Girl With The Tribal Dragon Tattoo 01

I know the film has been out for over a year and the DVD for a while but I only got to watch 'The Girl With The Tribal Dragon Tattoo' - whose original and more potent title was 'Men Who Hate Women' (a far more appropriate title given the nature of the book) - the other day. Having read the Millennium Trilogy (this is part one) by Stieg Larsson last year I was always looking forward to the film versions of the books. They're made for film whether on the big or small screen (infact, I believe this film was originally a two part television film re-edited into a big screen version) as they're over the top, with plenty of puzzle solving, plot twists, melodrama, violence and filled with well drawn characters engaged in a plot that moves forward at a relentless pace. Underlying the books is of course a number of serious subjects including racism, patriarchal misogyny, sexual violence and globalization - a reminder that all is not well in social democratic Sweden, a country we often view as enlightened and liberal, a country unlike our own.

So, for those of you who haven't read the books I'm afraid you'll have to go elsewhere for a synopsis. Suffice to say that the trilogy makes for great holiday reading and if like me you're prone to reading thrillers late at night be warned; this book and its companions are pages turners and the chances of you getting much sleep are minimal.