Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Page #3

The doctor isn’t sure then if he should talk to her.

SALANDER:

Please.

INT. ICU - SODER HOSPITAL - LATER - NIGHT

21

Not allowed to go inside, she peers through glass at

Palmgren, who is unaware of her, or the nurse attending

him, or even himself. A spiderweb of tubes emerge from

his neck and wrists; oxygen tubes from his nostrils.

DOCTOR V/O

He’s had severe cerebral

hemorrhaging. Either from the

fall itself, or a stroke that led to

the fall. His blood pressure is

still high. I’m hopeful he’ll regain

consciousness, but that’s not

assured. And it’s possible, if he

does, there will be neurological

damage.

OMIT:
INT. METRO - MOVING - STOCKHOLM - NIGHT

22

INT. BLOMKVIST’S APARTMENT - STOCKHOLM - NIGHT

23

They’re around the dinner table now, passing platters

around. Blomkvist notices his daughter’s head is bowed

in silent prayer.

BLOMKVIST:

Nilla? What are you doing?

PERNILLA:

Nothing.

BLOMKVIST:

(pause)

You’re not serious.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 13.

13.13.

PERNILLA:

I don’t want to talk about it since

I know you won’t approve.

BLOMKVIST:

Of (

she doesn’t say)

Nilla.

PERNILLA:

Light of Life.

BLOMKVIST:

Light of - what?

(she doesn’t repeat it)

What is that?

PERNILLA:

You think it’s all senseless but it

isn’t. It’s more natural to believe

in something than not to.

She begins eating. Blomkvist stares at her, feeling a

little sick. A cell phone rings. No one can tell - as

you never can - whose it is, and so all pull them out.

It’s Blomkvist’s.

BLOMKVIST:

Excuse me.

Looking back at his daughter with some concern, he steps

away to take the call.

BLOMKVIST:

Hello.

FRODE O/S

Mr. Blomkvist?

BLOMKVIST:

Yes.

FRODE O/S

Forgive me for intruding on your

Christmas. My name is Dirch Frode.

I’m an attorney. I represent Henrik

Vanger. Perhaps you’ve heard of

(him)

BLOMKVIST:

Of course.

FRODE O/S

He’d like to speak to you about a

private matter.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 14.

14.14.

BLOMKVIST:

You know, you’re calling at an

awkward time.

FRODE O/S

I’m sorry. I’m about to sit down to

Christmas dinner myself.

BLOMKVIST:

That’s not what I mean.

FRODE O/S

You’re referring to your recent

legal trouble. That has provided Mr.

Vanger with some entertainment.

BLOMKVIST:

Excuse me?

FRODE O/S

He doesn’t care for Wennerstrom

either.

Frode, in his polite, deliberate way, is reeling

Blomkvist in like a perch.

BLOMKVIST:

Have him call me.

FRODE O/S

He’d like to meet in person if that’s

okay. Up north. Hedestad.

BLOMKVIST:

No. Sorry.

FRODE O/S

He’s much too old to make a trip to

Stockholm, Mr. Blomkvist. Please.

If you’d be so kind as to consider.

Blomkvist isn’t sure what to do, or say.

FRODE O/S

Hedestad is lovely in winter. Like a

Christmas card.

23A

INT. METRO - MOVING - STOCKHOLM - MORNING

23A

Salander rides a crowded underground train, but feels

even more cut off from the people around her than usual;

completely alone.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 15.

15.15.

24

EXT. NORRLAND COAST - DAY

24

A passenger train, barely visible in a severe snowstorm,

makes its way north. This is no Christmas card.

24A

INT. SJ TRAIN - MOVING - DAY

24A

Blomkvist stares out at the bleak, northern landscape.

25

EXT. TRAIN STATION - HEDESTAD - DAY

25

Blomkivist disembarks to find Frode - who he can only

assume is Frode - beyond a veil of snow, waving to him

from outside a Mercedes. Unlike Blomkvist, he’s dressed

for this God-awful weather in a fur-collared topcoat.

26

INT/EXT. MERCEDES / HEDESTAD - DAY

26

Frode’s Mercedes comes across a long bridge linking the

old industrial town to a rocky island.

FRODE:

First time in Hedestad?

BLOMKVIST:

And last, I’m sure.

FRODE:

It’s lovely in the spring.

BLOMKVIST:

You said it was lovely in winter.

FRODE:

This is unseasonable.

BLOMKVIST:

I’ll be on the 4:30 train back to

Stockholm.

FRODE:

Unless we get snowed in ... I’m

joking. You’ll be home tonight, if

that’s what you wish.

27

INT/EXT. MERCEDES - HEDEBY ISLAND - DAY

27

The car comes up a long, bare-tree-lined drive, leading

to a stately manor. As Frode and Blomkvist climb out, a

distant gunshot echoes, but neither Frode nor the old man

who appears at the front door of the manor pays it any

attention; just someone hunting.

VANGER:

Welcome. Come inside. It’s warm.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 16.

16.16.

INT. VANGER MANOR - DAY

28

It is warm inside. There are fires in the fireplaces.

And Vanger himself is warm in nature, yet speaks quickly

as they come through the house

VANGER:

Thank you for coming way out here.

Anna, take Mr. Blomkvist’s

insufficient coat. Would you like to

freshen up? We’ll be having dinner

later. For now, hot tea is waiting.

Unless you’d like a drink instead.

What would you like?

FRODE:

Mr. Blomkvist would like to be on the

4:
30 train back to Stockholm.

VANGER:

What?

BLOMKVIST:

I can’t stay for dinner.

Vanger looks thoroughly disappointed. Or hurt.

VANGER:

Oh. I guess I’d better be quick

then. Thank you, Dirch. Mikael,

this way.

INT. VANGER’S STUDY - DAY

29

Tea service and pastries on a coffee table separate

Blomkvist from Vanger, whose elderly frame is in danger

of being swallowed up by a wing-back chair.

VANGER:

What do you know about me?

BLOMKVIST:

That you used to run one of the

biggest industrial firms in the

country.

VANGER:

Used to. That’s correct.

There are framed black and white photographs on a wall -

factories and trains figuring into all of them.

Dragon Tattoo Final 9/1/11 SZ 17.

17.17.

VANGER:

My grandfather forged the tracks

the 4:
30 train will take you home on -

and most of the other pre-state-owned

rail lines. We stitched this

country together. We made the steel

and milled the lumber that built

modern Sweden.

(pause)

You know what our most profitable

product now is?

(Blomkvist doesn’t)

Fertilizer.

Blomkvist imagines he’s meant to offer a wistful shrug.

VANGER:

I’m not obsessed with the declining

health of the company, but I am with

the settling of accounts - and the

clock is ticking. I need your help.

BLOMKVIST:

Doing.

VANGER:

Officially, assisting me with my

memoirs. But what you’d really be

doing is solving a mystery. And

you’d do that by doing what you do so

well - this recent legal mishap of

yours notwithstanding. You’d be

investigating thieves, misers,

bullies, and malcontents - the most

detestable collection of people

you’ll ever meet ... my family.

A30

EXT. SALANDER’S APARTMENT - ESTABLISHING

A30

INT. SALANDER’S APARTMENT - DAY

She exhumes an unwashed bowl from a sinkful of dirty

dishes, fills it with tap water without rinsing it, dumps

a packet of ramen noodles in, puts it in a microwave.

She takes a Coke can from an anemically-stocked fridge

to a desk in her so-called living room, a clutter of full

ashtrays, fast food wrappers, empty soda cans, paperwork,

unwashed laundry.

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