The
1970’s really were swinging for Sweden, especially the government. At the time, Olof Palme’s Minister of Justice,
Lennart Geijer, was pushing a measure to largely emasculate laws against
pedophilia, until he was caught up in the prostitution scandal that would subsequently
carry his name. As it happens, under-aged
girls were involved. It was a sordid but
bipartisan national scandal that makes great fodder for Mikael Marcimain’s real
life political thriller Call Girl (trailer here), which screens as
a selection of Film Comment Selects 2013.
Mere
days before what is expected to be a close election, an American actress suspiciously
resembling Jane Fonda sings the praises of the progressive PM never
specifically identified as Palme on television.
Meanwhile, crusading vice cop John Sandberg types his report with a
purpose. At every step, the state
security service has interfered with his investigation, as viewers soon learn
via flashback.
Iris
Dahl is too much for her mother to handle, assuming she ever tried. Fortunately, in liberal Sweden she can simply
deposit her problem child in a juvenile home that looks more like a hippy commune. Sneaking out is a snap, especially when her
cousin Sonja Hansson arrives to mutually reinforce their delinquency. Unfortunately, in the course of their
partying, they encounter Dagmar Glans. A
madam with a powerful clientele, Glans recruits the fourteen year-old girls for
her stable.
At
first, the cousins are seduced by the easy money and flashy lifestyle Glans
provides. Inevitably though, the work
takes a toll on them, physically and emotionally. Any ideas they might have about quitting are
quickly dispelled by the procurer and her enforcer, Glenn. After all, the girls could recognize some
rather powerful politicians. Initially,
Sandberg is oblivious to Glans’ young working girls and the notoriety of her
clients. He is simply trying to bust a
vice queen with apparent connections. However,
when his wiretaps come in with conspicuous gaps, Sandberg and his hours-from-retirement
partner start to suspect the scope of the conspiracy afoot.
Call Girl resembles a 1970’s
film in more ways than just soundtrack and décor. In an icily detached manner, it presents a
deeply cynical view of the Swedish government, definitely including St. Olof’s
administration. Nor does it take leering
pleasure from Glans’ dirty business. Marcimain
leaves little doubt Dahl and Hansson are grossly exploited by just about
everyone and the state social welfare establishment simply looked the other
way, for fear of “stigmatizing” them. We
even witness a strategy session for Geijer’s proposal to effectively normalize
sexual relations with minors.
With
credits including television miniseries and second unit work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Marcimain was
well prepared to tell an intricate plotted, richly detailed, multi-character
tale of intrigue. Despite the very specifically
Swedish circumstances, it is always easy to follow. Somehow he also clearly conveys the unsavory
acts the cousins are forced to participate in, without reveling in the
luridness.
Frighteningly
seductive in a weird, matronly way, Pernilla August’s Glans vividly shows how
the devious exploit others and insinuate themselves with the powerful. It is a big, bravura portrayal of a user. As the used, Sofia Karemyr is shockingly
powerful portraying Dahl’s wilted innocence.
Risking type-casting (having appeared as Machiavellian game-players in A Royal Affair and Tinker Tailor), Danish-Swedish actor David Dencik again turns up as
government fixer, Aspen Thorin.
