FAQ

Män som hatar kvinnor means "men who hate women", which is far closer to what Stieg Larsson's novel is about. Though that title is far less marketable for a film title.

Millennium magazine journalist Mikael Blomkvist () is hired by wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), retired CEO of the Vanger Corporation, to write his memoirs but who really wants Mikael to investigate the murder of his niece Harriet who disappeared some 40 years ago. With the help of an antisocial, punk computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a young woman with a dragon tattoo on her back, a checkered childhood and an abusive court-appointed guardian named Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), the pair uncover a series of gruesome murders that eventually puts their own lives in danger.

The movie is based on Män som hatar kvinnor (English: Men Who Hate Women; published in English as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) (2005), a crime novel by the Swedish author and journalist Stieg Larsson [1954-2004]. It is the first of his Millennium trilogy, followed by The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish: Flickan som lekte med elden) (2006) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Swedish: Luftslottet som sprängdes) (2007). The movie version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is followed by The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009). There is an English language adaptation of the novel, also titled The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) (2011).

Whether or not to read a novel before seeing a movie (or vice versa) is always a personal call on the part of each viewer. However, the majority of viewers who have done both agree that the movie should be seen first. The book is more complicated and contains other characters not found in the movie. Reading the book after seeing the movie helps to fill in the details. Many of those who first tried reading the book sometimes ended up putting it down because the story was too slow-moving in the beginning.

Those who have seen it both ways vote for the subtitled version. Listening to the actors' real voices and feeling their emotions is considered superior to dubbing by voices that don't match or seem to be arising from a sound room. Another complaint about the dubbed version is that it does not correspond well with the original Swedish dialogue. The dubbed version, however, is preferred by those who want to pay attention to more of the cinematic details.

Journalist, watchdog, and publisher of the Swedish political magazine Millennium, Mikael Blomkvist is indicted for printing a libelous exposé about billionaire industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström (Stefan Sauk), accusing him of gun-running and other serious felonies. Blomkvist is subsequently found guilty and sentenced to spend three months in prison and to pay a fine of 150,000 kronor. What happened was that Wennerström found out about the expose and leaked false information that Blomkvist didn't have time to verify (or was falsely verified) before publication. This new information was easily proven false by Wennerström, thereby discrediting the truth from the original story.

At 2012 exchange rates, 150,000 SEK would be the equivalent of 24,548 USD, 17,112 EUR, and 13,905 GBP sterling.

There are a lot of Vangers to keep track of in the movie; even more in the novel. The Vangers to pay attention to in the movie are the three Vanger brothers Henrik (Sven-Bertil Taube) (former CEO of Vanger Enterprises), Gottfried (deceased), and Harald (Gösta Bredefeldt) (the one who threatens Blomkvist with a shotgun). Henrik had no children. Martin Vanger (Peter Haber) (current CEO of Vanger) and Harriet Vanger (missing, presumed dead) are Gottfriend's children. Cecilia (Marika Lagercrantz) and Anita (deceased) are the daughters of Harald.

Hedestad (Hede City) and Hedeby (Hede Village) Island are both fictitious places, invented for Larsson's novel. They are described as being along the east coast of Sweden, about three hours north of Stockholm, a little more than an hour north of Gävle. The original novel (in Swedish) featured maps of Hedeby Island, but they were left out of the translated editions. Other places mentioned in the movie, such as Stockholm, Gävle, Vilhelmina, Uppsala, Norsjö, Dalarna (the Dales), Ange, and Karlstad, can be located on the given map.

Henrik Vanger commissioned Milton Security to do a comprehensive investigation into Mikael's background, because he wanted to hire Mikael to investigate the disappearance and probable murder of his niece Harriet. Being the best researcher employed by Milton, Lisbeth was assigned to the job.

After a few violent incidents (of which she was cleared of criminal conduct), it was petitioned that she be placed in an asylum. She was defended by the person who became her original guardian. The judge ruled that she could remain independent under his care. When her first guardian suffers a stroke, she is placed under the care of a new guardian, Nils Bjurman (Peter Andersson), who is much stricter about letting her control her own money. Further details of her placement in the asylum are provided in The Girl Who Played with Fire.

When he received an email from someone named "Wasp" with information about the numbers in Harriet's diary, numbers that only Mikail had access to, he realized that someone had hacked into his computer. He asked Henrik's lawyer Dirch Frode (Ingvar Hirdwall) whether he might know who could have done it. Remembering that Lisbeth Salander was the researcher assigned to the investigation of Mikael's background, Frode was able to put 2 and 2 together.

On the photos taken by the photographer who covered the event, he reads a sign in the window of the woman's automobile that says "Norsjö Snickeri" ("Norsjö Carpenters"). Given that lead, he is able to track down the woman who still lives in Norsjö .

According to the novel, the character of Mikael Blomkvist is 42 years old, born 18 January 1960 (which sets this story in 2002); the actor who plays him was 48 at the time. The character of Lisbeth Salander is 24 years old; the actress who played her was 29 at the time.