The+Girl+with+the+Dragon+Tattoo+(not+Celine's)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a swedish movie that is based off a novel by Stieg Larsson. The movie is a drama thriller revolving around a journalist and an amateur hacker, who work together to solve a very old case about a girl missing from a wealthy family.

The lighting in this film was an important factor in building towards the theme and tone. One of the major themes of this film is abuse towards women in Sweden, and the failures of the government that allow such acts to be committed. This theme actually contributes a very dark tone, and even leads a little towards moral ambiguity (regarding revenge to such acts). This theme and the dark tone are expressed through the lighting. In this scene, Nils Bjurman (the man hurting her), is often shown with cold light on one side of his face, and darkness on the other. This demonstrates how part of him is a kind counselor who is reasonable, while the other part is a sick monster. Later when Lisbeth takes control she is also only partly lit to demonstrate how the moral ambiguity of what she is doing (taking revenge on the man who hurt her). (Notice the lighting for these) Cinematography is used to add meaning to the film. As you can see in this shot, Lisbeth is now shown from a worm’s eye view to make her seem more powerful. Before, Nils was filmed from a lower angle. This symbolizes how the power has shifted from Nils to Lisbeth; she is in control now. This represents how Lisbeth deals with the abuse towards women; she empowers herself.

(And the angle of these) Editing is used to create meaning in the film. In the two shots below, it’s almost like a graphic cut, except they are almost like mirror images of each other. I think this was more than simply a way to film two people through a doorway, I think it used to show how the two characters are also like mirror images of each other. Both of these characters complement each other; Lisbeth is younger and has a much different appearance (multiple piercings, short hair, a lot of leather), while Mikael is older and looks- I hate to say it-normal (he wears pants and a shirt, nothing out of the ordinary). Lisbeth is also a little more direct, and has less regard for the law as Mikael. These differences in the characters complement each other and lead to them having a more powerful relationship, both professionally and personally. I believe it was actually a combination of cinematography as well as editing that led to this effect. Sound is used to create meaning in this film as well. Sound was to create suspense and also to help make the film more engaging, and it was very effective. However an even more effective use of sound was used in order to foreshadow who was at fault. One example of the use of sound is where photos of the missing girl and her brother are put right next to each other. Right when they were put down a very scary and ominous sound, which I hadn’t really thought much of at first, but it gave me an uneasy feeling about the two. Spoiler Alert! It turns out later in the film her brother and father sexually abused her very often, which prompted her to run away to Australia. The ominous sound was to forewarn the viewer that the brother was a bad person.

Overall I enjoyed this movie very much, the plot wa s very stimulating. It was one of the best whodunits I’ve ever seen.