Hollywood may have big plans for Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, but the man who directed two Swedish-language films based on the bestselling crime novels thinks Tinseltown faces a daunting task.
“I wish them luck, really,” Daniel Alfredson said during a recent telephone interview from Stockholm.
“Because they will never find a Lisbeth like we did. She’s the original. Everyone will be compared with her.”
The “original” Alfredson is referring to is Noomi Rapace, the Swedish actress who scored rave reviews for her portrayal of the androgynous, chain-smoking computer hacker Lisbeth Salander in the film version of Larsson’s first book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Now, with the Millennium trilogy atop bestseller lists, Alfredson’s The Girl Who Played With Fire hits theatres Friday. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, which he filmed immediately afterward, is due in the fall.
The Girl Who Played With Fire finds Lisbeth fleeing a murder rap, with her old friend, investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), on hand to help prove her innocence.
Rumours abound about who will take on the lead roles in the Hollywood version (Brad Pitt and Daniel Craig are among the names that have been tossed around for the Blomkvist role).
But no less an authority than Roger Ebert has said that he can’t imagine an American actress stepping into the role of Lisbeth. In his review of the Swedish-language The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (which was directed by Niels Arden Oplev), Ebert noted that the film had the “rare quality of having a heroine more fascinating than the story.”
Alfredson says Rapace was fiercely committed to the project and “took care of her character very well.”
“She was defending her character at all times. ‘Lisbeth wouldn’t do that,’ ‘Lisbeth wouldn’t do it like this’ ... or whatever. She knew her character.
“In a way you had to be very, very prepared to work with her because she always had an argument for her character.”
After a childhood filled with abuse and a stint in a mental hospital, Lisbeth exacts revenge on those who have wronged her, often in brutal fashion.
As the books have exploded in popularity, so too have theories on the origins and popularity of her character.
Larsson is not on hand to explain his brainchild (the author died suddenly in 2004 at age 50, before the trilogy was published). A friend of his, however, has suggested Lisbeth is a grown-up version of the children’s character Pippi Longstocking.
The New York Times used the waif-like but wiry character to anchor a trend piece on “the newly empowered petites,” also mentioning Anna Paquin on TV’s True Blood and Chloe Grace Moretz of the recent film Kick Ass.
Forbes Magazine called Lisbeth a “seriously violent femme” who “started a feminist franchise.”
For his part, Alfredson says his heroine simply presents an intriguing mix of characteristics.
“I think she’s balancing between a very realistic character and a sort of superhero,” he said.
“I think that’s the secret to Lisbeth. You can still feel that she’s just a girl but she has all this ... intelligence and all these things she can manage at all times. You love her because of that. That’s what I think, anyway.”
The books, of course, have become a publishing sensation, the must-read of the summer. Alfredson is grateful that the Swedish films were made before the series became such a smash.
“We were a bit lucky because we made all of these three films in a row and the success all over the world came afterwards.
“That was, sort of, a relief because ... expectations would have been so enormous. I’m happy that we did it as we did.”
The Girl Who Played With Fire opens Friday in Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary and Halifax.