Soraia factor behind Call Girl’s triumphant admissions

by Vitor Pinto

07/01/2008 - Released by Lusomundo on December 27, António-Pedro Vasconcelos' Call Girl [trailer] has picked up over 63,000 admissions to become the second most popular domestic film of 2007, immediately after box office hit Corrupção [trailer] (see news).

Co-written by the director and Tiago Santos, Call Girl is a story of political corruption (no doubt one of the most fruitful movie themes of last year) involving a small town mayor (Nicolau Breyner) and a prostitute (Soraia Chaves), both investigated by a temperamental cop played by Ivo Canelas.

The so-called "Soraia factor" is certainly one of the reasons behind the audience success, which is nevertheless inversely proportional to the film’s reception among Portuguese critics. The model-turned-actress previously starred in the biggest local title of all time, The Crime of Father Amaro [trailer] (2005).

Produced by Tino Navarro for MGN Films in co-production with Lagoa Cultural (Brasil), this seventh feature by the 68-year old Vasconcelos was also backed by national film institute ICAM and private broadcaster TVI.