Customer Reviews

Call Girl (2009)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw "Slovenian Girl" (as this film was titled at the time) in January of 2010 at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It is spot-on about post-Soviet life in Eastern Europe, where the vacuum created when the Soviet lifestyle was replaced by capitalism is filled by amoral activity aimed at material gain at any cost. The Slovenian actress in the title role is amazing -- able to show her duplicity and manipulating ways merely by a look in her eyes. The supporting cast is equally good. Excellent all 'round!

This is a very good film that presents the hardships and difficulties in being a call girl. Alexandra (Nina Ivanisin) is a twenty-three years old college student who lives with her father. She attends college in the capital of Slovenia. She is scarce on money. Alexandra wants to have a nice flat, but it is too expensive to keep. She falls further and further behind on payments. No matter how many clients she has, it is not enough to keep up with the payments. Her academics suffer as well. She becomes desperate to the point here she has to manipulate a professor to give her a passing grade for an exam. She lies to everyone: her clients, her professors, the bank teller, her friends, and her father. I feel for her poor father. He distracts himself from the dullness of his life by trying to start up his old band. His wife, Alexandra's mother, left him for a man she had an affair with. All the actors were all right. Her father's friends were quite stupid and goofy. Alexandra looks quite homely though throughout the whole film. As if she needed a good night's sleep, or a shower. She was very defiant and sort of drained. Rather lifeless must say, but I will blame that on all the disgusting men she had to work with. She sure smokes up a chimney. All in all, the film was a good simple portrayal of the classic call girl profession, aka prostitute. I feel bad for these girls who choose this profession to compensate them-selves for money.

A 23 year old Slovenian girl, originally from a small town there but now studying at the university in the capital of Ljubljana, supplements her life as a student with stints as a prostitute (to show how distasteful her job is, the filmmakers have all her clients to be fat and/or old). One of them is a famous politician, and when he dies of a heart attack when he was in a hotel room with her, she flees not before telling the police. She is soon searched by the authorities and by the news media as the mysterious Slovenian Girl. She is also on the run from two sleazy, violent pimps, who want her to work for them instead of independently. A former boyfriend is stalking her also, and her mother back in her hometown doesn't look too happy when she shows up for a visit. Only her rock musician father and a female friend (who are obviously ignorant of her side job) are there supporting her. And all of the time she's having money problems, including coming with money to pay for a loan she incurred in to buy an apartment.

To me the movie works best as a showcase of the general aimlessness of many young people today, especially in the developed world. Without any spiritual or political belief, many young people today seem to fall into nihilism. The main actress is pretty, but it seems to me to be way too surly to be a prostitute. Shouldn't she at least feign she is a sweet girl in front of her clients (this is not a criticism of her acting, she clearly has been told to play her that way by the filmmakers). Alas, this surliness of her makes the audience not care too much of what happens to her. Still, this is an interesting, well made film, though not very emotionally involving.

(special thanks to Film Movement for providing me with a screener!)

Prostitution is often described as the world's oldest profession. At various points in history its been banned, praised and made into a form of worship. These days it simply is what it is, and for at least some people, it's a viable way to make money.

One of those people is featured in this latest release from Film Movement. The film is a drama about a young woman, Alexandra (Nina Ivanisin), who has escaped small town life and is now a student living in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. She wants to have a certain kind of lifestyle and that lifestyle requires more money than a student might normally have. So like many attractive people before her, she figures that she might as well start selling sex to get the life she wants.

At first things seem to be going quite well for her, and she's soon raking in enough money to buy a small condo. But right at the beginning of the film things take a dark turn as a German member of the European Parliament, and would-be customer, dies of a heart attack. She's got the presence of mind to call for medical help and then scoots out of the hotel. Soon the hunt is on for her, which doesn't stop her from continuing to work, something which eventually captures the eyes of a couple local pimps. Things go downhill from there.

I liked this movie, but didn't love it. It wasn't anything terribly spectacular. The main character isn't that sympathetic or as interesting as the story wants you to think she is, though her father, a former rock musician trying to get back into the game was quite interesting. I'd actually rather like to see a movie just about him, since I think that could be really fascinating.

I did get some vague feelings about the sense of quiet desperation with which she leads her life, but there were many times when I wanted to smack her upside the head and say, "Hey, wake up and join reality!" I was pleased at the outcome of the film, which seemed to me to be fairly realistic and well-suited to the story. I was also quite fascinated to see Slovenia, a country about which I know a little, but not much. Ljubljana itself looks like a very nice city and the small town she comes from seems quite lovely as well. I also really liked the fact that the film didn't seem to take any position one way or the other about the morality of prostitution. It just presents it as a fact of life and then deals with it. That was nice to see.

Ultimately I can't really give a recommendation on this one. It was interesting enough, and not bad, but it's not one that I'm likely to watch again.

== Short Subject ==

This month's short subject is called Honor, and it centers around a woman (Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss), who recently lost her husband in Iraq. A former friend of his comes to visit her one day with a stack of letters and as the two people talk a dark secret is soon revealed.

Again as with the main feature, I liked this short, but I didn't love it. Neither of the two characters really got or held my attention, and the central story didn't really interest me. The secret that's revealed and some of the emotional toll it's clearly taken on Moss' character was fairly interesting, but in a movie this brief there's not that much that could be done with it. It's not a bad short, but not anything worth taking a lot of effort to see.

Loved this tale of a Slovenian girl moving to the capital and becoming a call girl to pay for her new life and lifestyle - until, of course, complications arise in the form of a dying dignitary and frightening pimps. This beginning part of the story is thrilling and will put you on the edge of your seat but it's the next part that really holds the heart of the film. Alexandra returns to her little hometown to escape the dangers of her city life. We see her interact with her father (delightfully acted by Peter Musevski), an aged rocker trying to pull his life together after his wife left him for a man she was having an affair with. Nina Ivanisin as Alexandra goes deep into the role, keeping up a strong and unfazed facade as everything around her is volatile and threatening. Very cool and a perfect final scene!

I REALLY LIKED THIS MOVIE. NINA IVANISIN PLAYS A CALL GIRL NAMED ALEXANDRA. HER REAL NAME IS SASHA. WHEN ONE OF HER CLIENTS DIES OF A HEART ATTACK SHE CALLS THE AMBULANCE BUT THEN FLEES THE SCENE. ALEXANDRA USES HER CALL GIRL MONEY TO PAY FOR A NICE FLAT AND GO TO SCHOOL TO STUDY ENGLISH.

SOON THE POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR THE CALL GIRL WHO LEFT THE SCENE AND SO ARE PIMPS, LOOKING TO MAKE MONEY OFF OF HER AFTER SHE FLEES FROM THEM TOO. NINA IVANISIN IS GREAT AS THE CALL GIRL. SHE IS PRETTY AND MANUPULATIVE AND PETER MUSEVSKI IS GREAT AS HER SWEET AND CARING FATHER WHO TRIES TO RESTART HIS OWN FADING ROCK BAND, AS HE TRIES TO LIVE AND CARE FOR HIS DAUGHTER.

ALL IN ALL I REALLY LIKED THIS MOVIE. I THINK IT DESERVES A WATCH.

This was an interesting movie, showing what young people, even students, must sometimes do to survive in today's world. In this case it's selling her body.

Though the acting was fine, I found the pace a little too slow for my taste. And the movie's conclusion left me wanting more.

I came across this film in my local public library. I picked it up because it was from Slovenia and so far I have not seen any movies from the Film Movement series that is from that part of the world. Set in the capital of the Slovenia it is a story about young college girl who lives away from her small town and her father who seems to be her only family. Her mother has left the family and has somewhat comfortable life she is unwilling to share with her daughter. Their relationship is the one of the mutual dislike.

In a countries that have always been poor, having an apartment of one's own is a life long dream. It is not surprising that Alexandra, movie's heroine, takes a leap of faith when she buy beautiful one bedroom apartment in the heart of the city, new construction. To pay for it she turns to working as a call girl in between her college classes. She is sure that with her smartness and looks she will beat the system and be able to provide herself with a comfortable life.

Alexandra resents her mother, but in a lots of ways she is just like her mother. She uses men for money and false sense of her own security and comfort. Alexandra is as manipulative as she is smart. She is determined to succeed at all price. I am not sure that Alexandra is a kind of a girl that can be liked, but she sure is strong willed and determined. I truly enjoyed this movie and I would strongly recommend it.