In an interview with E!, Channing Tatum says that when he was working with Rooney Mara on The Bitter Pill that he was terrified of her. "She's the most mousy and terrifying person I've ever met." I could see that. If you watched Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and then had to work with her right after, I would be scared too. I think it is too bad that the Swedish version came out first because then Rooney would have had more notice paid to her transformation. Noomi Rapace was great too, but Rooney's performance kind of got lost in the shuffle and when you see her now it is like that movie really did change her. When you look at her now it is like she has taken that character and kind of melded her into her own life. I don't know if it is because she has had to keep some of the body transformations for the sequel or what, but she has definitely changed.
Yeah the Swedish version blew the American one out the water.
ReplyDeleteUhhhhh...people wouldn't shut up about Rooney Mara. I think the original is better.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame him!
ReplyDeleteDitto! Noomi Rapace was awesome.
ReplyDeleteyes, naomi was brilliant beyond belief. I won't see the american version either. it would spoil the original for me. no doubt rooney copied naomi.
ReplyDeleterooney mara is just a bratty rich girl. seriously, who cares if she is 'moody.' she has probably always been moody in that spoiled "I never had to do any actual work" bratty kind of way. I have zero interest in her, if it weren't for her ultra rich daddy, she never would have the opportunity to be an actress.
Both films are good, but the Swedish film is much better. The American film also reintroduced a minor book subplot involving the stray cat, which I thought in any context was unnecessarily gratuitous. The Swedish film smartly ignored that, and on that alone makes it the better film.
ReplyDeleteIn Sweden we're so proud of Noomi! How has she been received in Hollywood? Do people like her?
ReplyDeleteI think in general Noomi is very well received here in the states. We don't know her from many roles besides this one, and the consensus is split on the better actress.
DeleteNoomi has an upcoming role in Prometheus, which will be a huge hit. My boyfriend has seriously been talking about this shit for a year. If they pull it off, its an instant nerd classic since it's part of the Alien franchise, although we know there won't be recurring roles since clearly the characters will all die! Haha. It will raise her profile here though.
I wonder if her transformation had more to do with an identity crisis or trying to become something that doesn't exist in Hollywood right now........ not that I'm saying she's succeeding, exactly, because it does seem pretty calculated at times, but I agree, I think she's changed significantly. I also think her performance was woefully forgotten - people crapped their pants in the beginning, then just stopped talking about it after she didn't win the Oscar, which nobody ever thought she would wrestle away from Streep anyway. So what was the point of building the poor thing up so much? I for one thought her performance was incredible, I was riveted and thoroughly impressed, though I've been less impressed with her sound bytes since.
ReplyDeleteDid she really pierce her nipple just for a movie part? And what sequel? I read that because the 1st one lost so much money they weren't gonna bother with sequels.
ReplyDeleteI think Noomi's most watched role in the US was in the latest Sherlock Holmes movie. She's not a household name yet.
ReplyDeleteBitter, people that know movies seem to like her. She's not a huge star in the US yet. Prometheus might change all that. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the original film trilogy...
ReplyDeleteI don't care for Rooney...
Noomi was wonderful in the trilogy. Thank god Netflix has them, I've watched them a few times. I hope she gets more Hollywood roles because she's good, but I've only seen her in the Dragon Tattoo films.
ReplyDeleteEventually I'll see the Hwood Dragon Tattoo, but I'm not in any rush. Can't imagine Rooney could have been better than Noomi - she was perfect.
I never bothered with the books or the films. My sainted mother slogged through a bunch of them and said they were pretty much the same: men are filthy rapists, people are broken, everything sucks, life is horror, etc. We're Norwegians, so we already know this! Why have a Swede tell me things I already known. But the cultural phenomenon intrigues me. People have an infinite appetite for watching women be bound up and savaged, as long as they're "damaged" afterward in a popculturally hip way.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Noomi at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised Rooney changed - it sounds like Fincher seriously fucked with her mind.
I think that the only reason Channing Tatum was given a career by the gods was so that we could be given Magic Mike and Matt Boner as a stripper. Would it be too weird if I saw that movie 3 or 4 times a day while it's out in the theaters? ;)
I thought her performance was solid. However, I also prefered the original. There was a vulnerability that Rooney brought that was a little startling. The original didn't have that, but her strength was much more believable to me. I liked the inclusion of the cat, it made sense to me and spoke volums abut his character without a ton of back story no one would have had the patience to see. Finally, I can see playing that character changing a more timid person.
ReplyDeleteSo, I saw the Swedish trilogy and loved it! I didn't want to see the American version, but then my sister convinced me to.
ReplyDeleteThe American movie was really really good - maybe even better in some ways than the Swedish version.
And about Rooney's performance, it was haunting and perfect.
But it appears my opinion is not very popular. :)
Oh, and I'm just going to put this out there: the original films were nice for what they were, but also not as good as they could have been. I thought Fincher's adaptation was better, if only because the budget was bigger. Some films benefit from a smaller budget (Juno, Napoleon Dynamite), some from a bigger one. Also, Stellan Skarsgard creeped me the fuck out, so he gained points for the newer version. And while I appreciated Noommi's performance, I genuinely did, I found Mara's better. She was a much closer representation of the Lisbeth I imagined.
ReplyDeletebarton fink, if you didn't see the movies or read the books, then you don't really have a basis for your opinion about people and their desire to watch women be savaged, yadda yadda.
ReplyDeleteI loved the books....loved them, and that's why I was so excited about the films...
ReplyDeleteI just wonder how many people got Netfilx vs. the American movies, I can't believe they're going ahead with the second film.
annabella, I hate to get involved, but an opinion on a topic as broad as violence/victimization of women in media is not negated by simply refusing to watch/read a certain series. These books and films are by no means the only example of said violence/victimization, and you know it. Don't get your panties in a bunch over something so silly. It's the internet, where everyone has an opinion on everything.
ReplyDelete"Why have a Swede tell me things I already known"
ReplyDelete'Cause everything sounds better in a Swedish accent!
@Em Cue Em - I agree - the Lizbeth I imagined in the books was better represented by Rooney. But that's just how I imagined her.
ReplyDeleteHa! I call the books crack reading, loved Noomi in the first, haven't seen any of the others. There's a number of things the Swedish version does well, one of them being all the characters looked like real people, as opposed to Hollywood. I liked that.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing Finch's version, the SO says Rooney is also great - he's seen both and says they are very different, but both good.
I agree that Finch did a number on her head, a vulnerable young woman in an intense psychological role played by a director is a definite mind f---. Now it depends whether she can find herself again.
I've read the trilogy, but have not watched any of the movies yet. I definetly have them on my list. Hopefully I'll get to them soon. My mom and sister saw both and liked both, but prefered the orignial slightly.
ReplyDeleteI've read alot of interviews with Rooney since the filming and she absolutely is fucked up from it. If she does the other 2, God only knows how she'll end up.
@Maja: ...and sexier!
ReplyDeletei saw the 2 versions and i prefer Noomi Rapace's Lisbeth because the swedish Lisbeth is NOT a victim.
ReplyDeleteIn the Fincher movie,Lisbeth is a victim of men and and even if the Fincher movie is better made(more money),it is too clean and doesn't bring of new in comparison with the swedish movies so for me,the Fincher movie is useless
It's only 2 different views of the same character (like Nicholson's Joker and Ledger's Joker)
I watched the Swedish version on PPV. I really like Fincher, but I kind of boycotted this one b/c it had just been made and I like subtitles fine.
ReplyDeleteBitterBlondin--I just got my answer that you're Swedish. I speak a little German. Oh, well. Welcome---And Noomi is really well-liked here, especially by other women. Everyone has a 'girl crush' on her. Not only is she a real actress, she's also got a real face and a real body (no implants). And she chooses interesting, hard work for herself. I think she's becoming a very big star in Hollywood, along the lines of Sigourney Weaver (despite the Alien connection). Like Sigourney, Noomi is a smart, strong, role-model type, who can kick your ass and still look sexy as hell. She seems the kind of woman you wish you could be. I see this kind of praise for her all over the internet. I hope that answers your question.
Huge fan of the original, and best version of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, and honestly, Noomi was amazing, if anything, Mara emulated her, and practically memorized her performance, lets not forget that. Mara's performance was secondary on more levels than one. Noomi Rapace provided the groundwork for Mara's performance.
ReplyDeleteNoomi's performance set the standard. I couldn't bother myself watching a pale americanized version of it. What was the last great movie made in the USA?
ReplyDeleteI have read all the books, and have seen the three Euro movies, and I usually think the 'Merican remakes are shit, but I have to say I LOVED the US version. I think the Euro versions are cheesy and really Miami Vice-y and they leave a lot of plot details out. I thought Noomi was great, but I really like Rooney - I feel like she really captured the social reject/anti social nature aspects of the character. And at the end, where she is heartbroken - she's terrifically sad. MMMM. my two cents.
ReplyDeleteHej BitterBlondin! *vinkar*
ReplyDeleteHi, annabella, I sat in a room while the movie played, if that counts, and I made it ten pages through a hideous translation (translated from Swedish into Translationese). Mostly, I'm intrigued by the cultural phenomenon, which like Twilight is *everywhere* and can be seen without purchasing the artifacts. But thanks for urging goodness upon me! Maybe I will read these books one day, when all the good books have been read through.
ReplyDelete"I can't believe they're going ahead with the second film."
ReplyDeleteIt's looking less and less likely that it'll ever happen.
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ReplyDeleteJust for the record.
ReplyDeleteThe films are swedish and so are the books!!!
Hollywood didn't even consider doing the movie until they saw the originals.
AND THEY CAN TOP THEM even if they give it a good try!!!!
Noomi Rapace did it first and best!
Read the book and saw both films and the American blew the other one out the water.
ReplyDeleteRooney was a spot on depiction of the character from the book. In the book you were privy to all they shades of Lisbeth's character. She did have vulnerability in the book as well as everything else you saw in the movie. Noomi's portrayal was one note. She was just angry and hard which is not the truth of the character that you get to know in that first book.
For those that don't know in Sweden the book is called Men Who Hate Women. That is the real title of the book.
i think she's trying too hard to be different. if she did not have the original to guide her, i don't think she would have done it quite as good.
ReplyDeletebut she best be careful or she'll end up like the B-lister on the casting couch rotation.
noomi did it best, in my opinion.