“Lost in translation”, a common phrase that describes not only cases of linguistic problems but also possible cultural distortions in the translation process. The Swedish novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (part of the Millennium Trilogy and originally titled Män som hatar kvinnor, literally “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), was made into two film versions. The original was a Swedish film production released in 2009, and the worldwide popularization of the Millennium Trilogy in both its written form and Swedish film versions led to an American Hollywood remake released in 2011. The original story although not fully transformed between different versions of the film lose some of the inherent integrity of the story; the changes to make the story and film more American and typical of a Hollywood crime thriller film have an effect on the feeling and perception of Swedish culture and the nature of the story. While changes can be seen in many ways in the films and may seemingly be minimal in nature, they can be seen through careful consideration of the story's foundational character, Lisbeth Salander, and also through analysis of the film's different production methods. between the United States and Sweden and their effect on his character. Played in the Swedish films by Noomi Rapace and in the American version by Rooney Mara, he represents the embodiment of the hard-boiled amateur detective. Although she has never officially worked as a private investigator's detective, Lisbeth Salander does her fair share of sleuthing in her work for Milton Security. Since Salander is a ward of the state, he worked as an office assistant until his boss, Dragan Armansky, discovered a passion for him... middle of paper... in three years. Although the American version does a fantastic job of closely following the original story in the order of events and inclusion of details. However, the artistic liberties taken with the inclusion of such details change the integrity of the original story and the character of Lisbeth Salander. So far the plot itself in the American adaptation has not been altered, but the inherent tone of Lisbeth's characterization has been changed to fit more into the American standard through the cultural translation of elements of revising a Swedish crime thriller. Works Cited Larsson, Stieg and Reg Keeland. The girl with the dragon tattoo. 2005. Reprint. New York, NY: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2011. Print.Larsson, Stieg, and Reg Keeland. The girl who kicked the hornet's nest. 2007. Reprint. New York, NY: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2010. Print.