The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009)

DVD CASE/ SIDE

Length of film:  129 Minutes (Director’s Cut: 186 Minutes)

Rated: 15

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Director: Daniel Alfredson

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Endre, Peter Andersson, Michalis Koutsogiannakis, Annika Hallin

IMDB Rank: 7.1 /10

Part 1 Time:   62 Minutes (Director’s Cut: 92 Minutes)

Part 2 Time:   67 Minutes (Director’s Cut: 94 Minutes)

*** The director’s cut version is split into two episodes, which include some credits and a flashback of the previous events in episode one.

Where does the first part end? Michael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) reads an email he has received from Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace).

Final line of dialogue on the first part: The email from Lisbeth reads, “I didn’t shoot Dag and Mia. If you want to help, find Zala, Lisbeth.” The next scene shows Lisbeth sitting at a computer smoking a cigarette.

First line of dialogue on the second part: Michael speaks with Paolo Roberto (Self) at the hospital. Paolo states, “I can give and receive punches, but he was no ordinary human.”

How jarring is it when the first part ends? Minimal, Lisbeth who is now wanted for the murders of Dag (Hans Christian Thulin) and Mia (Jennie Silfverhjelm), enlists the help of Michael to find out who is behind the plot to frame her.

Which part is better? Part two is somewhat better as a major revelation about Lisbeth’s past revealed, which in turn unearths one of the major antagonists behind the plot to frame Lisbeth. It should be noted that the plot is shared between two films and thus is continued into the third instalment of the franchise entitled The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

Academy Awards: None