Body Without Soul

Rating:
Summary: Prostitution
Review: A,raw look at teen prostitution in the Czech republic,young boys leaving the country side in search of money,gather at dance bars,train stations waiting male tourists.

Rating:
Summary: More of a Documentary
Review: I was fairly disappointed. The central character, a porn-film director was somewhat self opinionated and irritating. Listening to him was not helped by having to read the English sub-titles. There are some rather cute Czech lads to look at, and you can sympathise with their (albeit self-induced) plight. Anyone looking for much nudity and sex however, will be disappointed.

The film is more of a 'Talking Heads' Documentary, with very little action. There is a strange (and repellent) inclusion in the film, of what appears to be a very real post-mortem (the directors daytime occupation is a mortician ).

The DVD will probably gather a little dust on the shelf, as it's not particularly re-watchable.

Rating:
Summary: More of a Documentary
Review: I was fairly disappointed. The central character, a porn-film director was somewhat self opinionated and irritating. Listening to him was not helped by having to read the English sub-titles. There are some rather cute Czech lads to look at, and you can sympathise with their (albeit self-induced) plight. Anyone looking for much nudity and sex however, will be disappointed.

The film is more of a 'Talking Heads' Documentary, with very little action. There is a strange (and repellent) inclusion in the film, of what appears to be a very real post-mortem (the directors daytime occupation is a mortician ).

The DVD will probably gather a little dust on the shelf, as it's not particularly re-watchable.

Rating:
Summary: Profoundly disturbing...
Review: One of the most truly despairing documentaries ever filmed, this film chronicles the cruel exploitation and empty lives of Eastern European teenage hustlers. The boys are allowed to simply speak to the camera, and their stories are harrowing and unflinching. Their narratives are intercut with an astonishingly frank interview with a director of teen porn films, who eagerly recounts his abusive methods for soliciting performances while carving up cadavers in his part-time job as coroner. The documentary has a very cool feel to it... it's a gritty, unemotional glimpse at this slice of life. White-on-white subtitles are somewhat difficult to read, and music is slightly intrusive.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Sickening, and Very Disturbing
Review: Some are ugly, some are attractive; some use drugs, some do not; some are stupid, some are average, some are smart. And all of them are teenage male prostitutes working the streets of Prague. Their clients consist largely of German, Swiss, and Dutch tourists in search of cheap sex--and for additional income they make pornos on the side. And along the way they are ripped off, abused, and degraded until they simply wear out.

Wiktor Grodecki's documentary BODY WITHOUT SOUL is a dark and disturbing look at life on the streets of Prague. The film consists of interviews with a dozen or so teenagers describing how they first began on the streets, how they drifted into prostitution and pornography. Some of the subjects seemed drugged; others are surprisingly articulate. The centerpiece of the film, however, is an extended interview with a pornographic film director who at first attempts to gloss over the unsavory aspects of his work--and who ends by unintentionally revealing just how vicious he actually is. The pornographer is also a pathologist, and the camera follows him into the autopsy room and films him at work. Grodecki then intercuts these scenes with scenes of him directing his latest film, thus making the point that these boys are no more to those who use them than so much meat.

Although it is exceptionally well done, I would hesitate to recommend BODY WITHOUT SOUL to a casual viewer. It is a moving film, a powerful testament re the old, old story of man's inhumanity to man... But many will find the autopsy scenes repulsive beyond their toleration, and I cannot imagine that many will watch the film more than once. Recommended, but as a rental rather than a purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Sickening, and Very Disturbing
Review: Some are ugly, some are attractive; some use drugs, some do not; some are stupid, some are average, some are smart. And all of them are teenage male prostitutes working the streets of Prague. Their clients consist largely of German, Swiss, and Dutch tourists in search of cheap sex--and for additional income they make pornos on the side. And along the way they are ripped off, abused, and degraded until they simply wear out.

Wiktor Grodecki's documentary BODY WITHOUT SOUL is a dark and disturbing look at life on the streets of Prague. The film consists of interviews with a dozen or so teenagers describing how they first began on the streets, how they drifted into prostitution and pornography. Some of the subjects seemed drugged; others are surprisingly articulate. The centerpiece of the film, however, is an extended interview with a pornographic film director who at first attempts to gloss over the unsavory aspects of his work--and who ends by unintentionally revealing just how vicious he actually is. The pornographer is also a pathologist, and the camera follows him into the autopsy room and films him at work. Grodecki then intercuts these scenes with scenes of him directing his latest film, thus making the point that these boys are no more to those who use them than so much meat.

Although it is exceptionally well done, I would hesitate to recommend BODY WITHOUT SOUL to a casual viewer. It is a moving film, a powerful testament re the old, old story of man's inhumanity to man... But many will find the autopsy scenes repulsive beyond their toleration, and I cannot imagine that many will watch the film more than once. Recommended, but as a rental rather than a purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Descent Into Evil
Review: This is one of the most harrowing films I've ever seen about the issue of teenage boy prostitution, though not as affecting as the director's next film, Mandragora. As one who knows Prague well, I can say that the situation is quite realistic, as long as one keeps in mind that the director is dealing with boys at the very lowest end of the prostitution spectrum and therefore those most prone to abuse. The heart of the film is the interview with the Czech porn film director, a true descent into evil that chills one to the bone. One of the boys interviewed in the film made it into the director's Mandragora in a starring role. He made quite an impression as an actor and was widely praised in the Czech press, so let us hope he has continued in his acting career. The Czech press was quite harsh in its evaluation of all the films of this director dealing with boy prostition in Prague, accusing him of sensationalism and gratuitious nudity, an ironic criticism for films dealing with sex exploitation. Nonetheless, the film is a landmark study of the terrible risks faced by young, poor teenage boys entering the sex trade in Prague.