Call Girl (2012) Reviews

• Powerful people can silence everyone, even filmmakers today.

  rolandddd2013-07-19

  This movie is a fictitious account of the infamous "Geijeraffären" from the mid 70's where powerful men of the upper Swedish hierarchies, even ministers, bought sexual favors from young call girls, provided for them by a notorious brothel madam. The movie has a strong theme, about how men in powerful positions feel they are entitled to almost everything, even buying sex from underage girls. The men of the upper classes' abuse of power and money is shown very clearly, and they don't shy away from threats or even murder to cover up what they have done. The real focus though is on the unfortunate girls from society's lower classes, who are abused by these men without a second thought, and this makes for horrendous viewing that really makes you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the film's theme has somewhat been overshadowed by a controversy between the filmmakers and the Palme family. The hot topic is whether the prime minister in film is a portrayal of former Swedish prime minister Olof Palme or whether it is merely a fictional character. After initially defending their work, the director Michael Marcimain cowardly and spinelessly decided to cut his film, removing a key scene in a hotel room. Unfortunately, this leaves a HUGE plot hole, and the ending of the movie doesn't really make sense the same way without it. Since I watched the censored blu-ray version I had to do some research afterward to piece together the importance of the missing scene with the rest of the movie. The movie is a beautifully shot period piece and a top class conspiracy thriller reminding me of Robert Redford's best efforts back in the 70s like Three Days of the Condor or All the President's Men. However, it's tragic how the filmmakers failed do defend their excellent work and decided to cut their own movie after pressure from the Palme family. This act of cowardice is a source of frustration for everyone who is forced to watched the censored version and unfortunately this takes away some of the attention from the powerful theme of the film and what the filmmakers really wanted to say.

• if you like realistic 70s style movies , this is a good one.

  evk3112013-04-13

  i had no idea what movie to expect , i saw the title and thought i was gonna see an easy American style thriller action fun movie. i am open minded so i was ready for whatever came on the screen. however what i saw was an impressive movie that also seemed to be a true story . i can imagine those things really happened , although few erotic scenes looked really weird and not real , i guess i am not that perverted . but the whole film seemed very realistic, no crazy action 3D VFX etc. one of the strong parts is the 70s feeling. the people look very 70s styled. i mean they did a fantastic job to show the feel of that time and how it looked and felt. if you were in the 70s you can definitely tell how realistic the movie was. another great thing was i didn't got bored for a second. the story went on and on , and i had no idea where it was going and it was very unpredictable and interesting to see how things turned towards the end. last thing; there was a big shock moment somewhere in the movie , it scared the heck out of me , i suddenly jumped out of my chair for a second, i can't tell you what it was , you go see for yourself. if you like realistic 70s movies , this is a good one. i liked it.

• If you're not Swedish, this film is nothing special

  rubenm2013-05-26

  'Call Girl', a film about a sex scandal in Sweden in the 1970's, is labeled as a classic political paranoia thriller. It has indeed some elements of this film genre. There is the righteous police investigator who has to fight against corrupt powers. There are also mysterious exchanges in dark and rainy streets between men in raincoats. There is an undercover photographer who captures suspect encounters from a parked car. But that is only one part of the story. 'Call Girl' is as much a coming-of-age film as a political thriller. The first half of the film focuses almost entirely on 14-year old Iris, an adventurous girl who ventures into Stockholm's night life and slowly gets involved in a prostitution network servicing high-powered politicians. The movie is clearly meant as a critique of Sweden's ultra-liberal culture in the seventies. The politicians publicly defend equal rights for women and men, but at the same time use underage girls as disposable sex toys. On the other hand, Iris and her cousin Sonja seem to enjoy the excitement, the glamour and the proceeds of their secret life as call girls. They are not shown as helpless victims but as naive girls who only discover that they have made a mistake when it is too late. 'Call girl' is very good in capturing the mood of the seventies. A great job has been done by Dutch cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who created the same atmosphere for 'Tinker, Taylor, Soldier Spy'. But the film fails in creating the right amount of suspense. In the first half, the emphasis is too much on Iris's introduction into the call girl network. This part is too slow and too long. We see the same things over and over again: the girls visiting clients in posh hotels, the girls being 'brainwashed' by the network leader, the girls snoring cocaine, the girls parading around in see-through blouses, etcetera. The thriller element is more prominent in the second half of the movie, but even then the film never surprises in a positive way. The most spoken-about aspect of the film is the Olof Palme link. The son of former Swedish prime minister Olof Palme has started a lawsuit because he thinks the film suggests that Palme had sex with underage girls. In fact, the name Palme is never mentioned. But apparently, in Sweden there has been a police report about Palme's involvement in the network, which has subsequently been covered up until the 1990's. Because of this historical link, the film is probably a big deal for the Swedes. But for the rest of the world, it is nothing special.

• Sweeden is cleaning the house

  abisio2012-09-19

  Swedish movies have been very difficult to find in USA after Bergman retirement, several years ago, but after the incredible international success of the "Girl with the Dragoon Tattoo" trilogy; Scandinavian cinema is (hopefully ) coming back to these shores. While "Girl with the Dragoon tattoo" started a heavy criticism on Swedish seemly perfect Government and Society; "CALL GIRL" is a frontal attack to an obviously two faced society with "double standard" public functionaries. "CALL GIRL" in an almost documentary style tells the real events (with some name and time-line changes) that almost destroy Sweden political system the seventies. Upon Secret Service discovery (due to espionage suspicions) of several very high level ministries linked to a prostitution ring; investigation evolves to find out that almost every big political figure was involved too. The ring was run by Dagmar Galns (the excellent Pernilla August). The parallel story of two adolescent girls, recruited by her slow down the movie; but lets us see the other side of the equation; get acquainted with prostitutes and their customers, abusers or exploiters. Surprisingly, the portrait of Glans is ambiguous; she is shown as an intelligent, workaholic (she works same as her girls), charismatic but abusive woman. Her followers, describe her as a savior (in that times rights for women and equal job opportunity were not granted). In the end, Glans, her girls, the two adolescent and the police trying to do their job, are just innocent bystanders. The real wolves are the corrupt and/or cowards politicians and government officials, using their power to cleanup their images sacrificing human lives in the process. The ending as you can guess; is not happy; but still it is a must see movie.

• A must see watch of corruption from the higher ranks

  videorama-759-8593912013-08-25

  Here's something different. Interesting and intriguing drama told from fact, about some juvie hotties who were used for the sexual pleasure older perverts of high ranking society, some politicians, etc, one finding himself in a corner. Some of them are so repellent as are some of the the older sex workers, you wouldn't touch with a nine foot pole. Callgirl indeed has some strong moments, ones of pure intensity as it builds to a climax of unexpected revolutions, of revolving doors for the characters, where the baddies get away with it, and our two young teens are back in the squalor. Some of the scenes involving girls looking particularly young, 14-15, undressing and being fondled, I'm amazed the filmmaker got away with it. But nonetheless, this is an engrossing film, one of those that become more involving the further it progresses. The film recounts all the hours of phone tapping, bugging the operators and clientele of this racket, with pretty much the same hopeless result as what happened in Traffic. This is one of the best film I've seen in ages, with a story that needs to be told in a film that needs to be seen.