The Weekend Rant : Hollywood and those Girls with Dragon Tattoos

So this week I FINALLY got round to watching the amazing Steig Larsson Millenium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked Over the Hornet's Nest), and its just gotten me thinking. For those of you who don't know, coming out later this year (December I believe) there will be an American version of the first of these Swedish films being released. I began to ask myself after finishing the first movie: HOW can Hollywood improve on these already stellar works? Although its not so much the "why", but the "who" does still have me intrigued to still follow it and not just disregard the Hollywood monster that it could well be, as I am a fan of David Fincher's work (the director in charge of the Hollywood remake and was responsible for two of my favourite movies, Fight Club and The Social Network) and it'll be interesting to see what he does with it. I'll try my best to not shoot down the American version(s) (especially since they're not even out yet!) but its really hard considering how Hollywood likes to just copy, remake or just churn out something new that is in fact either really old or already been done.

The posters for the Swedish "Originals".

Yet, it is hard to blatantly label the Hollywood version as a "remake" as most are all labelling it. In many an interview it has been said that its more of a "re-imagining" and an "adaptation" of the book by Fincher himself and the producer Søren Stærmose have stated. Søren Stærmose even produced the Swedish originals, which I'm still wondering how much of a mixed blessing that is in how much will be "re-imagined" and how much of the previous works he'll bring to the table regarding the source material and what makes it to the silver screen. Fincher is no stranger to dealing with dark issues and presenting them in hard hitting ways (all puns intended for Fight Club) and he has really chosen a source material with a lot of depth. Now I cannot vouch for the books themselves (thought I am told they cover an amazing wealth of depth and engrossing story) but the Swedish original does have its own share of deep and dark issues.
[SPOILER] such as the "guardian" that gets assigned to Lisbeth Salander and his degrading treatment of her including that graphic and extremely unnerving rape scene. [SPOILER]

And partly I wonder how Fincher will treat a lot of these dark issues and scenes especially for an American audience. The Swedish Original was done very maturely and shot very effectively, with not having to show everything but allude to things and have trust in the audience to just piece things together, such as Lisbeth Salander's relationship with Miriam Wu and not needing it all explained (yet the trailers for the American ones look as though they might be showing more to it). And while I do trust Fincher, I am just not too sure how far I should trust his entire department ESPECIALLY now after some publicity photos for Lisbeth have been released and its fair to say... they don't do the character justice.

Publicity Photos of Rooney Mara who plays Lisbeth in the upcoming American version.

The character of Lisbeth Salander is largely what makes the entire trilogy so amazing. From her outlandish looks to her amazing hacker skills to how she takes justice in her own hands to right the wrongs that the world has set against her. She, as a character, holds a powerful message for woman's rights and I personally think she is a great testament to showing how to portray a strong woman in a man's world without objectifying her. Noomi Rapace played her in the Swedish originals and there is a tender beauty in her acting. Some might've called it dead pan but they don't realize the character is very cerebral as well as showing signs of Asperger's Syndrome and does not place trust in others so easily so she does not open up often and its amazing to see those subtleties that Rapace plays her with. From her beaming eyes that dart about in thought in those more tender moments, to how strong and independent she is when operating in the patriarchy that is the society all around her and how she goes about showing that strength that does lie within her. She is a clever, thoughtful and amazing character that you start rooting for in her vigilantism.
We then cut to see what the photoshoots of Rooney Mara portraying Lisbeth and they're rather racy and while yes they have kept a rather outlandish punk/gothic look but the posing and clear objectifying Lisbeth just feels so... wrong. Some may argue this is Lisbeth being empowered in a patriarchal stance of using her "sexiness" as a tool to draw attention, but the point is she is nothing like that. She hates men, especially the kind that treat women as objects and abuse them, and then Hollywood just treats her with the same objectified nature that she hates. Now of course, one could argue how they are tastefully done in some weird psuedo-new age feminist way but somewhere deep inside I can't help but also think of how different audiences will interpret this, especially stereotyped audiences which one has to deal with when working with the media.

The cover of W magazine where the photos came from.

One can say how she's a very vulnerable character and this is her bearing herself. But Lisbeth isn't like that and its very annoying hearing people hark on in its defense that this is clearly using the traditional American PR quip that "Sex sells". Søren Stærmose, when asked to compare the actresses playing the Lisbeths in both version, said how Rapace was a more "empowered and a strong actress" and Mara encaptures her more "vulnerable side." Granted, looking like a doped up deer in the headlights is very vulnerable, but I can't see how these very "posed" and sexual publicity photos show any of that vulnerability. But maybe I'm just getting caught up in bad PR, since the article with the photos in question are really about Rooney Mara and not Lisbeth Salander and also when I should really focus on the movie an not the PR itself.

Speaking of PR and the movie, of course there's the poster.

Before they released the international (below) version, they just teased with the one above. While I still had some gripes, this one was "okay" at best with the dark lighting gave it that brooding seriousness that the movie does need. We know we're not seeing  a comedy here. There's a sense of mystery to it, we can tell these characters are linked and it had me intrigued.

And then came the international poster...

That pierced nipple... sigh. Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against piercings in "exotic" places, and surprisingly I hadn't noticed it in the first poster with it blending rather seamlessly with the date. Its just... a very odd design choice. If you understand the character of Lisbeth you'll know that it just seems very bizarre and out of place. Yes, she is a very sexual being but not one to seem so exhibitionist like.  And yes, I know you can argue that its "artistic" and how there's some metaphor regarding a bared chest can often mean truthfulness or in matters regarding a heart sworn oath, but it still seems a bit jarring how unlike it is of these characters. But again, I am judging it rather harshly and even feel rather prudish in arguing against justifying it. Gods only know if they'll try justify it in an awkward dialogue in the movie, which makes me wonder what was going through Daniel Craig's mind during this shoot or even Rooney Mara when she was asked to get all those piercings (yes, apparently they're all real according to some dodgy third party Showbiz websites). I guess I should be thankful that's all they're showing that's pierced.

But despite these rather (in my opinion) poor design choices for the character of Lisbeth, the trailers do still have me super pumped. Hell, the mere fact that Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (the duo behind the Oscar Winning Soundtrack of The Social Network) are teaming up again for some very awesome music. Just listen to the teaser:

And then for a better trailer to see more of how this is shaping up to look like a good movie.

Granted, I do realize I am being very harsh and nitpicky on this movie and it hasn't even come out yet, but that's just how captivated I have been by the Swedish versions and I must remember to remind myself of them being adaptions and not mere re-created Hollywood knock offs. I do have high hopes for this movie, even higher now after watching the Swedish originals and I really do hate that I feel this bias towards disliking it for how much I truly loved Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, and I guess a human is entitled to some choice. Time will only tell if David Fincher will have another Oscar Nominee on his hands here.

So who do you prefer?