VOA标准英语2012--Swedish Best-Seller 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Goes Hollywood

Swedish Best-Seller 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo¹' Goes Hollywood

A Swedish mystery novel that became an international best-seller was made into a movie in Scandinavia two years ago and now Hollywood takes its turn. Alan Silverman has this look at American director David Fincher's version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

"She is one of the best investigators² I have."
"But …"
"She is different."
"In what way?"
"In every way."

Lisbeth Salander is a brooding, almost feral young woman with jet black spiked³ hair, her pale, slender body decorated with elaborate tattoos⁴ and numerous piercings. The main character in novelist Stieg Larson's "Millennium⁵" trilogy, she lurks⁶ in the shadows and by the glow of computer screens to gather information.

The subject of her latest investigation⁷ is Mikael Blomqvist, a Stockholm journalist disgraced by accusations⁸ of libel. Trying to stay out of the spotlight⁹, he takes a job in a remote town, investigating a decades-old unsolved murder in one of Sweden's richest families. As the sordid¹⁰ details surface, he realizes he can use help from the woman who investigated him.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo features English actor Daniel Craig as Mikael.

"It's a movie about violence toward women, first and foremost …and two people who find that a great injustice," explains Craig. "They decide that they are going to do something about it; and you have woven into it this great 'who done it' [mystery]."

An international star as the latest to play danger-loving secret agent James Bond, Craig says he jumped at the chance to take on the much more ordinary Mikael.

"The most important thing about this character for me was to make him as real and as believable as possible," Craig says. "Obviously, there is another person I play who would deal with it in a different way. It's not that I was ever thinking about that, but I wanted to put the reality into this. He gets shot at and he runs away, screaming, like anybody else would. It's what I love about this character and this relationship that he has with Salander. He doesn't have to prove he's a man. He doesn't have to go around beating his chest and he's very happy to fall into this relationship where she is literally¹¹ wearing the trousers."

Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was created in the original Swedish film (and its two sequels) by Noomi Rapace. This time Lisbeth is played by American actress Rooney Mara who says she tried to keep her portrayal¹² from being influenced by either that version or the image readers of the books may have.

"To be honest, I didn't really think much about what other people imagined it to be. I just used what I imagined it to be," Mara explains. " I had read all three books and had a really clear picture of who this girl was. I didn't really think much about what other people thought of her."

Director David Fincher first worked with Mara in his Oscar-nominated film from last year, The Social Network (she was the girlfriend who breaks up with Facebook founder¹³ Mark Zuckerberg at the beginning of the film). Returning to a genre¹⁴ that won him acclaim¹⁵ with thrillers¹⁶ like Seven, The Fight Club and Zodiac, Fincher says he was more interested in the people.

"The mystery of this movie wasn't that interesting to me. You know, Nazis¹⁷, serial¹⁸ killers¹⁹ and the evil that people do in their basements with power tools. First and foremost, I was more interested in the people, front and center," Fincher says.

If audiences are as intrigued²⁰ by the Dragon Tattoo characters as he is, Fincher hopes to translate the other two books in the "Millennium Trilogy" into new films.

1 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

2 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

4 tattoos   

n.文身( tattoo的名词复数 )；归营鼓；军队夜间表演操；连续有节奏的敲击声v.刺青，文身( tattoo的第三人称单数 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的胳膊上刺满了花纹。
• His arms were covered in tattoos. 他的双臂刺满了纹身。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

6 lurks   

n.潜在，潜伏；（lurk的复数形式）vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后，他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚，祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

10 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

11 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

12 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

15 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

16 thrillers   

n.紧张刺激的故事( thriller的名词复数 )；戏剧；令人感到兴奋的事；（电影）惊悚片

参考例句：

• He has written seven thrillers, and clearly enjoys intellectual pursuits. 他已经写了7本惊悚小说，显然很喜欢这样的智力活动。 来自辞典例句
• Most Americans prefer to read fast-moving adventure stories that we call "thrillers". 大部分美国人喜欢看我们称之为"惊险小说"的情节多变的冒险故事。 来自辞典例句

17 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

19 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

20 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。