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The Girl Who Played with Fire | 2009 | R | - 9.8.5
In the sequel to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," a woman (Noomi Rapace) is accused of the murder of a journalist and his girlfriend (Hans Christian Thulin and Mia Johansson) and her former legal guardian, who had raped her (Peter Andersson). An investigative journalist (Michael Nyqvist) attempts to solve the triple murder and clear her name. Based on the best-selling series of novels by Stieg Larsson. Also with Yasmine Garbi, Lena Endre, Per Oscarsson, Paolo Roberto, Johan Kylén and Micke Spreitz. Directed by Daniel Alfredson. In Swedish with English subtitles. [2:07]
SEX/NUDITY 9 - There are three rape scenes shown in flashback: An old man wearing a long sleeved shirt and socks lies on top of a teen girl who's hands are tied above her head to the bed: from above, we see his bare buttocks thrusting, from the side we see him drool on her chest and we see her breasts bouncing; she is silent, he grunts, gets up and begins to put on his pants (his shirt covers his genitals) as the scene ends (she is still tied).
► A woman removes the clothing of another woman (we see her fully nude from the back), she kisses the woman's chest and abdomen as she kneels, and the camera cuts to a dimly lit floor where the first woman lies on her back and groans as she rubs her own nipples, while the second woman performs oral sex; we see a tuft of pubic hair on the first woman, as well as nearly full nudity of both women, front and back (only their genitals are covered), and the women then sit face to face with legs entwined and kiss several times (the next morning we again see them nude, except for groin areas).
► We see a man and a woman (she is married to someone else) in bed; both are completely nude and we see their bare bodies, except for the genital area. In a hospital hallway, we see a man in a tank top and briefs, with a large bulge at the groin. Two scenes depict a woman in bed covered with sheets. In three scenes, we see one of two women briefly wearing a bra and shorts or a bra and panties. In a park, two extremely obese women in low-cut long dresses reveal extreme, bouncing cleavage. A woman in a bar wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage and a short skirt. In a boxing gym, two sweaty boxers spar and photos around the walls depict bare-chested boxers.
► A suggestive flashback shows a 12-year-old tied to a bed with chains and leather straps in a mental institution as an old doctor is caressing her hair; she struggles and we later hear that he repeatedly raped her for several years.
► An older man's shirt hangs open and a tattoo on his bare abdomen reads, "I am a sadistic pig and a rapist." A reporter shows a man the pinup photos of three women, ages 16, 19 and 25, and says he knows the man paid for sex with them and asks, "Which one did you like best?" A man is having a long-term sexual affair with a married woman and he tells his extended family about it.
► Three heterosexual couples kiss briefly in each of three scenes.
VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - There are three rape scenes shown in flashback: An old man wearing a long sleeved shirt and socks lies on top of a teen girl who's hands are tied above her head to the bed: we see him drool on her chest, she is silent and he grunts. We twice hear a recording of a forcible rape with screams and see on a DVD screen an old man ripping the panties off a young girl.
► A suggestive flashback shows a 12-year-old tied to a bed with chains and leather straps in a mental institution as an old doctor is caressing her hair; she struggles and we later hear that he repeatedly raped her for several years.
► Two men walk a woman at gunpoint to an open grave, she throws dirt into one man's eyes and runs, the other man shoots her in the leg twice and side once, and the two men bury her alive, shoveling dirt over her.
► A woman has a flashback in which her younger self as a pre-teen throws a can of gasoline on her abusive father inside a car, lights it with a match and watches as he falls from the car, his body in flames; later, as an adult, she sees him hobbling several times on a cane, and his scalp looks burned and his left ear has melted into his scarred face.
► A woman in a bar hits a man over the head with an axe head and drives the blade into his right knee as he screams; another man enters and punches her in the jaw, she pulls out a gun and tries to shoot him, he runs, and she shoots several times and misses.
► A man enters an apartment after hearing a muffled gunshot, and we see blood pouring from a wound on a dead man's forehead and a gun lying by his head on the bloody living room floor; in the bedroom, streaks of blood cover one corner of the room and a dead woman with a large forehead wound also lies dead. A man lies face down in a bed, and his head and the pillow are covered in dried and wet blood while SWAT team members examine the premises and find a pistol.
► Two major fight scenes involve a large man (he is seen with a long scar on the cheek) who is genetically unable to feel pain and each scene includes another man and one of two women: The big man punches the women in the jaw to knock them unconscious after each woman has fought him with punches and kicks to no avail, and the other man in each scene employs jumping, standing and flying kicks, and a jumping knee strike under the big man's chin, again to no avail; the first scene ends as the big man leaves his victims unconscious in a burning barn he has accelerated with lit gasoline, but they come to, they cough and escape as we see huge flames and smoke clouds, and the second fight scene ends with the big man escaping as an injured woman fires a gun at him several times (she misses).
► Two men approach a woman, one man threatens to rape her and she sprays mace in his face; the other man pulls a handgun and she dislodges it with a running kick, she tasers him and he collapses, and she shoots the first man in the foot and leg (but no blood is seen as he shouts). A man grabs a woman on a dark street, she fights him, and he knocks her out, carries her to an SUV and takes her to an old barn, where he slaps her in the face while questioning her.
► A man is grabbed around the neck by a black glove off screen and then tasered in the neck by a woman (she's wearing white-face makeup with a red blood-like smear diagonally across her face), who takes him inside his house, duct tapes his mouth and places thick rope around his neck and through a pulley to raise him to his feet as he regains consciousness; she questions him asking, "Do you want to die? You're a sadistic pig and rapist," man yells "No," and his daughter later enters the room to find him standing with a rope around his neck, crying.
► A woman wakes a sleeping man by turning on the overhead light and pointing the man's own gun at him, while threatening to carve a phrase that he has tattooed on his abdomen onto his head if he has it removed; she also tells him that if he ever touches her again, she will kill him, she lays down the gun, leaves, and the man shivers.
► A woman, who's been buried alive, uses a cigarette case to dig herself out; we see her covered with blood, her hair and face mattered with dried blood, and coughing.
► We hear that a man beat his wife and laughed when their pre-teen daughter found her on the floor; we see two flashbacks of the girl dousing him with gasoline as he sits in a car, lighting the match, and his flaming body falling out of the car.
► A woman walks a man at gunpoint to an equipment locker and locks him inside it, promising not to kill him.
► Three scenes show a man with a bruised face and with his left eye swollen shut. A woman is shown with a bloody nose. In several nursing home scenes, we see a total of 7 men and women in wheelchairs, one person having no lower legs and one man has claw-like hands and must be fed by someone else. Two hospital scenes show women in hospital beds; one woman has an IV running to her arm and another woman has black and blue bruises on her face. An elderly man and a young woman are wrapped in blankets on stretchers, affixed with oxygen masks and placed into ambulances; both patients' faces are bloody and both are unconscious.
► An older man's shirt hangs open and a tattoo on his bare abdomen reads, "I am a sadistic pig and a rapist." A voiceover of a man tells someone to silence a person by killing her. Reporters ask a woman at her apartment door if her girlfriend is a murderer and she yells an obscenity and slams the door. Police detectives discuss the fact that a woman was described by doctors as a teen prostitute and violent.
► A woman wears several nose rings, several earrings on one ear, has tattoos on her back and arms and smudgy black eye makeup.
LANGUAGE 5 - About 8 F-words, 7 scatological references, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (idiot, crazy, fool, old, stupid, johns, whore(s), ugly, monster, freak, rapist, pig, dyke, amateur, ignorant), 14 stereotypical references to teen girls, women, lesbians prostitutes, men buying sex, reporters, 7 religious profanities, 2 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A man tests and tastes a large bag of white powder, we see several chemical jars, as well as many bottles of beer and brandy sitting on a nearby bar and around the bar top, and mention is made of someone smuggling amphetamines in another scene. Several wine bottles sit on a table as men and women drink from glasses of wine and beer in a dining scene, men and women drink wine and brandy in several café and bar scenes, and a country cabin has a bar that contains several bottles of liquor. One woman smokes cigarettes throughout the film in nearly every scene, one scene shows two women smoking, several scenes show men and women in bars smoking as they drink wine and beer, and a woman says that smoking is a nasty habit.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Murder, guns, violence, rape, conspiracies, politics, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, computer hacking, child abuse, revenge, fear, loneliness, justice.
MESSAGE - Putting a stop to drug and sex trafficking is dangerous, but can be achieved.
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CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
Afraid - 4.5.5
You Gotta Believe - 2.3.3
The Forge - 1.1.1
City of Dreams - 5.8.7
The Crow - 6.9.8
Blink Twice - 6.7.10
The Union - 3.5.5
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