#5: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Just to let you all know, we decided to go with a foreign film to throw into this 365 mix. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a crime-filled and action packed Swedish film. I'll start off by saying, I did happen to enjoy this film. In the beginning, I wasn't really drawn in because it was a little slow, but as the movie ran, I started to get into it way more. I think the whole concept of the film is really intellectual and fascinating. It's very well thought out and unlike most mystery films. This Swedish film is worth seeing if you have the time. This film is very dark and some may find it disturbing at times but that doesn't make it a movie not worth seeing. It's a foreign film, so it does have subtitles but I don't think that takes away as much as you might expect from the movie. The film, to me, was worth seeing, though I think it would get mixed reviews all around.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

Of the films we've seen so far in the 365 project, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is by far the hardest. I don't mean that in the sense that it was hard to understand or I found myself having trouble focusing on it, but it's hard. I've seen this movie from start to finish once, but when we watched this time, I left during parts of it. It has a lot of intense scenes in it and I'm not sure it's for everyone. It's a film that confronts some difficult issues and doesn't do so apologetically.

Despite its darkness, I love this movie. The phrase that comes to mind when I think of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is "the best way out is through." I think that if I stopped watching the movie halfway through, I would not choose to resume it. It's so incredibly depressing and painful to watch, but there is a sense of satisfaction and contentment I get at the end, even though many of the most difficult issues in the movie aren't resolved favorably (if at all).

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is possibly my favorite foreign film of all time (though I haven't seen many) and if you can stand to see a movie with subtitles, watch this (I've also heard wonderful things about the book, by the same title). You'll feel it.

Overall Rating: 8.8 / 10


- Taylor Dobbs