Watch: David Fincher and Niels Arden Oplev Take On The Revenge Scene in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Anyone who likes Greek tragedy should, by rights, appreciate Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, a series of books built on the power of revenge, and the catharsis that grows out of it, a catharsis so palpable it’s practically sexual. The revenge scene in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the trilogy’s first volume, unfolds at a pace that is as scorching as it is satisfying, as Lisbeth Salander, the punkish information scientist thug genius, punishes her perverted legal guardian for his brutal molestation of her. When Niels Arden Oplev and David Fincher adapted the book for the screen, they took different approaches to this scene. While one version is not necessarily less fist-pump-worthy than the other, watching the scenes side by side points up crucial stylistic differences between the two directors. Here to walk us through these differences is Kevin B. Lee, for Fandor. It’s all spelled out for us here, with great care–and with huge captions! Enjoy! (If you have the stomach for it.)