Mandragora (1997)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Wiktor Grodecki

Writers:

Wiktor Grodecki (writer)
David Svec (writer)

Release Date:

23 October 1997 (Czech Republic)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

He was 15 - an innocent from a small village, soon to be trapped in the erotic underworld of Prague.

Plot Keywords:

Teenager Nudity | Homosexual Teenager | Homosexual | Male Prostitute | Youth

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Miroslav Caslavka	...	Marek
David Svec	...	David
Pavel Skripal	...	Honza
Kostas Zerdolaglu	...	Krysa
Miroslav Breu	...	Libor
Jirí Kodes	...	Father
Karel Polisenský	...	Sascha
Richard Toth	...	George
Jiri Pachman	...	Pan Franta
Pavel Koci	...	Rudy
Jitka Smutná	...	Krysa's Wife
Jiri Kaftan
Bretislav Farsky
Michell Turchetti
Tomas Petrak

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

Czech Republic

Language:

Czech

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:16 | UK:18

The Black World of Self-Destruction

Wiktor Grodecki's masterful film entitled "Mandragora" is by any standard, a stirring and gut wrenching example of poverty gone amok. The torrid film depicts the story of Marek, superbly played by Miroslav Caslavka, a troubled boy of fifteen who, bored with the juvenile pranks and idle antics in an average town, seeks the glitz and glitter of the city of Prague. Once there, he quickly realizes the needs of life in the big city come with a price, one which he cannot afford and thus succumbs to the hungry appetite of the predatory elements surrounding him. Beginning with the alluring promise of quick cash for services rendered, Marek, quickly realizes this means his 'innocence' which is taken after being drugged and raped. Escaping the inattentive and uncaring pimp, he descends into the depths of sexual perversions when he encounters and befriends a more 'experienced' partner who trades him to a dark, sadistic pair, leaving him broken and violated. The decent into the perverted practices continues when, after a brief respite, he finds himself beaten, left for dead and in the hands of a vicious pornographer. With his father searching for him, the boy having survived an appalling apprenticeship, delves into the illusionary and dead end world of drugs where father and son unfortunately miss each other by inches. All in all, a truly revealing film for anyone wishing to have a worm's eye view in the slow death of male prostitutes. ****