David Fincher's 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Review

Last week I finally got the chance to go on Netflix and watch David Fincher’s ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’. I had high expectations going in not only because Fincher is one of the best directors to date, but also because of the cult following I hear about from film buffs online. Right away the standout elements of the film were cinematography and editing. The high quality of these elements maintained throughout the film and I wasn’t surprised to find out that it received the Oscar for Best Film Editing and a nomination for Best Cinematography among both ‘Hugo’ and ‘The Tree of Life’. Although the production of the film was what got me so invested, it was the story, or rather the story structure, that I found myself thinking about the most. While the average Hollywood movie has three main acts and one main character, this film didn’t follow that classic formula. The two main characters don’t even meet until halfway through the runtime, and once they do it isn’t far from the climax. Once we spend individual time with first Mikael and then Lisbeth, it is time for them to start getting work done on solving the murder of Harriet Vanger. This happens relatively easily with the mystery nearly solving itself, and an extra 30 plus minutes of runtime follows. Once we get past what is typically the resolution of the average movie, we spend an extra amount of time focusing on the main characters that solved the case. During this time, there not only seems to be a massive tonal shift but it also doesn’t seem to have any kind of real purpose to the greater story. It simply tells its own story about what happens to the two protagonists after they are done with their job. It was nice to see the new way to tell a story that seemed to have five acts.

I watched a video essay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYMhaILOs-I) about the video that went into greater depth about the structural makeup of the film. The way they give insight into the five acts of the film makes me question why the classic three act movie is never tampered with. Lisbeth's story is one that I'd love to see continue, but Fincher dropped the idea of making this film the first piece of a trilogy. In one way it is a shame, because this was such an inventive film in so many ways, but I think this is a satisfying piece of art on it's own. The last shot gave me chills, and it's not like that never happens, but it's definitely rare. It was definitely what I would consider to be a sublime artifact if I have ever seen one. The fact that Fincher was able to make a complex and fulfilling narrative about a relationship in a movie that spends it's first two thirds as a thriller, goes to show just how talented he is. I'm not exactly sure which characters would've been revisited if the movie ended up being one in a grander picture, but the ending was still thought provoking to me.

To give my own opinion on Fincher's overall work, I'll say that 'The Social Network' is definitely my favorite. After that, it is very hard to come up with a definitive ranking because they are all so solid. He is definitely one of the most talented filmmakers of his generation, but sometimes the writing in his movies lacks, because there can be a disconnect when the Director didn't actually write the screenplay. 'The Social Network', however, has one of the best screenplays of all time, so it isn't surprising that it feels grander in a sense. 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', 'Se7en', 'Gone Girl' and 'Fight Club' all have very solid writing too overall, so those would probably be the other four in my top five in no particular order. His talent, along with his undeniable strive for perfection, makes him produce some of the most solid work of this generation.