As the Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens I completed watching the Swedish version's of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy.
In recent years, we have seen the emergence of Scandinavian noir. This includes Larsson's work as well as the stories of Kurt Wallander and others.
Noir originated in America. Inspired by the novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson and German Expressionism, film noir explored the underbelly of society. In noir life happens in the shadows, ethical decisions depend on the situation the characters are in and corruption runs deep.
Hammett is particularly interested in the way people with power can control lives, use their power for their own sake and unleash a violence that destroys lives.
Having not read Larsson I can't compare the quality of his writing with Hammett and the others. But seeing the films, it is obvious why Larsson's stories are classed as Scandinavian noir.
The central character of the books, Lisbeth Salander, has had her life ruined by a power structure she is unaware of. In the final part of the trilogy what is revealed is something dark and murderous. Putting aside the quality of the plot development and consistency of story, the films are worth watching for their entertainment value and what they tells us about Swedish society.
Of course, Larsson is writing fiction. That doesn't mean that stories don't tell us something about the society they come from.
Scandinavian countries always score highly on happiness indexes. How good any index is at assessing happiness is open to question. It is certainly a common view among many that Scandinavia has it more right than other places: a more prosperous, equal society that respects people.
Larsson's books tells us that corruption happens in Sweden too. Those who think Sweden, and the other Scandinavian countries, have it right believe this is due to an interventionist State. Larsson tells us that an unchecked State can destroy lives.
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