Film Adaptations Of Stieg Larsson s Man - 1096 Words

In both film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s MÃ ¤n Som Hatar Kvinnor (Men Who Hate Women), the 2009 Swedish film directed by Niels Arden Oplev , and the 2011 American version, renamed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , directed by David Fincher, the two principle characters only meet halfway through the film. For a significant portion of the movie, they interact only by spying on each other. As a film that addresses differences between male and female interactions, the presence of a male or female protagonist is important for the viewer’s understanding. Though almost equal presences on screen, the perspectives from which the film is told vary between the two adaptations. The notion of perspective is shown clearly in a revenge scene in the beginning of the film. As the scene begins, Lisbeth Salander, the main female character in both films, has secretly recorded her rape at the hands of her guardian, Bjurman. She goes to his apartment and ties him up before assaulting him in revenge. After doing this, she shows him the video that she had secretly recorded of her assault during the previous visit. The two scenes of Bjurman watching her video differ between the American and Swedish films. In Oplev’s film, the video is presented from Salander’s perspective. The viewer sees Bjurman opening the door from Salander’s perspective as she faces him but the frame is shortened so his head is not visible. Oplev pans down from the video screen to Salander’s head as she talks to Bjurman. He