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Annette Kellerman From SXSW: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO And LEAVES OF GRASS!!
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Hey everyone! Annette Kellerman here, back once again for my yearly coverage of the South by Southwest Film Festival. As always, I like to keep my reviews short and sweet so I can cover as much as humanly possible within the week- a daunting challenge to say the least.
Kicking the fest off for me this year is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Now, before I begin, I must first plead complete ignorance. I went into this screening knowing nothing more than the synopsis and the fact that this movie is "the most successful Scandinavian film in history" according to the info in the SXSW film guide. Definitely enough to pique my interest. It was only while standing in line that I learned it was based on a very popular novel that is part of a trilogy by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson. As with all adaptations, I'm sure there are purists who would argue that the film could never hold a candle to the literature, but since I've already admitted my ignorance, my take on the film will be simply that- my take on the film with no regard for the original source material.
The film opens with the seemingly unrelated lives of a financial journalist in the midst of professional ruin and a young, beautiful goth-ish hacker hired to secretly scope him out. The journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, has been framed and nailed for slander in a scandal that has not only cost him his career, but will also cost him some jail time as well. The young spook, Lisbeth, makes her way in this world by digging up dirt on others while dealing with some seriously messed up personal issues of her own. While Mikael awaits his pending incarceration, he is summoned by an elderly man- a member of the well-known and well-heeled Vanger family- to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his beloved niece some 40 years earlier. While Mikael begins his investigation, Lisbeth also vicariously follows the case, eventually revealing herself and lending her own expert sleuth skills. As Mikael and Lisbeth's stories begin to intersect, the pair unravel the dark secrets of the Vanger family.
Now, I usually have rules about seeing films over two hours long, but I have to say, if you're going to make a two and a half hour film, make it like this. Every scene is meaningful and has purpose. There wasn't one frame of this film that we could've done without. There are some seriously gritty sequences in the film, mainly with the emotionally damaged Lisbeth that had me squirming in my seat, but later moments of redemption make every icky moment completely worth it. Kudos to director Niels Arden Oplev for delivering a darkly romantic yet thrilling mystery. The film has a satisfying mix of creepy old school bells and whistles via stock footage, photos, and documents surrounding the 40 year old disappearance, but it also stays current with a healthy smattering of computer wizardry thanks to the new school tactics of the young Lisbeth. Though some may argue that the double ending of the film goes a bit to the extreme, I was delighted by the nice, neat conclusion.
LEAVES OF GRASS
My second film on opening night couldn't have been further from a Scandinavian mystery. No, in fact, Leaves of Grass takes place right where this AICN spy was born and raised- in the great state of Oklahoma! Go ahead and insert your own wisecrack here. Get it out of your system, because this film and I are already in on the joke.
As a proud native Okie himself, director/actor Tim Blake Nelson uses our home state as the backdrop for a delightful tale of weed growing and family strife. The story begins with Edward Norton's Bill Kincaid, an Ivy League professor on the career trajectory he's always dreamed of, further distancing him from the life and family he left behind in Oklahoma. Cut to Brady Kincaid, Bill's identical twin brother (also played by Norton) and polar opposite whose own career as southeast Oklahoma's top marijuana grower is soon coming to a halt due to the pending arrival of his first born. In order to end his servitude to Tulsa's pot kingpin played by Richard Dreyfuss, Brady hatches a plan that includes fabricating his own death to lure his brother back to their hometown and then using their likeness in order to cut his drug dealing ties once and for all. As one would imagine with such a scheme, not all goes as planned and the brother are thrust into a bad situation that only gets worse.
Like many coming home stories, Bill deals with his family problems and contemplates the not-so-terrible-after-all simple life with the help of the small town poet/philospher/noodler (google it) beauty played by Keri Russell. He finally confronts his ex-hippie mom (Susan Sarandon) for being more of a party friend than a mother, and once again bonds with the brother he tried to forget.
Though at times the brothers are more caricatures than characters with Brady's down home drawl and yee haw attitude juxtaposed with Bill's intellectual disdain for his roots, Nelson manages to tie it all together with a solidly silly story and a fantastic cast. My only complaint is...not enough Dreyfuss and Sarandon. The film only hints at their stories, leaving me wanting more- especially Dreyfuss' drug lord who uses Tulsa's small but powerful jewish community as his front. Fantastic possibilities there!
Leaves of Grass will be opening with an extremely limited release which is such a shame considering what a fun and quirky ride it is. So many times when a film doesn't fit the theatrical mold, it is relegated to a DVD release and then becomes a rental phenom because the varying tastes of the movie going public are vastly underestimated. I really hope that Leaves of Grass eventually gets a wider release because there are many of you out there who would buy that ticket and really enjoy this great little movie like I did.
Well, I'm off to another day of film fun! I'll be checking in with more from SXSW tomorrow.
Until then,
Annette Kellerman
As a proud native Okie himself, director/actor Tim Blake Nelson uses our home state as the backdrop for a delightful tale of weed growing and family strife. The story begins with Edward Norton's Bill Kincaid, an Ivy League professor on the career trajectory he's always dreamed of, further distancing him from the life and family he left behind in Oklahoma. Cut to Brady Kincaid, Bill's identical twin brother (also played by Norton) and polar opposite whose own career as southeast Oklahoma's top marijuana grower is soon coming to a halt due to the pending arrival of his first born. In order to end his servitude to Tulsa's pot kingpin played by Richard Dreyfuss, Brady hatches a plan that includes fabricating his own death to lure his brother back to their hometown and then using their likeness in order to cut his drug dealing ties once and for all. As one would imagine with such a scheme, not all goes as planned and the brother are thrust into a bad situation that only gets worse.
Like many coming home stories, Bill deals with his family problems and contemplates the not-so-terrible-after-all simple life with the help of the small town poet/philospher/noodler (google it) beauty played by Keri Russell. He finally confronts his ex-hippie mom (Susan Sarandon) for being more of a party friend than a mother, and once again bonds with the brother he tried to forget.
Though at times the brothers are more caricatures than characters with Brady's down home drawl and yee haw attitude juxtaposed with Bill's intellectual disdain for his roots, Nelson manages to tie it all together with a solidly silly story and a fantastic cast. My only complaint is...not enough Dreyfuss and Sarandon. The film only hints at their stories, leaving me wanting more- especially Dreyfuss' drug lord who uses Tulsa's small but powerful jewish community as his front. Fantastic possibilities there!
Leaves of Grass will be opening with an extremely limited release which is such a shame considering what a fun and quirky ride it is. So many times when a film doesn't fit the theatrical mold, it is relegated to a DVD release and then becomes a rental phenom because the varying tastes of the movie going public are vastly underestimated. I really hope that Leaves of Grass eventually gets a wider release because there are many of you out there who would buy that ticket and really enjoy this great little movie like I did.
Well, I'm off to another day of film fun! I'll be checking in with more from SXSW tomorrow.
Until then,
Annette Kellerman
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mullets. Oooooohhh...you thought I meant....oh isn't that funny.
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on the set of the Hulk.Nelson: The Hulk is big and green just like these nugs I be smokin.Norton: We should make a movie about weed. huh huh. huh huh.
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not the dragon tat half but the weed half. someone else can have that hep C thread.
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you and me all the way. Not sexually of course.
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Oh, and Leaves of Grass is kind of a silly title. I might dig the movie, and maybe it has some meaning. But just saying, "leaves of grass", silliness.
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Still silly to say, which never really helps a movie.
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I am just finishing up the second book called "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which is also incredible.... If you have the means to pick these books up do it, you will not be disapointed... the thrid one is not out yet but the first two are better than anything ive read in the last 2-3 years.
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recommendation from someone named Turd Fergeson ....but you'd be wrong.
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Woot!
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But really, it's nothing more than a very well-shot, reasonably gripping procedural. I don't know how much better the book can be to justify the hype around it but I did enjoy this, just not enough to figure out why these books have sold nearly 20 million copies. I also saw the sequel THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and it's much more TV movie-like. Not as slick and cinematically polished as the first one.
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Mar 14, 2010 11:54:15 AM CDT
Haven't seen THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO yet, but...
by snootyboots
The young woman referred to in the title would surely object to being called a girl, would note that said tattoo is just one of several she sports and has no bearing on the story of the novel/movie, and would consider Vintage Books (and now Music Box Films) pussies for changing the title for the English translation from the original Swedish MEN WHO HATE WOMEN.
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Hard to believe but a REMAKE of "Dragon Tattoo" is already in the works. NO JOKE -
...is barely seen and never spoken of. So I guess the title just sounded cool when the book was translated.
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One of the major Studios bought the rights so they can do it in english and set it in the US. Just like that other Swedish sensation, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN.
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...or are we already there?? Remakes are also in the works for Suspiria and Videodrome ffs. Are there two movies that are MORE defined by their directors than those two?
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According to EmpireOnline he's "circling" the remake of DRAGON TATTOO. That should make lots of people happy, I suppose, but I've always felt a coldness to his work.
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It's a more procedural, less sensical, more boring version of Se7en. Unimpressed doesn't even begin to describe the almost non-reaction I had to seeing it.
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...a Swedish left-wing author's sexual revenge fantasy of a hot, ultra-feminist heroine taking it out on evil, white, capitalist male scum.
Why it has been such a hit among millions of middle-aged women (even my mom has read them) I don't know. -
A film about Oklahoma made in Louisiana.
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Are you high? No pun intended. Leaves of Grass is absolutely dreadful. We walked out of a screening of it in London recently it was so bad. It really is extremely poor indeed & I'll generally sit through most things.
Have to say GWTDT is superb, I've been lucky enough to see all three films of the trilogy and its a very rounded full story, great acting, great script. Maybe some of its depth might be missed on our American cousins as it forgoes the usual Hollywood whizzes and bangs for a more subtle thoughtful approach to film making. Not to say it doesn't hit hard when its required. -
is a Walt Whitman reference, in addition to its marijuana implications, which is fitting considering the role of the two protagonists. That said, its not a terribly special film, story wise it feels a little DTV. Its a little funny, not ever exciting, and not at all sentimental the way it wants to be. But Norton is fun to watch, if not as fun as Cage was in Adaptation ("like technology versus...horse").
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