A sex scandal to beat Profumo: It's hard to keep up with this story of Swedish corruption, but you'll be glad you did

By Chris Tookey

PUBLISHED: 16:15 EST, 15 August 2013 | UPDATED: 16:40 EST, 15 August 2013

Call Girl (18)

Verdict: Good, but hard to track down

Rating:

You’ll be hard-pressed to find this Swedish film in your local cinema, but it’s the only ambitious, high-quality release of the week. 

This tremendous debut by Mikael Marcimain tells the true story of a 1976 sex scandal that threatened the Swedish political system.

One to watch: Call Girl is the most worthwhile film released this week. It makes an audience work, but in all the right ways

It’s like Britain’s Profumo affair but much sleazier and with more to say about the corruption of ideals.

The Swedish government was a Social Democrat one, and the film has a beady eye for the Left-wing cant that accompanied the underhand actions.

There are even interesting echoes of the Blair era and of the recent Jimmy Savile and Catholic Church allegations.

But even at 140 minutes, the film seems rushed, and might have been better as a mini-series.

Intrigue: Sofia Karemyr (right) gives an engaging performance in this tale of political corruption

The decision to tell the tale from two points of view — a seemingly tough 15-year-old girl (Sofia Karemyr) who is recruited as a prostitute, and an honest cop (Simon J. Berger) who uncovers the truth — is hard to follow at first.

But it comes good in the final hour as the pair become aware of each other’s existence. 

The air of menace becomes palpable, and the film is a reminder of a kind of paranoid thriller that is not being made today.

During the recession, a frightened film industry has dumbed itself down. Call Girl bucks that trend.

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