Body Without Soul (1996)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

In «Body Without Soul», Wiktor Grodecki's second installment of his trilogy on male prostitution in the Czech Republic, the filmmaker tackled the industry of homosexual pornography in the country, and he was lucky to have the participation of Pavel Rousek, pornographer in his free time and medical examiner as his profession. Rousek is a character that alternates between the repulsive and the fascinating, but it is he who brings Grodecki out of porno-misery and his method of editing and using music.Once again, Grodecki is talking about Death, about sex that neither procreates nor derives pleasure, but an activity done in front of a cheap camera, for little pay, with no protection and enduring physical abuse. In these times, in which life has depreciated to the point that anyone is killed for a peanut, in which people sell their bodies because they have reduced it to the category of mere shell, «Body Without Soul» is a timely product, even though 23 years have passed since its release.Grodecki also had one more time a group of young prostitutes between 14 and 19 years old, who spoke with courage to the camera. Among them, there is a young man who, as the film progresses, reveals that he has acquired AIDS, while the others speak frankly of their lack of fear of Death. Then you have Rousek: the pornographer not only gave an interview, but also allowed himself to be filmed during the shooting of one of his movies and, even more impressive, at work in the morgue, in front of a corpse that he dismembered, while making parallels between both activities.However, Grodecki could not lose the habit of mellowing, melodramatizing and manipulating the audience with fragments of the most tearful music ever composed by Albinoni, Mahler, Vivaldi, Allegri and Mozart. Not even the group Olympic contributed something cheerful, but the weeping ballad "Tears of Your Mother". Neither on this occasion, Grodecki tried to contextualize his documentary in time and place, on the economic, political or social situation of the Czech Republic. Where, how and why did these guys come up with the idea of practicing prostitution or appearing in gay porno? Out of the blue? Because of hunger, but why were they hungry? Simply because they are amoral, ignorant or cynical? There are no answers.In spite of everything, there is a notable advance in «Body Without Soul» when compared to the first installment of the trilogy, «Not Angels But Angels». Despite the endless music and sound effects, both documentaries will serve as historical memory of the beautiful city of Prague, at a time when it was being eaten away by a contagious and lethal disease. Followed by «Mandragora», last part of the trilogy.

Keeping in mind that this was made in 1996 or so...the documentary is difficult to watch. I actually was able to only get through about 15 or 20 minutes before I stopped it.The filmmaker seem to have a very open connection with the young men that were interviewed for this documentary - however - what make it difficult was not the candidness of the lifestyle and exploitation of these children. But it is almost a documentary skewed toward titillation for a certain audience, almost like it would have been shown in a back alley theater or something. Not sure why the movie interviewed the young men in provocative.....stances or positions.... rather than something more straight forward like an informative documentary. That really makes someone question what was truly behind the documentary.

Wiktor Grodecki's " Body Without Soul " invites the courageous to the prequel of his sensationally dark film, Mandragora. This graphic film depicts the appalling process by which young prepubescence and teen age boys in Prague are so skillfully lured into the eviscerated life of a male prostitute. Candid interviews with both predators and victims alike allow the visitor to observe how deftly and skillfully an unsympathetic pimp/promoter/and oftentimes executioner, can entice, convince and then blackmail his victims into becoming porn stars. Systemic of a life of poverty, the boys recall how easily they and their peers became street hustlers. Converging at a well-known swimming pool in the city, unsuspecting victims are attracted by the promise of money, and too often find themselves defending the tragic lifestyle of the walking dead. This film is not for the faint-hearted, but rather for those wishing to obtain the remnants of humanity on the verge of self-destruction.

As someone who is trying to help a 23 year old recover from that lifestyle, I can say the film is a very accurate representation of not just boy prostitution in Prague in the 1990s but of boy prostitution as such. I saw it, along with many other films on that subject, because I wanted to educate myself as much as possible and had exhausted all other sources of information I could think of. Of the docos I saw, "Body Without Soul" was the most in-depth. The 2 hours (maybe 2+, I'm not sure) went in the blink of an eye, the film draws you in. In that sense, it's easy to get through but otherwise it's beyond painful, it hits very close to home and it hits repeatedly. The fate of one of the boys being interviewed - the youngest, most articulate and most beautiful, of course - is particularly heart-breaking. I finished watching the movie a few hours ago and I'm hurting almost physically.Contrary to what other reviewers have said, I would recommend this film to anyone and everyone because the truth of the matter is that however unsavory, the subject "Body Without Soul" deals with is one people should be a lot more familiar with than most currently are. I find myself wondering what those who voted 5 or worse are evaluating exactly, said subject matter or their own reaction to the film. If it's the former, I can only advise them to direct their negative energy elsewhere. The movie didn't invent prostitution, adult males did. If it's the latter - if Body without Soul made them feel bad enough to hate it - then they should have given it a 10.