Slovenian Girl (2009) Poster

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7/10
Interesting, though not very emotionally involving
Andy-29626 March 2011
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.
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7/10
Gritty
billcr1229 May 2012
Slovenka is the name used in ads by Aleksandra to hook up with men for money. She is a twenty three year old college student studying English, and like many girls around the world, finds it a way to pay her tuition. Her parents are divorced, she has a good relationship with her father, but hates her mother. She lies, cheats and steals, with no real moral compass.

Nina Ivanisin is Aleksandra, and she drifts seamlessly through the film with a natural grace and charm. The story is depressing as she gets tangled up with local, dangerous gangsters who, at one point, dangle her out of the window of a high rise. Slovenka is a cold and dark view of humanity; this ain't Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and her goofy smile. Ivansin is a real actress showing a full range of emotions. There is no happily ever after.
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7/10
You don't like her but . . .
iamtriker11 September 2014
Alexandra is a college student trying to make ends meet for her expensive apartment by becoming a call girl. She is attractive, but has a sullen personality that makes you wonder if she finds anything in her world interesting. And as the film progresses she manipulates others, including her father, through her constant scheming, and lying.

Unfortunately she eventually turns a trick with the wrong guy and while she manages to slip away from him, his presence remains throughout the film. Despite not liking Alexandra, I found I wanted her to reform, love her father and escape all that set her on the wrong path. Better than I thought for a low budget eastern European movie.
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7/10
compelling character
SnoopyStyle18 May 2016
It's Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. Aleksandra/Sasha is from a small town studying English. She's also working as a prostitute. Her customer has a heart-attack after taking Viagra. She leaves after taking his money and calling the front desk. The man dies. Her friend Vesna is shocked that she bought a flat. Her father reads about the dead man in the newspaper and the "Slovenian Girl" who was with him. The mystery becomes a media sensation and two thugs threaten her to work for them. She escapes but she is facing mounting mortgage payments.

The two thugs are scary and that section is thrilling. It's a harrowing escape. One expects the thrills to continue but it turns into something else. Sasha's lies and manipulations continue. She shows herself not solely a victim but she is also constantly being victimized. It's a compelling character. It would be great to have a more definitive ending instead of a fade-to-black. There is something left unsaid and unexplored.
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Enjoyed
friendofbeaver4 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Although the main plot is enough, I enjoyed the subplot of Edo getting his band back together. I've been unaware how popular '70's American music is with baby-boomer Slovenes. The salacious Zappa cover made me smile.
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7/10
Another glimpse into life of a young prostitute
ronchow3 September 2013
This film on the life of a college student doubling up as a call girl is watchable but not particularly moving. First of, the girl went into prostitution not to support her college education, but to maintain a flat in a choice location. Right there my feeling for her as a young woman deserving sympathy evaporated. The acting was decent, and if you expect to see much nudity in this film you will be disappointed.

Instead, we were exposed to the array of her clientele, from a generous join from Britain to one obsessed with hygiene - rubber gloves in both hands. There was this usual side story of her fleeing from two men who wanted to pimp her, and from the police due to the Viagra-induced death on one client. However, the story overall is fairly simplistic and not engaging enough.

This is a film from Film Movements, and I actually expected a higher quality film. As is, it is enjoyable to watch - but just barely.
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5/10
Sadistic Exercise in Film: Punish the Viewer
charlytully19 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Obviously, SLOVENIAN GIRL director Damjan Kozole adheres closely to the Lars von Trier school of filmmaking: make the viewing experience as unpleasant at possible for the watcher. While a plot about an under-supported coed making her way through her higher learning by dabbling in the elder professions has been pulled off loads of times in an interesting fashion (CITY ISLAND comes first to mind among movies contemporary to SLOVENIAN GIRL), it usually requires an erotic element to nail such a story down. Unfortunately, Nina Ivanisin as the title character in Kozole's film does not strike one as a convincing 20-euro-a-crack call girl, let alone meriting the 200 euro specified in this story. Further, the actors playing her johns seem hard-pressed to avoid demanding their money back during the few parting scenes Kozole incorporates into SLOVENIAN GIRL. Last night I saw a similarly-themed film from Israel (THE ASSASSIN NEXT DOOR, written and directed by Danny Lerner). Though Olga Kurylenko as the latter title character has NO sex scenes in her guise as an erstwhile hooker, she exudes more erotic appeal than Ivanisin manages during the entire running time of SLOVENIAN GIRL.
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8/10
get inside another life in another place
chuck-52611 October 2010
This film comes off as a "slice of life" ...of an unusual life. Its pace is neither hurried nor slow. It doesn't rely on either symbolism (neither obvious nor obscure) or literary references. Except for a few places where bits of music are used to great effect to convey meaning, this film is a dialog-driven story that doesn't require any sense of style. Although a few events may be a little out of strict order, this film doesn't rely on cinematic techniques like flashbacks. Everything we know of the characters' motivations comes from what they say and do - there's no memory nor daydreams nor interior monologue nor voice over. There are no references to either previous or current "politics" (other than the inconvenient traffic snarls caused by the presence of EU officials). This film is not preachy, nor even moralistic; if anything it's somewhat ambiguous or understated.

It's too bad this film will probably be classified as "foreign" or "art house", as it's much more mainstream than that would suggest. While this film is not really about "sexiness", there are enough scenes with naked flesh to place it firmly in the current worldwide context. Likewise although this film is not really a "thriller", there's enough suspense (and even some danger) to make it clear it should be taken seriously. The filming and acting are quite good. One of the best examples of good supporting acting is portraying a band that's adequate but by no means great; the required level of mediocrity is played quite well.

The dialog is clear and easy to hear throughout. Subtitles are provided whenever necessary and are presented in large yellow letters that are consistently easy to read. I have one quibble though: several places an important message arrives on a cellphone as a text message in a language other than English, and is _not_ subtitled. I always eventually managed to figure out what was going on anyway ...but I would have very warmly welcomed the subtitling of the text messages as well as the dialog.

Much of what we see are all the practical problems and little details of a call girl life: multiple cell phones, code names, harassment by pimps, dying clients, mentally unstable clients, unattractive (downright ugly?) clients, continual fear of exposure, suspicion from hotel staff, inability to ask police to intervene normally, unwelcome carryover of massive lying and acting into other areas of life, difficulty balancing two separate lives (sleep, deadlines, finances, etc.), and so on. We also see more typical lives in both a smaller and a large Slovenian city. In the smaller city we're introduced to the overpowering presence and distortion caused by foreign (especially "American") culture. In the large city we see the architecture one would see every day, the disruption of normal life caused by the presence of EU officials, and the ubiquitous presence of the English language (both its very frequent use and all the attempts to learn it better - something like fully half the dialog doesn't even have to be subtitled for English speaking viewers).

The most important theme is the "alienation" of big city life, and the relatively reduced (but still substantial) alienation in a smaller city. The second important theme is the "meaninglessness" of life everywhere -- the film isn't saturated by the broodiness one tends to associate with nihilism, but adding together what all the various characters say (including things they _don't_ tell each other) it's hard to draw any other conclusion. Many other potential themes are given glancing attention: excessive materialism, fleetingness of relationships, essential isolation of each individual, growing to adulthood as a "launch" of a new lifestyle, inheritance of mental traits, inadvertently becoming what we despise, bleeding together of life spheres intended to stay "separate", and so on. The frequent references to the "Slovenian Girl" -and even the effects of the death of a client- provide convenient handles for describing this film, but aren't really what it's about.
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5/10
Thrilling at First, But Melted into a Letdown
picturesque-arts9 January 2013
This film started off with a strong and exciting plot. The tension between Alexandra, her friends and Greg piqued my interest in each character's development, and the horrifically realistic scene with the pimps had me on edge and biting my nails. These were two things that were done especially well. But soon after that, the plot and character development began to degrade, as nothing but minute details occurred from then on - none of which had any substantial effects on Alexandra's character or emotion. Many pressing aspects of the plot were left unfinished in this movie - from the "tumor" idea to her relationship with her mother; to the whole deal with the pimps; to her ambitions after the exam. There is also no real resolution with her father, Vesna or her mother. I felt like the middle and end of this film turned into nothing more than unnecessary scenes of her riding the train back and forth between her home and the city. Not to mention, Alexandra has no true inner desire - she seeks neither love nor a deeper relationship with her family and friends. This idea of living in her nice apartment overlooking a highway being the sole reason she sells herself is rather unsettling, because honestly, she shows little attachment to the place except when she's showing it off to her friends. Perhaps a slightly more compelling ambition would have made me like her character better. Overall, like another reviewer said, this film is very nihilistic. The lack of emotion and character change (besides the balcony scene) leave for a bland, repetitive and static storyline. I feel like if the film had continued its momentum from the first section of the movie, it would have been a gripping and worthwhile film.
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8/10
Slovenka
johno-215 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this last month at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival and writer/director Damjan Kozole was at my screening for an audience Q&A following the film. Aleksandra (Nina Ivanisin) who is called Sasha is a pretty 23 year old college student from the town of Krsko who is studying in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. To live in nice uptown apartment is above her economic means so to do so she becomes a call girl and advertises her services under the name 'Slovenian Girl'. It's Slovenia's turn to preside over the European Union so Sasha feels she could make a lot of money from European diplomats and businessmen who are in the capital during Slovenia's E.U. presidency. One of her clients is an overweight older German diplomat who dies from a heart attack while in her company. She calls the hotel's front desk to report it and splits before they arrive. She becomes a national tabloid sensation as television and newspapers try to find the mysterious 'Slovenian Girl.' Two sinister pimps, Mile (Dejan Spasic) and Peter (Aljoša Kovacic) have their own plans for her. Her old boyfriend Grega (Uroš Fürst) wants to renew their romance. Her father Edo (Peter Museuski) is getting his old band back together with his best pal Zoravko (Primoz Pirnat) back home in Krsko. This is a moody and dark film with a great cast and story and a remarkable performance by Ivanisin who is in virtually every scene considering it's her first film role. great production design by Maja Moravec, cinematography by Ales Belak and editing by film vets Jurij Moskon and Adrija Zafranovic. nice soundtrack from the electronic music group silence. I would expect this to get distribution in American art house theaters. I would recommend it and give it an 8.0 out of 10.
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5/10
I have seen this
kathideca8 August 2012
I might have seen something similar on this website I think //www.universal-escort.com/ by the way it's a really interesting story. some friend of mine have been doing escort, and they had some similar story.

Some had more chance, some other less.

I think trying to "conquer" the world while being a prostitute is a complicated. people won't have a good opinion of you.

Much of what we see are all the practical problems and little details of a call girl life: multiple cell phones, code names, harassment by pimps, dying clients, mentally unstable clients, unattractive (downright ugly?) clients, continual fear of exposure, suspicion from hotel staff, inability to ask police to intervene normally, unwelcome carryover of massive lying and acting into other areas of life, difficulty balancing two separate lives (sleep, deadlines, finances, etc.), and so on.
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1/10
She should have thrown in with the thugs
filmalamosa19 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
As the movie opens we pick up on Aleksandra who has moved from a small town to Ljubljana to study English.On the side she has set up a lucrative career as a call girl. We follow her in her new life. The first trick she services has taken an overdose of Viagra and dies of a heart attack. Later some thugs try to recruit her and threaten her by dangling her off a high rise balcony. She gets scared and goes home losing all her dreams of attractive apartments and big city life.

I have never seen a movie with so many scrungy obese men. They must have searched Slovenia for beer guts and made them all grow 2 week beards. There is no human eye candy in this thing.

After seeing what was available to her in her home town--I definitely think she should have taken up with the thugs and kept up her life style.

This movie is naive and boring. The cinematography is average at best. One of the clues to the latter is too obvious visual symbolism using things like scrawled messages on walls which they will show you 4 or 5 times.

DO NOT RECOMMEND
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8/10
Slovenian Girl — An Eastern European call girl trying to get an education
AvidClimber15 December 2012
Slovenian Girl (original title: Slovenka, alternate title: A Call Girl) will give you many chills, but it's not a suspense. It just presents the facts. It's not always pretty, it never gets dirty, it has its good sides, some bad too... neutral seems to be the theme.

You'll see her origins, her work, her life, all in a quiet voice. Drama will not become action, pain will not be torment. However, being used to Hollywood, you can expect to be gripping your chair a bit, because all the trappings are there, just not that pre-chewed scenario that would lead you to jump out of your seat.

I can only pull a few negative points: the colors are a bit off, the camera work very simple, and the story a bit sombre. My guess is it's low budget movie that was able to pull off a great performance.

If you don't mind reading subtitles, go for it.
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2/10
Slovenly Slovenians
winopaul30 December 2022
Firstly, despite Tubi changing the title to "A call girl," this is not the 2012 foreign film about Swedish politicians doing an Epstein. If you're looking for Olof Palme getting busy with teenagers, that is another movie. This movie sucks. It is one of those naturalistic slice-of-life art films. Former communist countries are like upper-class artsy Americans. Both are so shielded from the reality of having to make a living, they find watching a couple hours of misery and degradation entertaining. Normal people watch this crap and are needlessly reminded of the nasty brutish and short reality we deal with every day.

The call girl is despicable. Like Mary McCarthy said about Lillian Hellman, every word she says is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'. I wanted to smash a grapefruit into her face. Her dad is better, but having visited Eastern Europe, people tend to look slim, not morbidly obese like her dad and his pals. The film is dreary and horrible except for the very end, when the call girl's dad gets his band doing a cover version of Frank Zappa's "Bobby Brown".

PS: The etymology of slovenly has nothing to do with Slovenia.
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8/10
Good, Emotional,moody ....
SivakumarBalachandran5 October 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A call girl is a slow moody emotional disturbing kind of films.First thing is that the direction of the movie is so good. the story flows naturally the screen play has no cinematic experience in it. The whole essence of the movie is contained with a story of a girl who sells herself to live normally.....the lead role by the girl was so real and natural which makes you feel for her.The film has got so much day to day things of an authentic Slovenian life in it which gets you into it. The girl is so perfect for the role her mannerisms makes the viewer feel for her,like she usually lights up a cigar scratching it with her tongue and lips which has been maintained in the entire movie.Overall it is a story so natural without cinematic twist and turn endings.Natural star cast.The movie is Quite normal and moving.I would give 8 on 10.
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3/10
good topic - prostitution
NijazBaBs16 April 2021
This shows us experience of being a prostitute, single one in this case. I think it is good topic because makes us more aware of possibility that there are prostitutes around us. It could be anybody, any girl. Our girlfriend, classmate, coworker, neighbor, friend. Just another way to survive, similar to drugs, begging, stealing... But I did not like the looks, meaning could be hotter girl, better makeup, more professional skills, and more deep action. Instead it is all shallow, amateur, unfinished, composed of many small random acts. I think this make us more aware of prostitution of young girls in Balkan states like Slovenia... Bare, real, survivalistic, negative.
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5/10
Depressing...
derek-duerden12 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
... and, ultimately, not that convincing.

Having dug herself several holes as a consequence of her risky lifestyle, I must say that I expected a harsher denouement than "moving back home to the country as the big city didn't work out".... Any number of things could have happened instead / as well as her overextensions came back to burn her, and this was one major aspect which for me became unconvincing. More puzzling, from the start, she looks so *sulky* that she doesn't really convince as a high-class (or at least, relatively expensive) call girl. I have no experience in these matters but if guys are paying for a "good time" she doesn't look like she's even pretending to have one herself. If this is at all true to life then it all looks pretty depressing. (NB I guess if the director's intention was to put off any young girl from thinking that this is easy money and a glamorous lifestyle then it probably will succeed admirably, and I'd respect that if so.)

Not recommended otherwise, though.
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