Monger
Monger
Written by Jeff Zorrilla | Review by Nabadipa Talukder
Set in the town of Buenos Aires, this documentary talks about the much-debated abyss of sexual exploitation and the debauchery of rich men. It explores the human relations around the lives of the sex workers, their pimps and customers. The introspective makes the story curve around the twisted tales of the girls living in Buenos Aires, Argentina who give into this profession due to its demand by the Americans and men from other first world countries who find their escapade through their rendezvous in Argentina’s own cosmopolitan town and capital.
The film sequentially introduces its prime subjects in the order of importance. We see the ‘Mongers’, who are men belonging to the city or sometimes fly to the city to deal the prostitutes to their prospective clients who they hunt down from various websites or are sometimes directly contacted by the customers themselves. We also see how these men have a prime profession when they are not busy dealing with women for sex. Then we see a detailed profile of the types of men who are interested in these females keeping parallelly the lives and perspectives of these women who have made prostitution their profession and their reasons for it. Interestingly, Jeff has chosen to show two sides of this trade, both the emotional side of the people involved and also how the societal norms have played its part in the financial inflation. Also, the everlasting gender inequality due to which most women have to ultimately give into this profession due to sexual assault in their growing up years and unfortunately having to choose what was available to them. He has also shown the sensitive sides of these men who nonetheless exploit these women for sexual favors but are not complete douchebags.
Without being too histrionic, he shares the personal long-term relationship of a man with one of the prostitutes. It highlights the fact that no matter how much men respect these women and use them for sexual favors they will never readily accept them into their lives. They live dual lives, one more professional and the other where they need to take care of not mixing their personal and emotional lives. When we see their share their interpersonal relations with the prostitutes, we often see a sight full of regret without many expressions to what they want to convey. They would probably accept their mistakes but not be a part of it.
The mongers or dealers, on the other hand, are also seen full of sympathy for the prostitutes but then again, we see where self-preservation walks in all high in the room and the mongers make it a point of being kind but they also acknowledge the deal where they cannot help every girl. Inept with other skills, these girls usually fall prey to the mongers but accept their fate and get on with their jobs. All in all, this film has been shot in both motion and hand-held camera making it an interesting watch. The storytelling is very crisp and straightforward with a pinch of reality to sink deep into. Emotional and cathartic to some extent, it will open to all the world of easy prostitution and give us something to ponder over while we sit all laidback in our usual lives and give us perspectives to a better life; a better life.
Dr. Nabadipa Talukder is a doctor by profession with a passion for creative writing and has been into digital content writing for almost 5 years now. She practiced as a dental professional for two years in Kolkata before she quit her job in order to pursue a career in writing. Nabadipa was exposed to the freedom to write for various fronts which opened up her mind and introduced her to the world of screenplay and script writing. She wishes to travel and understand various cultures and wishes to write their stories.
