David Fincher is no stranger to pressure. He had a baptism by fire making his directorial debut with “Alien 3” (1992), having to fill the intimidating shoes of Ridley Scott and James Cameron. And now he is back in familiar territory, helming the English version of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, the first novel in the Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson's hugely-popular Millennium Trilogy. The no-holds-barred crime saga nudged Lisbeth Salander, the tattooed and pierced bisexual hacker, into the mainstream, transforming her from a fringe person to a cultural icon.
While it is bad enough having to translate a well-loved novel on screen, Fincher also has to contend with the fans of the Swedish film directed by Niels Arden Oplev with Noomi Rapace playing Lisbeth.
Living with pressure
“Everyone talks of pressure,” David Fincher said in London. “There are different kinds of pressure. I am not immune, but if that's what you do, then it shouldn't be so much of an issue. I believe if you give the same script to two different directors, you will get two different films. It is not a step forward or backwards, I would think of it as a giant step sideways. It is not exactly what you are doing but how you do it and who gets you there.”
Screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who won an Oscar for “Schindler's List”, says he didn't watch the 2009 Swedish film. “I approached ‘Dragon Tattoo' as a fresh adaptation. Turning the 550-page tome into a 150-page script was not really a challenge because even as I was reading the novel, I was adapting it in my head. I was working out how complicated the family needed to be. The challenge was presenting the clues in a visual way.”
Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard, who plays Martin Vanger, the CEO of the troubled Vanger Corporation, goes a step further and admits not to have read the book. “I am doing the movie, not the book! I didn't think I needed to read it. Just to be sure, I asked Fincher if I should read the book and he said I needn't. It is not useful to compare the two movies.”
Fincher says he decided to make the film because “I liked both the characters. ‘Seven' was a horror movie dressed to look like a procedural. ‘The Social Network' is a coming of age film. I am not interested in procedurals. In ‘Dragon Tattoo', the background is a thriller but in the foreground is this man, this girl, and their relationship. It is an interesting genre film.”
The characters drew Zaillian to the story as well. Of Lisbeth, he says: “She appealed to me. She was vulnerable and tough with her own code of ethics. She is a modern take on the film noire character. Blomkvist is interesting. He is a flawed philanderer. He plays by the rules, which is a flaw in these times.”
Casting coup
Casting is critical for the success of a film and “Dragon Tattoo” was in the news for the longest time for its casting choices. Daniel Craig plays the disgraced financial journalist Blomkvist and Rooney Mara was picked from zillion others to play Lisbeth.
Talking about casting Craig, Fincher says: “He was the perfect choice to play Blomkvist. I knew him socially. He is masculine and an incredibly good listener. He is in a relationship with so many women and has to be a good listener. Also he has to have this self-deprecating sense of humour, the ability to go yes, I made a mistake.”
And the big one — casting Rooney as the eponymous Girl, Fincher says: “Part of casting a film is getting someone to solve your problems. In ‘Social Network', I needed someone who was verbal, mature and feminine and Rooney delivered as Erica Albright. In ‘Dragon Tattoo', I needed someone who was the exact opposite and she pulled it off.”
Considerable thought went into Rooney's look. “I am tired of beautiful people!” Fincher exclaims. “The trap would have been turning Lisbeth into a 4' 10” terminator, a superhero. Once Rooney was cast, I asked her to learn to skateboard because people who skateboard stand differently. I wanted that awkward, coltish grace for Lisbeth.”
About the long audition process, Fincher says: “there was an equally long process to cast Zuckerberg, but it is more interesting to have tattooed girls auditioning!”
Sound of music
Trent Reznor, the beginning and end of the multi-platinum act, Nine Inch Nails, has scored for the film in collaboration with Atticus Ross. The two also collaborated on Fincher's last film “The Social Network”, which won them an Oscar and Golden Globe. The score grabs you right from the incendiary title sequence set to a mind-altering remix of Led Zeppelin's “Immigrant Song”.
Fincher says: “Everyday, as I drove to work, Trent would send me snatches of music which I would listen to on my iPod and think ‘this sounds like crystal, like Salander, like a heartbeat...' I prefer to work with music emotionally. You cannot over-think it. There is more music in ‘Dragon Tattoo' than in any of my previous films. It underscores the sinister workings in the film.”
Both Fincher and Zaillian were very sure that the movie should be set in Sweden. “‘Dragon Tattoo' is very specifically Swedish,” says Fincher. Stellan was happy to shoot in Sweden. “It was nice working in Sweden. I could sleep in my own bed! It was interesting to see the interaction between two different work cultures. In Sweden, nothing is hierarchical. No one will take an order without knowing why.”
Fincher seems to be the director who enjoys playing with fire. “I would want Larssen to be proud of the film,” Fincher says. “But we'll never know.” A hornet's nest is sure to be kicked on January 6, when the film will be released here.
Bonding with Blomkvist
The hardest thing about acting is not acting, says Daniel Craig.
Daniel Craig comes into the interview looking like a million bucks. In a grey sweatshirt that does not hide his muscles and dark blue jeans, he doesn’t show any signs of exhaustion in spite of shooting through the night for the new James Bond movie, “Skyfall”. “They pay me good money to look like Bond,” he says with a grin that sets off a distracting twinkle in his icy blue eyes.
Talking of preparing for the role, Craig comments, “The tough part was the timing. When I came into the film, I was really skinny. David (Fincher) told me to put on weight. So I ate all the chocolate in the fridge and drank lots of wine. And then I had 16 weeks to get the weight off before I started to shoot for Bond.”
Craig was attracted to the project because it was a chance to work with Fincher, who, he believes, “is the closest thing to Hitchcock in the present day.” Describing his character, Blomkvist, as “an idealistic but misguided journalist,” Craig says Blomkvist is not a hero. “Heroism in movies is propaganda. To be heroic is scary.”
“Dragon Tattoo” sees a reversal of roles for Craig, with him being the damsel in distress and Lisbeth rescuing him. “I loved every second of it,” he declares. “The torture scene was quite easy. Yes, that was me hanging there and I would still be hanging there, smelling a bit if I had not been cut down!”
When asked about the pressure of bringing iconic characters such as James Bond and Mikael Blomkvist to life, Craig revealed, “there is no pressure when you are working with such a talented team.”
Fincher is known for insisting on many takes but Craig has no problem with that. “What else am I here to do?” he demands. “There is no real key for acting, the hardest thing about acting is not acting, you know what I mean?”
Like the libidinous Bond, Blomkvist is quite the love machine. “He does not sleep with as many women as he does in the book,” Craig says with a naughty smile. “If he did, ‘Dragon Tattoo’ would have been a different kind of Swedish film!”
Behind the armour
She is drawn to dark and complex characters, says Rooney Mara.
Rooney Mara looked every bit the proper miss as she settled in a sofa for a quick chat. It was difficult to reconcile the pretty, demure Rooney with her tattooed and pierced avatar on screen as Lisbeth Salander. “Lisbeth’s look is her armour,” she says with a soft smile. “The film takes place over a year and Lisbeth’s look is very fluid — there is the prickly Mohawk as well as the softer, lived-in look. The look was a collaborative effort. A host of emails went back and forth between David and Trish (Summerville, designer) on every aspect right down to the dragon tattoo.” As Lisbeth, Rooney has many piercings including on her eyebrows, nose, lips and nipple. While admitting that stepping into the role Noomi Rapace devoured in the Swedish film was daunting, Rooney says she dealt with the pressure of audience expectation “by not thinking too deeply about it.”
For that authentic feel
One of the pitfalls of playing such a strong character is the danger of getting pigeon holed. “David and I discussed that in detail, but I think the character does not limit me.” The 26-year-old says she did a lot of research for the part and learnt to ride a motorcycle, kickboxing and taking a computer apart. “I am pretty computer savvy,” she said. “But obviously I am not as good as Lisbeth is.”
Saying she was drawn to “complex and dark characters,” Rooney said: “Lisbeth is not a feminist, she lives by her own moral code. Though I would not describe ‘Dragon Tattoo’ as a feminist film, feminists may react to the film.”
Of the violent assault scenes in the movie, Rooney says: “One cannot prepare for violence or nudity. The rape scene was difficult but I didn’t feel exploited.”
Fincher asked Rooney to stay in Stockholm to experience Lisbeth’s life. “‘Dragon Tattoo’ is very Swedish. Lisbeth works in Sweden; transplant her to the States and the character will not work.” Rooney said of her co-star Daniel Craig, “he is fantastic, wildly talented and generous with an incredible sense of humour.”
The writer was in London at the invitation of Sony Pictures.
