Our next episode is on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — what should we talk about?

I feel like the rest of the books, while enjoyable, would be ridiculous on screen. I never watched the Swedish versions but do know that the reviews were less favorable for each subsequent film.

Outlaw

The major differences between the Swedish and English versions. What makes one movie better than the other?

Maia Wilson

Same! --MT

Beyond the Screenplay

Piggybacking off one of the other comments, how do you guys feel about how effectively (or not) the sexual violence is shown and used as part of the story, compared to other works with similar types of violence? It seems that how it is portrayed can be very polarizing and can easily break a movie/show if not done the right way

Amazing movie. I rewatch it often. The remake is better than the original because Fincher. If I can have one nitpick, I have to say, I wish the end wasn't such a bummer after making us fall in love with both characters and the journey they've been on, especially her, of course.

Great pick! Do you ever think about the pros and cons of not relocating the story in an adaptation like this? Maybe I just get a feeling of Hollywood invasion because I am from Scandinavia and the names sound unnatural when spoken in English. I also find the balance between wanting independence and the need for belonging fascinating, and think that is part of the reason why Lisbeth is so relatable.

I would like to see a comparison of the character concept / adaption in the film in comparison to book and the Swedish original. I loved the books and also quite liked the original movies. In general I was not happy hearing Hollywood just took another successful franchise and adapted it to milk the cash cow, but the movie was reeeeeally good! Chapeau Mr. Fincher! Referring to the characters: Daniel Craig is for me personal a more suitable choice in terms of his character Mikael being a heart-throb. In the books my most relation to Mikael was him always smoking, always drinking coffee. Happy to see this in the Fincher movie adapted. Also Noomi Rapace did a phenomenal job in the original but was quite too mature / old for the role of Lisbeth. Rooney Mara just hit the bank with her performance. Really looking forward to your opinion on the movie!

Scub

comparison of the Swedish version of the script vs Steven Zailian's adaptation

This is more of a filmmaking question than a screenwriting question, but how do you feel about Fincher’s depiction of both the female and male rape scenes? How are his blocking/editing/etc choices interacting with their storytelling function? Personally, I remember having a problem with his stylized music video approach to the murder scenes in Zodiac (especially since those were non-fiction people he was depicting). I think stylistically this movie is very different than Zodiac, but curious if you felt the filmic language of the rape scenes were congruent with their narrative and thematic purpose, or if there are any choices that might be discordant with them.

Dan Hoy

As you often discuss for stories with mysteries, I'm curious for y'alls thoughts on the control of information: how revelations are timed and what makes them well (or not well) set up.

Zac Seehusen-Besky

The Fincher adaptation is great but unfortunately not complete - unlike the Swedish version with its three parts. The Millennium-Books are tight together in one overarching story line. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first part one of a series that never happened but it can stand on its own. How do you make a movie that has to do both: be a complete story in itself and be the first act to a larger one?

Gesa

I really like Fincher's version but I love the Swedish original. I think a discussion about the difference between the two would be very good.

Damien Fenton

Could you use this as starting point for discussing the difficulty of launching an adult-aiming franchise? The film is based on a best selling book series and was highly rated yet still failed to find an audience.

I think in general how they handle the torture scenes. In another movie they could be a horro show but they do enough to make it build tension rather than a gore fest.

I’m so excited for this conversation! I don’t think I’ll ever get over the rest of this trilogy going unmade.

As other people have mentioned it's a good opportunity to discuss this film as an adaptation from a book and also another film. I think that the Fincher version of this story is much more efficient, kinda a master class on having multiple things happening in every scene which works better for film than the Swedish version generally. It's also a good opportunity to discuss how this is a modern-era English-language film that sets itself in a non-English speaking county more successfully than comparable films. Such good attention to detail. Side note: this is my favorite movie so I'm pretty stoked

Rooney Mara’s incredible acting and the flashback treatment

Can you discuss the weird glasses thing Daniel Craig does?? But in all seriousness, can you examine the relationship between Salander and Blomkvist? It’s always seemed clunky in the book and in the movie. I never fully buy that relationship as a sexual one as opposed to just a friendly platonic one. If you were doing the movie yourself would you have handled that differently?

Jacob Doan

As a big Fincher fan, I adore the color palette and the way Sweden’s essence is characterized by the cinematography. The soundtrack is also to die for, timelessly futuristic! Can’t wait to hear your discussion!

This is my favorite Fincher movie, and one of my favorite movies in general. Ya'll need to discuss the amazing score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. But there should also be a conversation on why this movie is so highly polarizing. A lot of people don't like this movie, and I suspect it's mainly because of the changes it takes from the book. Can you discuss how Fincher trims the fat from unnecessary plot points (like Mikael Blomkvist not going to jail and not sleeping with Cecilia) and how he focuses on retaining the tone? Lastly! And very important. My favorite line from the film is when Papa Skarsgård delivers "It's hard to believe that the fear of offending can be stronger than the fear of pain, but you know what? It is." It's not in the book! I remember reading the book and waiting for that line and it never appeared. Such great writing for the screen. So excited about this. Just as excited as I am to hear you discuss Andor ;)

Outlaw

I made a video years ago about how you show a character that is afraid of flying without being cliché. This movie does it so elegantly, with the seat near the emergency exit and the reactions of Blomkvist. This movie is full of details like this. I believe this film is hugely underrated and can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.

Felipe Fonseca

Comparison with book/Swedish film