There’s no denying that Salander’s rape and her retaliation are essential plot developments that further the story and make us better understand why she is so fierce and so feral around others. This is Fincher’s grim vision, and I’d hate to see someone go in and splice up “The Departed,” “Saving Private Ryan” or “Pulp Fiction” because they show scenes that are hard for many of us to watch. But remember, you could say the same about extreme violent content in other films. It is entirely debatable whether that scene could have been shortened and accomplished the same goal.
Rape is a despicable, repugnant act of violence, and both Fincher’s film and the excellent 2009 Swedish version are right to portray it in all its horror. The question, then, is: Did the Oscar-nominated director David Fincher really need to make that attack so viciously explicit? I say yes, with qualifiers.Ĭonsidering the source material and the dark vision he and the late author Stieg Larsson have strategically set forth, that scene sticks true to the story’s disturbing themes and provides crucial insight into Salander, the film’s fascinating and whip-smart central character.ĭid it bother me - someone who’s a confirmed horror film buff? Word that “Dragon” so graphically depicts the harrowing rape of the Lisbeth Salander character (played by “The Social Network’s” Rooney Mara) has made a couple of people I know reconsider whether they’ll even see it. It also is one of the year’s better-reviewed films. It’s packaged as entertainment and is a major Hollywood release. “Hounddog,” in particular, was resoundingly panned the art-house film “Irreversible” has some supporters.)īut “Dragon” is different. (Although much was written about those films, American audiences avoided both. Rape scenes in movies, including the assault on a young girl played by Dakota Fanning in 2007’s “Hounddog” and the notorious nine-minute one in the 2002 French import “Irreversible,” set off a firestorm of controversy and outraged many. That these provocative sequences can trigger such a potent and varied response is no surprise. But it will also be viewed as necessary by others and perhaps even leave a few perplexed that someone might blast the filmmaker for having shown way too much. Commentary: Is ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ rape scene too graphic? – The Mercury NewsĪnd like many rape sequences, the one in “Dragon” - along with another violent scene depicting the savage justice the lead character Lisbeth Salander exacts on her odious attacker and an earlier one in which he demands oral sex - will surely offend some.