Lisbeth is obviously a woman that has been abused and let down by the people that were supposed to protect her and as a defense mechanism, she became distant.
She cared about Mikael but her coldness made him believe that she wanted distance and wanted him only for sex. At the end, her manners backfired and she tried to show him appreciation, he had moved on.
It’s sad, sure, but you get the impression they’ll be seeing each other again, and Lis needs to learn to not latch on to guys and expect a relationship when they’ve made no such commitment.
The fact that she was able to trust someone and be happy for a while will stand her in good stead.
I felt bad for her. And the waste of that leather jacket.
I think she needed a man like that to help with her troubles.
i think the final part of the movie was the best, from the bahamas/cayman trips till the scene where she tosses the leather jacket and rides off. that music and photography in that final shot were particularly fitting and well done, and worked together very well. that final shot gave me such a strong vibe it makes me want to go to visit sweden lol. i love the street scenes in the movie. but i have a friend from there and he just laughs and tells me it's nothing special, just a regular place, cold in winter. i guess i have kinda romanticised it in my mind. but, that's the point of the cinematography and music, right? to elevate daily life. so fincher did his job well!
back to the topic.....yeah, as to your post, i did feel sad for her. i identify with loners a lot, especially disenfranchised ones. it was a terribly poignant moment, when she SEES them together, TOSSES the jacket in the dumpster, then RIDES off into (literally) a sunset along with that great, great musical score. sad is an understatement. it has pathos. it is timeless, existential, pensive, ironic.