how it usually takes place, apparently. ” Finding a structure for the soundtrack was arguably the most strenuous task. “We weren’t working on a finished thing so everything keeps moving around, scenes are changing in length, and even the order of things are shuffled around, and that can get pretty frustrating when you get precious about your work. It was a lesson we learned pretty’ quickly of, ‘Everything is in flux, and approach it as such.
Hopefully it’ll work out in the On his birthday, Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), retired CEO of Vanger Industries, receives a pressed flower in the mail from an anonymous sender and phones retired inspector Gustaf Morell (Donald Sumpter). Co-owner of the magazine Millennium, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is swarmed by reporters as he leaves a courthouse, having lost a libel suit leveled against him by corrupt businessman Hans-Erik Wennerstrom (Ulf Friberg). His reputation destroyed and his life savings gone, Blomkvist returns to the office and informs his co-owner Erika Berger (Robin Wright), who is also is lover, that he is resigning.
Dirch Frode (Steven Berkoff), the attorney of Henrik Vanger, meets with Dragan Armansky (Goran Visnjic) at the headquarters of Milton Security, having requested a background check on Blomkvist Armansky has arranged for Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a girl in her twenties with multiple tattoos and facial piercings who is his best researcher and computer hacker, to come in and personally report her findings on Blomkvist. On Christmas Day, Blomkvist receives a phone call from Frode summoning him to the Vanger estate on Hedeby Island in Hedestad for a face-to-face eeting with Henrik.
Upon his arrival, Henrik explains that he is interested in hiring Blomkvist to investigate the murder of his niece Harriet Vanger, who disappeared from the island over 40 years ago. Before she vanished, Harriet would give Henrik a pressed flower for his birthday every year, a tradition that he believes has been continued by the person responsible for her disappearance. Convinced that someone in the family murdered Harriet, Henrik will allow Blomkvist to conduct his investigation out of a cottage on the island, under the guise of writing a memoir about Henrik and his life.
