FLICKAN SOM LEKTE MED ELDEN  (2009)

(The Girl Who Played with Fire)

ROLE:  Mikael Blomkvist

GENRE: Crime thriller

COUNTRY:  Sweden, Denmark, Germany & Norway

SWEDISH PREMIERE: September 18, 2009

 
Synopsis

In this sequel Lisbeth Salander leads the audience into a darker hinterland of childhood abuse and bloody revenge. When a young journalist and his researcher girlfriend offer an exposé of Eastern European sex traffickers and their high-profile clients to Millennium magazine, it is eagerly accepted by the editor, the intrepid Mikael Blomkvist. After the couple are murdered, the elusive Salander is bizarrely cited as the prime suspect, and both she and Blomkvist struggle separately to clear her name and track down the culprits. Salander goes on the run using her technological gifts, her skill at martial arts and her sheer determination to pursue her quarry. Along the way the lives of two of her closest friends are put on the line, and she has brutal encounters with Hells Angels, transgressive cops and, most memorably, a psychopath called Niedermann, who suffers from a condition called congenital analgesia that makes him impervious to pain.

 
Film Details

Michael Nyqvist - Mikael Blomkvist
Noomi Rapace - Lisbeth Salander
Lena Endre - Erika Berger
Peter Andersson - Nils Bjurman
 Michalis Koutsogiannakis - Dragan Armanskij
Annika Hallin - Annika Giannini
Mikael Spreitz - Ronald Niedermann
Jacob Ericksson - Crister Malm

* * * * *

Director -  Daniel Alfredsson
Screenplay - Jonas Frykberg
Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
Cinematography - Peter Mokronsinski
Music - Jacob Groth

* * * * *

 129 minutes

 
From Michael:

"Stieg Larsson’s project was to show that society is a society that judges women, men, history in a way that we can do something about. He tried to encourage people to feel that you had the power to change things. You can change a society with a pen and paper and a cell phone if you have the power to ask the right questions of the right people."

Production Photos

 
Publicity Stills
 
Premiere & Promotional Photos


Stockholm Photo call & Premiere - September 14, 2009

 
 


Italy Premiere - Rome - Photo Shoot - September 18, 2009

 
 
Commentary

"The sequel doesn’t quite have the freshness of the first film, but it still proceeds at a cracking pace, with the rather lurid plot kept aloft by the winning pairing of Rapace’s desperate, dark-eyed intensity with Nyqvist’s slyness and solidity. This film trawls the dark side of humanity for its kicks and unveils its findings with visceral conviction, enough to hold one jumpy and bug-eyed – if in a faintly uncomfortable state of grubby voyeurism – throughout."   ...Philip French, The Guardian

"Relentless suspense allows The Girl Who Played With Fire to hold you in a viselike grip. But it's the performances of Nyqvist and especially Rapace that keep you coming back for more."  ...Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"The franchise's secret weapon is back with brilliant young Swedish actress Noomi Rapace again channeling the alienated, unwilling to be broken tough chick that Larsson envisioned and Rapace imbues with such eerie authenticity. Veteran actor Michael Nyqvist returns too as the serious, and seriously sensual journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, who continues to be as intrigued by the enigmatic Lisbeth as the rest of us."  ...Betsy Sharkey, LA Times

"The twists and turns of The Girl Who Played with Fire turn out to be rewarding, especially for fans of the series, largely due to the spell already cast by the terrific Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, the punk computer hacker who bedded, befriended and helped journalist Mikael Blomkvist (unsung hero Michael Nyqvist, who is also well cast) track down a killer."   ...Connie Ogle, The Miami Herald

"What’s missing from this film is the great interaction between Blomkvist and Salander. I realize that screenwriter Jonas Frykberg has to remain faithful to Stieg Larsson’s novel but it’s disappointing that they spend so little time together in this film... There are plenty of characters involved and you’ll be cheering for Blomkvist as he fits the pieces of the puzzle together. He’s such a likeable hero with his mild-mannered demeanour."  ...Michael Toomey, ABC Radio

"Blomkvist doesn’t have a heck of a lot to do in this installment. He’s mostly just around for exposition, but Nyqvist is good as always. His relationship with his editor, Erica Berger, only hinted at in the last film, is restored here giving Blomkvist a little depth he was missing in the first installment. I also thought his final, climactic scene with Rapace was beautifully acted on both their parts, which makes me wish Larsson hadn't separated the two characters for so much of the second and third books. Their chemistry is perfect."  ...Chris Bumbray, Joblo.com

"The appeal of The Girl Who Played With Fire is simple. It's watching the superhumanly resilient bisexual computer hacker, played by Noomi Rapace, Taser a would-be rapist in the groin and scoot off on her motorcycle. This is how avenging angels roll in Stockholm. They avenge, they investigate dark deeds of the past, they brood, they download documents, then smoke, then brood, then drink coffee and then light up again... Rapace and Nyqvist could not be better."   ...Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Aiding the heroine without actually being in her presence is Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), the stolid star reporter for Millennium magazine whose life was saved by Lisbeth in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Their relationship remains the most interesting aspect of these stories, a romance of mutual respect and unspoken affection in which the two parties hardly ever share screen time, let alone a bed at least in this sequel."   ...Ty Burr, Boston Globe

"While it’s easy to get upstaged by Rapace, Nyqvist is also terrific. With his disheveled hair and firm manner (you get the feeling he’s glued to his laptop when he’s not researching his stories), his Mikael is as obsessive and unrelenting as Lisbeth, so it’s easy to see why the two might get along, even if they weren’t constantly saving each other’s necks."   ...Dan Lybarger, Kansas City News

"Rapace is simply sensational as the chain-smoking, petite brunette with tattoos, a dark past and grim determination, while charismatic Nyqvist counters the balance beautifully. It's a complex story filled with tension, action and mental gymnastics. All the cast is excellent with Micke Spreitz memorable as Niedermann, the imposing blond wrestler who feels no pain."   ...Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile

"But what makes the film gripping is the way it closes in so tightly around the two central characters, and since they're apart for most of the film Nyqvist and Rapace get the chance to develop them a little deeper. Intriguingly, even though they're physically separated, they are actually working together all the way through the story, and even without sharing scenes they have palpable chemistry."  ...Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

"Rapace does full justice to the character, though she is better looking and not nearly as skinny as Lisbeth is described in the books. Her eyes brim with cold hatred when an adversary approaches, and her lithe moments are like a big cat's when intent on a kill...  Nyqvist is stolid and workmanlike in his approach to Mikael. The movies don't quite replicate to the character's fierce intelligence, but they do get his doggedness and kindness."   ...Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter

"Millennium II is as enthralling a crime thriller as you'll see all year. And whoever they cast in the English language remakes will have a mountain to climb.  Because whether she's bringing bad guys to their knees or dragging herself back from the dead, Rapace commands the screen as the strangest heroine in popular culture. And once again, Nyqvist does brilliantly just to keep up." ...Elliott Noble, Sky Movies

"Noomi Rapace has a striking presence as Lisbeth and Nyqvist is superb as Blomkvist, but they aren't allowed to build on the chemistry they shared in the first film, thanks to the curious decision to keep the characters apart for almost the entire running time."  ...Matthew Turner, View London

"Noomi Rapace suffers more on screen indignity than most actresses do in a whole career, and yet because she is slight and says so little, we are surprised at the strength of her emotions and her physical agility. Her Lisbeth Salander is alone in the world except for that deeply honest connection with Mikael Blomkvist. Beware, Hollywood, when casting those two parts that seem wholly owned by Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist. There's little room for improvement."   ...Joan Ellis, Movie Reviews

"The Girl Who Played With Fire is very good, but a step down from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, if only because that film and its casting were so fresh and unexpected. A thriller is incomparably more arresting when it involves plausible people doing plausible things, rather than archetypes co-starring with animation."  ...Film critic Roger Ebert