Call Girl

A lifeless screenplay makes this ambitious film-project to wreck completely. A true story with all the right ingredients. Olof Palme, the minister of justice Lennart Geijer, Jane Fonda, sex with minors... A major political scandal, swept under the thick Swedish democratic rug. Storytelling turned into a tepid recitation of facts and participants. Very close to the updated version of the book "Bordellhärvan" by Deanne Rauscher, Gösta Elmquist, and Janne Mattsson (Pocketförlaget 2012). As some of you already pointed out, a remarkable tour de force of the "Call Girl" art department. Regarding the locations, most of them are negligent/ignorant choices. A 1976 costume in a Stockholm 2011. The film is stuffed with good distinctive Scandinavian actors. Most of them lost in a sprawling storyline. However, Pernilla August is truly magnificent. A lifeboat in an ocean full of good purposes.

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.

CALL GIRL is one of those slow and sombre Scandinavian productions that's all about the slow burn. It tells the true story of a scandalous call girl ring running in Sweden in the 1970s in which underage girls were procured for leading politicians of the era. Names have been changed but the viewer nonetheless comes away with some idea of the corruption inherent during the era, and of course we all know that most countries have their own skeletons in the closet from that decade.

As a film, CALL GIRL doesn't really excite or involve the viewer too much, although it's certainly very well made and beautifully directed in places. The subject matter is racy but somehow never sleazy; there's a classy slickness to the production that veers on the right side of taste. Saying that, there's still a heck of a lot of nudity from the young women involved, so it's not going to be for all tastes. The acting is of a generally realistic standard, too. My main issue is with the overlong running time; at least half the has elapsed before the story begins for real with the police investigation and some efficient pruning could have turned this into something really remarkable.

Well that was a disappointment. I thought the story (based on true events) would be something interesting to watch but the movie just turns out to be more than two hours of boredom. It's just not well made, it could have used a better editing and filming. Too many repetitive scenes, not even well shot, just made this movie boring to watch. The acting isn't anything special at all, just like the whole movie. Maybe it's interesting for somebody from Sweden, even though I doubt that. Did I regret watching this one? Yes, it's a waste of time!

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.