Now the girl with the dragon tattoo will play with fire...

The Girl Who Played With Fire directed by Daniel Alfredson

Actress Noomi Rapace at the Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010.

Subtitles. Most of the time, they're insufferable. I don't much care for them myself...I get incredibly distracted and I find myself losing the plot, literally. I mean, do I look at the writing first, or the actors? I try reading the captions first, but then I feel like I'm reading a book on a screen; I miss the actors facial expressions, their reactions. So I try it the other way around, I look at them first. Approximately three seconds later, I've missed about a paragraph of dialogue. This is I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E. Earlier this year, I sat down and attempted to watch one such foreign language film, as I had heard it was magnificent. Also, it was a vampire movie so I was like hell yes. (Yes, I like vampire movies. Shut up.) It was called Let The Right One In, and it was completely Swedish. I think I watched about 20 minutes before I gave up and went to bed, with a huge headache, mind you. It's not that it wasn't good, it was. It's just that I couldn't keep up with the damned subtitles! They moved so fast! Frequent rewinding ensued, but after a while I got over doing that. Honestly, I think it would have taken me about six hours to get through it. That's two whole Lord of the Rings movies. Also, I figured since they're making (made, now) a glossy Hollywood version (re-named Let Me In, starring young Australian actor Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz aka Hit Girl from Kick-Ass), then I'd just catch that instead. However, to do that with the films adapted from Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy would be a travesty. 

Noomi Rapace with husband Ola Rapace at a Venice premiere, September 4, 2010.

Full disclosure: I HAVE NOT READ THE AWESOME AND RIDICULOUSLY SUCCESSFUL/POPULAR MILLENNIUM TRILOGY. But if you have, you'll know that the story is, in a word, brutal. Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is an a-social, closed-off computer hacker with a photographic memory. She is a legitimate genius, but totally scary-looking with her numerous piercings and gothic-style of dress. According to my mother, who has read all three books, Larsson must have had this actress in mind as Salander before he died, such is the exact replication of her character. Salander's childhood was somewhat harsh, considering her father's violent behaviour towards her mother. In the first chapter of the trilogy, a graphic rape scene occurs, and much of the second film is based on the repercussions of this event. Be warned: these films are not for the faint of heart, nor are the books I suppose. The crimes are sickening and thoroughly disturbing. I myself wondered what twisted mind could have invented such a story, but upon researching Larsson, my respect for him was only increased. Larsson himself witnessed the gang rape of a girl named Lisbeth when he was just 14 years old. He was deeply ashamed that he could do nothing to stop it and never forgave himself, but as a personal form of tribute, he used the incident as inspiration for the themes of violence against women in the Millenium trilogy, and named his heroine after the victim. Those who knew Larsson have said that he had a lifelong abhorrence toward violence and abuse against women. This much is clear through his novels, and has been expertly translated in the films.

Noomi Rapace & Michael Nyqvist at a photocall for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for the Cannes Film Festival, May 17, 2009.

Performance-wise, each actor gives 110% in The Girl Who Played With Fire. Rapace gives 120%. After a while, you don't even feel like you're watching a foreign film...the story is so engrossing, at no point do you feel tired by all the writing; on the contrary, you find yourself hungry for more. I have to say, I think I enjoyed the first film a tiny bit more, and that's really just down to the fact that it was more straight forward in its storyline. Played With Fire is slightly more complex, and at times I was a tad confused. Even so, it's highly entertaining and very well-acted. Michael Nyqvist is simply wonderful as Millenium's star journalist and Lisbeth's one true ally. Micke Spreitz, Georgi Staykov and Peter Andersson are utterly creepy as the three main baddies (Lisbeth's half-brother, her father, and her attacker from the first film). But the real props have to go to Rapace; without her, the profound success of these films wouldn't be happening. She IS Lisbeth Salander, end of story. There's something endearing about the fact that these are independent films...none of those involved could have guessed the exploding force they would have upon the world.

Noomi Rapace at a Venice premiere, September 6, 2010.

But explode they did, and now ravenous fans in more than 20 countries are hungry for more: the last installment (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) will be unleashed within the next year. In fact, all three films were made consequetively, and all were released in Sweden in 2009. But alas, Hollywood has their own plans ready to unfold. David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) is all set to direct the English-speaking version, pegged for a December 2011 release. So far it's been confirmed that Daniel Craig will play the controversial but brilliant journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and Rooney Mara has nabbed the role of Lisbeth. Unfortunately, she now also carries the burden of having to top Rapace's flawless interpretation of Salander. I say good luck to her...if she succeeds, she deserves an Oscar.