boxoffice success

Uriah, a.k.a. Norm of Crime Scraps, picked up a Swedish news story about the release of a film of Stieg Larsson’s Girl With a Dragon Tattoo.

Fans of the books have been eagerly awaiting the film version, directed by acclaimed Danish movie maker Niels Arden Oplev.

Shot in Stockholm, the film casts Swedish star Michael Nyqvist in the role of Blomkvist, who effortlessly tumbles into violent mysteries and intrigues, while Salander is brought to life by virtually unknown actress Noomi Rapace.

Swedish media have unanimously hailed the muscular, raven-haired Rapace, covered in piercings and a large dragon tattoo on her back for the shoot, for her convincing performance, especially in the most violent scenes including one in which she is brutally raped.

Some critics have said Rapace is physically too big and muscular to faithfully play Salander, described in the trilogy as a small, androgynous girl who is so skinny she looks anorexic.

After seeing an early screening of the nearly two-and-a-half-hour-long movie, however, most viewers said the physical differences were easily forgotten thanks to Rapace’s convincing performance.

The film, which is doing very well and is being released in several European countries and will open the Cannes Film Festival, will be followed by six television programs based on the trilogy. Norm points out that Larsson was very detailed in his description of Salander, so it’s interesting that an actress who looks different is nevertheless being hailed as “just like Lisabeth Salander.” It must be a bit tricky to film a book that’s so well known. In a country of 9 million people, 3 million copies of the trilogy have been sold.