Lamb

Year:  2021

Director:  Vladimar Jóhansson

Screenplay:  Sjón and Vladimar Jóhansson

Starring:  Noomi Rapace, Hilmer Snær Guðnason, Björn Hlyner Haaraldsson

Running Time:  107 minutes

Genre:  Fantasy, horror

María (Rapace) and Ingvald (Guðnason) live alone on an isolated sheep farm in Iceland.  One day they discover that one of their sheep has given birth to a strange, part-sheep part-human creature.  They name the creature Ada and raise her as if she was a human child.  However, it isn't long before their little family idyll is shattered.

This is a deeply strange slice of folk-horror, which plays like a strange fairytale.  The film has a contemporary setting, but it barely pays lip service to our modern age.  The characters wear modern clothes, they watch television, listen to the radio and have a tractor, but it really could be set at any time, with barely any change in plot.  It moves at a sedate pace, without much dialogue.  There is a lot that is suggested without being explained.  It appears that María had a child called Ada who died, whether with Ingvald or not is never revealed, and also that María had an affair with Ingvald's ne'er-do-well brother Pétur (Haraldson), although it is only hinted at when Pétur, who turns up to crash at the farm, tries to seduce her.  Ingvald never mentions it and it is never clear whether he ever knew about it.  Ada is a comic-horrible creation, a young girl with the head and right arm of a sheep, but there is also real sweetness there, and there is a genuine love and connection in the family, which makes the inevitable tragedy really heartbreaking.  The cast are impressive, particularly Noomi Rapace, and the rural settings are truly beautiful.  However, it is very slow, and it's suspense really comes from the knowledge that there is going to be something bad happening, but not knowing what.  It will probably be seen as a cult film in years to come. 

Hilmer Snær Guðnason and Noomi Rapace in Lamb
   

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Year:  2011
Director:  Guy Ritchie
Screenplay:  Kieran Mulroney and Michelle Mulroney, based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Starring:  Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry, Kelly Reilly, Rachel McAdams
Running Time:  129 minutes
Genre:  Mystery, crime, adventure, period

This film is the sequel to the blockbuster 2009 film Sherlock Holmes.  The film is very loosely based on the legendary detective stories created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, most particularly the 1893 story The Final Problem.  However the plot of the film is by and large original.  In 1891, consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey, Jr.) becomes convinced that a series of bombings in France and Germany are the work of criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Harris).  However, the difficulty is that there is no evidence to connect the respected professor to any wrongdoing.  After enlisting the aid of his recently engaged best friend, Doctor John Watson (Law), Holmes soon realises that he has put Watson, and his bride to be (Reilly), at risk of lethal retaliation from Moriarty's men.  With the help of Holmes' well-connected brother, Mycroft (Fry), and a tough gypsy woman, Simza (Rapace), whose brother is working with Moriarty, Holmes and Watson set off on a journey across Europe, on the trail of one of the world's most powerful and dangerous criminals.

This is a hugely entertaining mix of globe-trotting adventure, explosive action and humour.  Robert Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast as Holmes and Jude Law makes for an engaging Doctor Watson, and there is great banter and chemistry between the two leads, with Watson refreshingly being portrayed as more than a match for Holmes in many places.  It will doubtless infuriate Conan Doyle purists, but for anyone else it is a fun period adventure.  The action scenes are well handled and the film provides more than enough spectacle.  As Moriarty, Jared Harris makes for a great, slippery villain, and he shares a number of great scenes with Robert Downey, Jr..  Stephen Fry is entertainingly arch as Mycroft Holmes (the scene where he turns up in the nude and happily chats away to Kelly Reilly, oblivious to her shock, is a comedy highlight).  Noomi Rapace is also impressive, lending gravitas to a fairly underwritten role.  The movie lacks any real surprises, the suspense in the film coming not so much from discovering who the villain is, because it is made clear right from the outset, but instead from how Holmes and Watson will unravel the criminal plot in time.  It also tends to meander at times, but mostly succeeds in being an entertaining, light-hearted, adventure romp, which will doubtless please fans of the original. 

Robert Downey, Jr., Noomi Rapace and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes:  A Game of Shadows                

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Year: 2009
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Screenplay: Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg, based on the novel The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber, Marika Lagercrantz, Lena Endre, Bjorn Granath, Ingvar Herdwall, Peter Andersson, Tehilla Blad
Running Time: 152 minutes, 180 minute extended version
Genre: Crime, thriller

Summary: Mykael Blomkvist (Nyqvist), an investigative journalist with controversial magazine Millennium, loses a high-profile libel case and finds his reputation in tatters and his career potentially ruined. Deciding to take a leave of absence from the magazine, Blomkvist is contacted an extremely wealthy and powerful businessman, Henrik Vanger (Taube), head of the family run Vanger Group. Vanger is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his beloved neice, Harriet, some forty years earlier. He believes that Harriet was murdered by a member of their own family, and he wants Blomkvist to go over the investigation again in the vain hope that he might come up with some new leads or previously overlooked clue. Blomkvist agrees to the assignment.
However, he learns that his investigation is being closely monitored. Lisbeth Salander (Rapace), an expert computer hacker and investigator, who was hired to do a background check on Blomkvist prior to Vanger hiring him, becomes fascinated by his investigation. Fiercely intelligent, strong, uncompromising and not caring a thing about society's rules and conventions, Salander helps Blomkvist with his investigation. However, as they get closer to the truth it becomes apparent that they have powerful and ruthless enemies who will stop at nothing to keep the dark secrets hidden.

Opinions: The Millennium trilogy by the late Swedish journalist and author Steig Larsson (which consists of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2005), The Girl Who Played with Fire (2006) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (2007)) has been one of the publishing sensations of the past decade. The books have sold millions of copies worldwide. The three books were adpated as a six-part Swedish miniseries (each novel being broadcast in two episodes.
This film is an edited version of the first two episodes of the mini-series. The film follows the storyline of the novel very closely and it does not suffer in any way from having it's origins on the small screen. Michael Nyqvist is engaging and likeable as the crusading journalist Blomkvist, but the film belongs to Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, "the girl with the dragon tattoo" of the title, making her both terrifying and sympathetic, sometimes at the same time. She also manages to make the extremely uncompromising and antisocial Salander consistently likeable, with an icily granite stare to rival Clint Eastwood's.
The film looks beautiful making good use of the Swedish countryside, and both script and direction keep a tight control of the material while successfully retaining Larsson's labyrinthine narrative.
Fans of the books will doubtless love the film, and it also manages to be engaging and entertaining for newcomers to the story.
An English language remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara is due for release in December 2011.



Noomi Rapace in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo