Films:
Item 1: (Män som hatar kvinnor) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Dir: Niels Arden Oplev, 2009)
This item is very helpful for me to use as it is the main film and the first film I chose. This film is a re invention of the noir classic, and feature a female in the typical 'troubled male' trope. It is useful to my question because it portrays women- specifically the main character as strong.
Item 2: Anklaget (Dir: Jacob Thuesen, 2005)
This item is helpful to me because the woman I am looking at is a very strong character, who is a maternal figurehead of her family.
Item 3: Lilja 4-Ever (Dir: Lukas Moodysson, 2002)
I chose this item because I felt this film spoke to me about the representation of girls as well as women, as it focuses on a girl named Lilja, who goes through an ordeal that is similar to my first item. The difference between them is, Lisbeth, the titular character in Item 1 is an adult and Lilja is a child. Lilja's torment, and eventual suicide shows how such horror inflicted on a child really affects them. I have also noted how the representation of women has changed over time, Lilja 4-ever being made 7 year prior to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
Internet Articles:
Item 4: http://bitchmagazine.org/article/nordic-noir-steig-larsson-lisbeth-salander-feminist-analysis-the-killing
I picked this article to show how culture outside of Sweden has viewed the change in the way some Nordic cinema- particularly Nordic Noir- to a more feminist and more powerful female roles. Lisbeth Salander (the titular character in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) is noted as a feminist character.
Item 5: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/7262886/Noomi-Rapace-interview-the-worlds-most-seductive-sleuth.html
I chose this article because the actress Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo talks about her role in the film, and also how the character of Lisbeth is represented in the film. Rapace talks about how the character is androgynous, even in the fact she is bisexual, she is constantly between the two sides, not masculine or feminine.
Item 6: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/7803012/Stieg-Larsson-the-man-who-created-the-girl.html
I chose this article because it references the author of the books on which The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is based. Although it does not interview the author as he is deceased it interviews a friend of his and talks of the authors history, for example his work on an anti racism magazine in Sweden and mentions how Larsson's history is very similar to the male protagonist - Mikael Blomkvist.
Item 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjjoS9Bx8qY
Item 8: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/29/nordic-noir-violence-against-women
This item is helpful to me because I found it to be very interesting to have an outsiders perspective on the recent change in culture to make the Nordic style of noir more universal. It speaks of the frequent trope of having female sexual assault survivors and frequent rape, sexual assault and violence themes being normalised in the Nordic culture. This is looked on with disapproval, as they person who is giving the judgement, Ann Cloves, believes that women should be written as powerful without having a history of terrible violence.
Item 9: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/swedish-cinemas-to-stamp-out-sexism-with-bechdel-test-rating-on-movies-8924758.html
I chose this article because I wanted to look at the Bechdel test ratings of the films I had chosen to look at. I wanted to show how Swedish cinema is performing in gender equal roles. Sweden is, as the article referenced the number one country on gender equality. I can compare and contrast this with Item 4 because I can really see whether or not
Item 10: http://www.nikk.no/en/news/the-nordic-film-industry-remains-male-dominated/
I chose this informative article about the culture of the films I have chosen because I feel it addressed the misconception that all Nordic film is now more women - based. As this item shows, the amount of film that stars, is written by and directed by men is well above any that have anything to do with women.
Item 11: http://www.nordicom.gu.se/en/mediefakta/news/no-gender-balance-nordic-film
I chose this article because I wanted to look at how well women are represented in Nordic film, and I found this to be the most informative article on the subject. It is an informative article on the percentage of women stars in Nordic film. It is a popular misconception that women are regularly achieving starring roles in these films, but in actual fact the films remain male dominated. I thought it was helpful because it showed to me that the roles that women are taking are gradually increasing, as I have shown in the choice of films, with time.
Item 12: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/apr/13/features.review
I chose this article because I felt that it showed how the director. Moodysson, was influenced by his belief in God, show by the recurrent theme of religion and worship throughout Lilja 4-ever. It also compare it to his previous film, Fucking Åmål by saying that, whilst the first film is about romantic love, the second, the film I have chosen is about friendship love. The film has fantasy elements, such as the belief in god and the afterlife and the ability to go back in time.
Item 13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKclCmQhZS4
Item 14: http://www.indiewire.com/article/mood_swing_lukas_moodyssons_lilya_4-ever
Item 15: http://www.wordandfilm.com/2010/11/girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-director-niels-arden-oplev-knows-what-women-want-to-be-lisbeth-salander/
Item 16: http://www.humanisme.dk/film/film073.php
Books and Magazines:
Item 17: Fantasy Cinema: Impossible Worlds on Screen Author: David Butler Pub: 2009 (Pages 39 to 41)
I chose this source because I felt it explained the way a young girl thinks when she is forced in a horrific situation. "...Lilja is awoken by Volodya, now sporting a pair of somewhat awkward-looking white wings attached to his back. The assumption is that Volodya's appearance, returned from the dead, is a product of Lilja's dreaming or imagination."
Lilja is represented as being a dreamer, and a scared child and retreating into a dream world when she is scared or in trouble.
Rejected:
Film: Headhunters (Dir: Morten Tyldum, 2011)
I rejected this film because I wanted to focus more on a female protagonist, which this film does not.
Film: Jar City (Dir: Baltasar Kormàkur, 2006)
I rejected this film because it did not focus on the issues I wanted to discuss.
Internet Article: http://cineuropa.org/vd.aspx?t=video&l=en&did=1107
I rejected this article because in it Moodysson talks more about the politics of Lilja 4-ever and of the current issue of Sweden than the way women are represented, which is what I am looking for.
