If you’re like me, you weren’t aware that a Swedish author named Stieg Larsson had penned a trilogy of books which he calls the Milennium trilogy.  After some difficulty in getting the books published (Larsson started writing in 1997), he succeeded in 2004.  Since then, the books have been an international craze that many (including myself) may have missed.  The first of the trilogy, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is now a motion picture of such raw fury, vengeance that it will leave you reeling.

At the center of the book/film is Lisbeth Salander (the title character), a goth computer hacker whose actions speak louder than her words.  Lisbeth is a woman of action, a graduate summa cum laude of the school of hard knocks, a force not to be trifled with.  Larsson has reported that his invention of this dynamic character was actually a result of imagining how a grown-up Pippi Longstocking (a dysfunctional girl, with attention deficit disorder) might cope in the adult world.  Lisbeth, like Pippi, has a hard time finding a functional role in “normal society,” but through the mystery of this film’s story, the stars align perfectly and allow her a moment of precise purpose.

American production companies, thinking American audiences too stupid to appreciate the original Swedish production of the film, jumped immediately on board to re-make the film.  Scheduled for a 2012 release, David Fincher (Seven, The Game, Fight Club) will direct, with Daniel Craig playing Blomkvist, and Carey Muligan rumored to be playing the Oscar-likely role of Lisbeth.  Despite the grit of his early films, it’s unlikely that Fincher will go as dark as needed with his re-telling, given his less-than-stellar performance on his films in the last decade (Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).  Even if Fincher is willing to enter the depths that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo requires, it’s unlikely that its producers will allow it; there are some grisly scenes in here that don’t align with the Hollywood hodge-podge American audiences are used to being spoonfed by the industry machine.

Niels Arden Oplev’s direction of the Swedish film requires no re-make; it is tight in all aspects.  The casting of Michael Nyqvist and Noomi Rapace is pitch perfect; their performances are spot-on, and their chemistry is both unlikely and dynamic.  The screenplay adaptation, by Nikolaj Arcel & Rasmus Heisterberg, is wound like an exhilarating coaster of twists and turns, none of which feels divisive or manipulative.  The film explores not only the mystery and romance at its core, but makes some bold comments on male perceptions of female sexuality, and feminine reaction to these modes of perception, in the modern world.

Don’t settle for the American re-make in two years.  This is the original, and it’s in no need of improvement.  This is mystery at its best.