If Sweden until now only made you think of ABBA, Ikea, meatballs and Nokia, you're in for a surprise (and a slap upside the head -- Nokia is Finnish).
It was bound to happen. A country with a reputation for niceness surpassed perhaps only by Canada would eventually have to have its day of reckoning. And for me at least, that day came last weekend when I spent five hours watching the American then the original Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Rape. Murder. Nazis. More rape. More murders. Tattoos. Lesbianism. Incest. Pressed flowers. And another movie with Christopher Plummer. It was nearly too much to handle.
The US version of Stieg Larsson's posthumous bestseller is definitely more Hollywood and takes more shortcuts while its Swedish counterpart stays truer to the book and offers more insight into the characters' actions. Both however do a great job of keeping you squirming and on the edge of your seat.
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