A new trailer for David Fincher’s upcoming title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, an original adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s first novel in the Millennium series (not an arrogant American remake of the Swedish films as some critics have claimed), has surfaced online clocking in at a massive eight minute run time. The three-minute extended preview released just months ago featured revelatory shots of the film set to a brutally haunting, minimalist piano and synth-driven score which built upon the economical, yet punk and tense original teaser trailer set to Karen O and Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross’ cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” The new trailer on the other hand gives profoundly more measured insight into what can be expected from the film, including the bare bones premise of the story revealed in detail played over a moody, ambient score.
Wintry, noirish, and altogether simmering with tension beneath the surface, the new trailer is sure to stave off hunger for those awaiting one of the last fine films of the year and general fans of David Fincher’s slick, stylish aesthetic. In fact, the new The Girl with the Dragon Tattootrailer hints that this movie may be Fincher’s darkest to date, implying the sick and twisted sadism lurking within its core. For those familiar with Larsson’s original source material, one particular scene involving character Nils Bjurman (played by a gruff looking Yorick van Wageningen) has a snippet revealed in the trailer, nearly teetering on the border between an R and an NC-17 rating because of its disturbing quality (see: Steve McQueen’s Shame)
Also depicted in the trailer is Fincher’s proclivity for golden color palettes in his scenes, in this case a magnificent golden glow for key flashback sequences that directly clashes with the cold, gloomy grays and blues of the present day. This warm gold / cold gray color scheme dichotomy is definitely a filmmaking aspect to look out for when the film ultimately debuts December 21, and it will be interesting to discover how Fincher manipulates his iconic mise en scène to serve the needs of this film.
Nevertheless, the primary interest of the recent eight-minute trailer is Rooney Mara, the leading actress of the film who has continuously proven to be a curious enigma as protagonist Lisbeth Salander. Her cold, unemotional line delivery instantly recalls Jesse Eisenberg’s own apathetic, condescending (but brilliant) performance in Fincher’s 2010 The Social Network as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, drawing parallels once again as a young, tech-savvy figure. As the trailer slowly explicates Mara’s character with its slow ambiance, the last minute all but floods over in a sudden rush of speed, quickly unearthing the split second cuts found in the first two trailers with heavy drum loops that drown out all sound. An abrupt cut to “A David Fincher film” and the titles ends the eight minute clip, finally boiling over all anticipation for the weeks left before the film’s eventual release this Christmas holiday season.
The trailer itself is released hand-in-hand with the official announcement of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ whopping three-hour score, a run time that far exceeds the actual film. On the official Nine Inch Nails website, Reznor writes, “For the last fourteen months Atticus and I have been hard at work on David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. We laughed, we cried, we lost our minds and in the process made some of the most beautiful and disturbing music of our careers. The result is a sprawling three-hour opus that I am happy to announce is available for pre-order right now for as low as $11.99. The full release will be available in one week – December 9th.”
The soundtrack is available in several formats on Reznor’s independent Null Corporation label: regular and HD digital downloads (released December 9), a physical copy of the triple CD (released December 27), and an extensive deluxe package (ships February 6). Said deluxe version, signed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, features six LPs, a book, a fold-out poster, and a USB drive shaped like a razor blade. Furthermore, anyone has the opportunity to exchange their e-mail address to download a six-track sampler from the album at the Null Corporation website.
Following Reznor and Ross’ Academy Award-winning original score for Fincher’s The Social Network last year, the upcoming music should prove to be another achievement once again. With song titles apropos for Fincher’s own dark, cryptic filmmaking quality – “Parallel Timeline With Alternate Outcome,” “Under the Midnight Sun,” and “Revealed In the Thaw” to name a few – it looks like a solid audio treat to build further expectation for the film. The soundtrack is also bookended with covers, starting with Reznor/Ross and Karen O’s “Immigrant Song” and concluding with a How to Destroy Angels (of which Reznor and Ross are members of) cover of “Is Your Love Strong Enough?”
David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, will be released on US screens on December 21, 2011. Scroll past the tracklist to the bottom of the article to find the new eight-minute trailer.
Tracklist:
01. Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin cover) [feat. Karen O]
02. She Reminds Me of You
03. People Lie All the Time
04. Pinned and Mounted
05. Perihelion
06. What If We Could?
07. With The Flies
08. Hidden In Snow
09. A Thousand Details
10. One Particular Moment
11. I Can’t Take It Anymore
12. How Brittle the Bones
13. Please Take Your Hand Away
14. Cut Into Pieces
15. The Splinter
16. An Itch
17. Hypomania
18. Under the Midnight Sun
19. Aphelion
20. You’re Here
21. The Same as the Others
22. A Pause for Reflection
23. While Waiting
24. The Seconds Drag
25. Later Into the Night
26. Parallel Timeline With Alternate Outcome
27. Another Way of Caring
28. A Viable Construct
29. Revealed In the Thaw
30. Millennia
31. We Could Wait Forever
32. Oraculum
33. Great Bird of Prey
34. The Heretics
35. A Pair of Doves
36. Infiltrator
37. The Sound of Forgetting
38. Of Secrets
39. Is Your Love Strong Enough? (Bryan Ferry cover)
