The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

So we come to the third and final film instalment of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. Following feisty hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and tenacious journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), the trilogy has gone from murder mystery (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) to a political conspiracy (The Girl Who Played With Fire). The final film gives Lisbeth, who has been falsely accused, a chance to clear her name and expose the men who have been plotting to keep her silent for years.

Starting with a very brief recap, the third film swings straight into action; and given the film’s large cast of players it is certainly an advantage to have read the books. While subplots have been necessarily pared down or omitted, director Daniel Alfredson (brother of Tomas ‘Let The Right One In’ Alfredson) does make some odd choices at times, including partial sequences from the book that hang rather uselessly in the film due to their lack of context.

While director Niels Arden Oplev started the trilogy off with a bang, sadly the second film (also directed by Alfredson) failed to capture the freshness and excitement of the material. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest is an improvement on his last effort, but Alfredson still seems to be lacking a cinematic vision. This film feels more like a long TV episode than a feature film.

In a series that champions the power of women, with strong female characters, it is no surprise that the film’s major strength is Noomi Rapace. Playing the complex heroine Lisbeth, a role that is light on dialogue, Rapace conveys a huge amount of emotion with her eyes, giving us the character’s fury and fear.

The Millennium Trilogy’s Swedish telling has been a mixed bag that ultimately hasn’t lived up to the promise of the books. Given that David Fincher (The Social Network), a director renowned for his distinct visual style, is in charge of the English-language version of this trilogy, will this be one of those rare instances where the American remake is an improvement on the original?

2.5/5

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First published in The Brag 28/02/11

Everlasting Moments

Everlasting Moments/Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick comes from one of the great European auteurs, Swedish director Jan Troell, now in his late 70s he is known for films like Emigrants (1971), Bang! (1977) and Il Capitano (1991). Celebrated around the world, Troell’s films often look at the lives of Sweden’s working class, which is again the terrain he covers in this his latest film. Based on a real–life woman, Maria Larsson (Maria Heiskanen), Troell takes his audience into the landscape of early Twentieth Century Sweden weaving a beautiful narrative around his central character and her passion for photography.

Troell became aware of Maria’s story through his wife, Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell’s research into her family history (Agneta is a distant relative of Maria). Over a number of years Agneta interviewed Maja Öman (Maria’s eldest daughter) and found out about Maria’s photography; Maria had won a camera in a lottery as a young woman and despite constant financial troubles had kept hold of it all her life. Troell, realising the social significance of Maria’s story and himself a devotee of still photography, set about turning his wife’s research, along with Öman’s memoirs, into a script, which he co-wrote with Niklas Rådström.

Everlasting Moments examines the adult life of Maria, a working-class mother of seven, married to the often brutish drunkard Sigfrid (Mikael Persbrandt). The film looks at the family’s struggle to keep their heads above water, the changes in Northern Europe during the beginning of last century and Maria personal engagement with photography. This is a film that slowly entices you in, with its fantastically realised sense of place and time and excellent performances.

Although Maria wasn’t a leader in the field of photography or a renowned photographer, the film’s exploration of the burgeoning art form is absolutely absorbing. Under the kind tutelage of the delightful photographer Pedersen (Jesper Christensen), Maria’s nature gift for photography develops and she discovers this very powerful method for self-expression.

Troell wrote the script with Finnish actress Maria Heiskanen in mind for the central role, and watching the film you can see she was the perfect choice. Equal measures vulnerable and stead-fast, Maria is a fascinating character. The film balances Maria’s responsibilities and choices with her desires; although there is an inevitable sense of melancholy to the character, there is also a joy and determination making Maria more than just a put-upon wife and mother.

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First published on Trespass