Analysis - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

At the start of the sequence, we see an elderly man using a small blade or knife to carefully cut open a parcel he has received. By using a blade this small to cut it open with precision, we can tell that this man is perhaps expecting something important, delicate and personal to him. After he has finished opening the parcel, he carefully takes out a photo frame and stares at it for a few moments. As he breaks his eyes away from the frame, he picks up the packaging and looks at it as the camera is zoomed in on the date and location marked on it, which could suggest when and where it was sent from. The camera then zooms back out to a medium shot of the man as he puts the packaging back down, sits back in his chair and looks at the picture frame again intently. We then see an extreme close up of the frame, which is revealed to be a type of plant, which obviously has some kind of personal connection to him. The camera is then zoomed out in the next couple of shots, revealing more of the setting he is in. The camera cuts to a close up of a woman in a picture, and slowly zooms in.

 

The female we see in the next scene is shown in a completely different way than the man. Even though this character is wearing a hoody, the spectator can easily tell that this is a female character from the way she walks and the structure of her body. She is also wearing dark coloured jeans as well as having the hood up, which may not be considered to be feminine clothing. She is shown walking around at night through some dimly lit tunnels; she walks at a reasonably fast pace and keeps her head down. This could suggest that she doesn't want to be noticed by anyone, that she is in a hurry and doesn't have time for anyone. As the spectator cannot see her face, this creates enigma and mystery about who this character is, and leaves the spectators asking if this is the girl in the frame, or the girl with the dragon tattoo.