The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (film)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (Swedish: Luftslottet som sprängdes) is a 2009 Swedish drama thriller film directed by Daniel Alfredson. It is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by the late Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson, the third and final entry in his Millenium series. The film was also the last film for veteran actor Per Oscarsson, who died in a house fire on 31 December 2010.

Plot

The film begins at the conclusion of the The Girl Who Played with Fire. Salander is airlifted to a hospital in Gothenburg, to recover from gunshot wounds inflicted by her father, Zala. She is cared for by Dr. Anders Jonasson, who prevents anyone except Annika Giannini, her lawyer, from visiting.

At the same time Evert Gullberg and Fredrik Clinton, old colleagues from the "Section", a group within the Swedish Security Service, reconnect and decide that they must silence Zalachenko and Salander to preserve cold war secrets. Zalachenko is still alive, in a hospital room down the hall from Salander. Gullberg arrives at the hospital at the same time as Giannini, proceeds to Zalachenko's room, and shoots him dead. Giannini saves Salander by barricading the door to Salander's room. Gullberg, unable to reach Salander, shoots himself. Clinton visits psychiatrist Dr. Peter Teleborian, and explains his plan to silence Salander by having her committed to St. Stephen's mental hospital again. Dr. Teleborian tries to meet with Salander to conduct a psychological evaluation but is obstructed by her doctor, Dr. Jonasson.

Blomkvist persuades Dr. Jonasson to sneak an internet phone into Salander's room, whereupon Salander immediately contacts her fellow hacker, Plague, to see if he can find something on Dr. Teleborian. She then tells Blomkvist that Giannini has permission to use a video showing Nils Bjurman in the act of raping her. Bjurman was her state-appointed guardian and one of the people she is accused of murdering. Blomkvist compels a civil servant, Bertil Janeryd, to reveal that Gullberg and Rottinger had visited the Prime Minister years ago to urge a cover-up of the Zalachenko affair.

Salander starts working on an autobiography to document her actions and motives from childhood to the present. She continues to have nightmares of memories about her time at St. Stephen's, her father and half-brother, and of her two-hour ordeal with Bjurman. Blomkvist continues to pursue Dr. Teleborian with Christer's help. Salander finishes her autobiography and e-mails it to Blomkvist, and Dr. Jonasson informs Lisbeth she cannot remain at the hospital but must be transferred to prison in a couple of days. He is surprised that she is not worried about the trial.

Niedermann, who previously tried to kill Salander's lover Miriam, has remained a fugitive, wanted for killing a police officer. Sonny, of the outlaw motorcycle gang from the previous film, is informed that he was searched, but found clean, and that his friend had sent Niedermann to hide out in his home. There, he finds his brother dead and his girlfriend tied, gagged, and apparently assaulted. She tells him that Niedermann was the culprit, and Sonny vows revenge. Clinton, in dialysis, is given a copy of Salander's autobiography, and is told that none of it can be proven. Meanwhile, Berger has been receiving anonymous e-mail threats, which causes an uproar in the office. In prison, Salander is interrogated by the prosecutor but says nothing. Giannini is later given Salander's computer and the DVD of her sexual abuse. Niedermann breaks into an abandoned warehouse and kills a bicyclist who happens to be there having his lunch. Dr. Teleborian finally meets with Salander, who again remains silent.

At night, Berger's bedroom window is smashed, and in desperation she calls Milton Security. Thanks to surveillance by Milton Security, Blomkvist learns that someone that night broke into his apartment and planted cocaine and cash there. He concludes that the Section are trying to frame him, since they cannot hurt the Millennium magazine itself. Blomkvist decides to meet Berger at a restaurant named "Samir's Gryta". The police try to warn Berger of an attempt to kill them there, and Blomkvist fends off the assault as the police rush to the restaurant. The Section becomes dismayed upon learning of the failed attempt.

On the day of her murder trial, Salander finally sheds her hospital-patient persona and enters court with piercings, a mohawk hairstyle, black makeup, and expensive black leather clothing. Called as an expert witness for the prosecution, Dr. Teleborian characterizes Salander's autobiography as merely the product of her paranoid delusions. Giannini gradually demolishes Dr. Teleborian's credibility, using Salander's words and files from the hospital. She shows the video proving Bjurman raped Salander.

As Giannini presents her case, the police arrest the people involved with the Section and seize their place of operation. Called to the stand, Blomkvist shows that Dr. Teleborian had written his final psychiatric evaluation of Salander after being denied access by her doctor. Then Giannini calls Edklinth to the stand, and he states that the opinions were formulated in cooperation with Jonas Sandberg, using his computer as proof. Dr. Teleborian is left speechless. Edklinth tells Dr. Teleborian he is to be arrested on charges of possessing over 8,000 items of child pornography (which Plague had discovered after hacking into his laptop), and his computer is seized as evidence. After Dr. Teleborian is arrested, the court rules that there is no further need for Salander to be held in police custody.

The Millennium workers celebrate their victory, as Erika returns and reconciles with Mikael. Salander is encouraged by Giannini to check the property she has inherited from Zala and discovers the warehouse where Niedermann was hiding. Niedermann attempts to trap her there and kill her, but she is too fast and clever for that. She ambushes him with a nail gun and attaches Niedermann's feet to the wooden platform on which he is standing. His inability to feel pain finally works against him. By the time he realizes what is happening, it is too late for him to escape. She considers nailing him in the head but instead phones Sonny and tells the bikers where to find him. Then she calls the police.

Salander returns home, and Blomkvist briefly visits to tell her that the motorcycle gang killed Niedermann and were arrested at the warehouse afterwards. Lisbeth and Mikael have a brief conversation that might or might not be a prelude to a further relationship.

Cast

Cover of UK DVD, 2010, showing strong branding with the 'girl with the dragon tattoo' theme.

• Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander
  • Tehilla Blad as young Lisbeth Salander
• Michael Nyqvist as Mikael Blomkvist
• Lena Endre as Erika Berger, editor of Millennium
• Annika Hallin as Annika Giannini, a lawyer and sister of Mikael Blomkvist
• Sofia Ledarp as Malin Eriksson
• Jacob Ericksson as Christer Malm, photographer of Millennium
• Georgi Staykov as Alexander Zalachenko ("Zala")
• Aksel Morisse as Dr. Jonasson
• Niklas Hjulström as Prosecutor Ekström
• Micke Spreitz as Ronald Niedermann
• Anders Ahlbom as Dr. Peter Teleborian
• Hans Alfredson as Evert Gullberg, former head of "The Section"
• Lennart Hjulström as Fredrik Clinton, former head of "The Section" after Gullberg
• Carl-Åke Eriksson as Bertil Janeryd
• Per Oscarsson as Holger Palmgren
• Michalis Koutsogiannakis as Dragan
• Mirja Turestedt as Monica Figuerola
• Johan Kylén as Police Inspector Jan Bublanski

Release

The film was released in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark on 29 November 2009, and in Finland and Iceland in January 2010.^[2] The film was subsequently released in other European countries throughout the spring and summer of 2010. The film opened the Scottsdale (Arizona) International Film Festival on 1 October 2010,^[3] and was screened on 13 October 2010 at the Mill Valley (California) Film Festival;^[4] the film then had a limited release in United States and Canadian theaters beginning 29 October 2010.^[2]

Reception

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 53% based on 125 reviews, with an average score of 5.8/10, the consensus being, "Slow and mostly devoid of the stellar chemistry between its two leads, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is a disappointingly uneven conclusion to the Millennium trilogy."^[5]

Despite the low rating, the film did receive positive reviews from such noteworthy critics as Peter Travers, James Berardinelli, and Roger Ebert,^[6] who gave the film three out of four stars, stating, "These are all very well-made films. Like most European films, they have adults who are grown-ups, not arrested adolescents. Mikael and Erika, his boss and lover, have earned the lines in their faces, and don't act like reckless action heroes. They make their danger feel so real to us that we realize the heroes of many action movies don't really believe they're in any danger at all."^[7]

Reviewing the original Swedish version in national daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Jan Söderqvist is dismissive of the thin plot: his article is titled 'No, it doesn't last the distance', and laments that "the whole responsibility for carrying this grandiose production rests on Lisbeth Salander's slender shoulders".^[8] But Söderqvist remains enthusiastic about Rapace and her character, Lisbeth Salander: "Salander is, on the other hand, undeniably an original and fascinating character, full of possibilities and secrets, and if Noomi Rapace builds an international acting career on these three films I have nothing to say against it."^[8] Söderqvist continues: "There is an enticing darkness in her glance and a brittle hardness about her defences that more than matches her tattoos."^[8]

Maaret Koskinen, reviewing the film in Sweden's national daily Dagens Nyheter, found it a pity "that the subsequent Millennium films dribble away a given golden opportunity" and "devalue an unprecedented accumulation of popular cultural capital".^[9] All that remains in the third section, writes Koskinen, is a skeleton (of the book's power). Besides, she notes, "one sees Noomi Rapace far too little."^[9]

See also

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (original Swedish version)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (American remake)
• The Girl Who Played with Fire

References

External links

• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest at the Internet Movie Database
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest at the Swedish Film Institute Database
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest at Box Office Mojo
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest at Rotten Tomatoes