No. 72. (2019) Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played With Fire Aug. 6th.

Film No. 72 (2019) Aug. 6th.  6:20 PM  PALACE CINEMAS  Northbridge. 

Part of The Scandinavian Film Festival presented by Palace Cinemas; Perth chapter July 17th til Aug. 7th.

"Stieg's view was that they (Neo-nazis) should be dragged into the daylight, put under the microscope and exposed." (A Stieg sympathiser describes why Larsson was so hellbent on revealing how Swedish society should respond to right-wing extremists).

Without this documentary, profiling the amazing adult life of humanist Stieg Larsson, I might have maintained my deluded impression that the author of The Millenium-trilogy led some form of playboy life paralleling the rollicking ride depicted in his novels. Not so, Henrik Georgsson, better known for his work in Scandi T.V. production (Bron Broen, Wallander) gives his audience an insight into the manic life, or better still, manic lifestyle of Larsson. Using minimalist docu-drama snippets with interview outtakes of the people closest to him we learn of the lengths Larsson went to inform his fellow Swedes of the dangers posed to Swedish society by Neo-nazists. Larsson wrote (360 page version of Girls With The Dragon Tattoo) to relieve the stress of his everyday vigil. With initial "prodding" from his partner he pounded out the three best-sellers with more in mind, and then died suddenly. Not surprising, considering his lifestyle. Like so many prodigious talents who die before their time, Larsson is a legend in the realms of Ian Fleming but without the playboy tag. 9GUMS.