The visual and meaning in film

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Abstract:

Watching ‘A Single Man’ and ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’

March was an instructive month in film. Interested filmgoers, having seen many of the films in Oscar contention, learned that realism has ousted fantasy: ‘The Hurt Locker’ won roundly (Best Film and Director, making Kathryn Bigelow the first women director to grasp the golden statuette) while the otherwise hotly-tipped Avatar had to content itself with Best Art Direction and Cinematography. And Colin Firth did not win the prize for best actor in Tom Ford’s film ‘A Single Man’, the only category in which the much-praised film was nominated. In the meantime Neils Arden Opley’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ opened nationwide to more-or-less favourable reviews and good box office. As the sub-titled Swedish film was making its debut, rumours that Hollywood was considering a remake caused some interest, as did the report that Stieg Larsson, upon whose posthumously published novel the film is based, died intestate and that his partner of thirty-two years would not benefit from the bestselling book sales or, presumably, the film rights.

Details / PDF:

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