Call Girl

'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.

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.

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.

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!

A Swedish semi adult-drama inspired by the real story of country's corruption and scandal during the time woman's liberation and the sexual revolution. It also went through controversy before hitting the screen. The story is set in the backdrop of the 1976 general election which centers around two troubled teenage girls Iris and Sonja. They are sent to live in a juvenile home, in the night time they begin to explore the city with other girls from the institution. Then they meet a woman called Dagmar who introduce them into the all new world. Like the German movie 'The Lives of Others' a young police officer named Sandberg is assigned to comb the taped phone calls, only for the formality. As he goes deeper into it becomes bigger, he cross-connects which crack loose everything to hit him back.

The movie might be about prostitution but it had less nude scenes which come occasionally. That mean you should not consider it is suitable for all age group. But good for the movie fans from different category who are willing to know the true incident than witnessing sexual side of the tale. It also indicates the struggle of underage girl's without proper guidance in the society. More like the country's security system was flawed. Especially the character Iris' run away at the end tells how safe it was for women in those times.

The filmmakers brought the real atmosphere of 70s. I think it was the perfect cast and their performances. Overall it was a nice movie which throws some lights on the truth about illegal activities and underage prostitution and also dragging the powerful names. Yeah, you must see this movie to know all these in picture than expecting some erotic.

7/10