Body Without Soul (1996)

Documentary look at doomed male prostitutes in Prague, ages 15 to 18, who troll at the public swimming pool, the train station, a video arcade, and a disco. After the boys talk about how ... See full summary »

Director:

Wiktor Grodecki

Writer:

Wiktor Grodecki

Stars:

Vaclav Cernogursky, David, Jarda

Cast

Credited cast:
Vaclav Cernogursky	...	Self
David	...	Self
Jarda	...	Self
Marek	...	Self
Matthew	...	Self
Ota	...	Self
Pavel	...	Self
Pavel Petroci	...	Self
Pavel Rousek	...	Pavel Rousek / Hans Miller
Sawanah	...	Self
Thomas	...	Self

Storyline

Documentary look at doomed male prostitutes in Prague, ages 15 to 18, who troll at the public swimming pool, the train station, a video arcade, and a disco. After the boys talk about how they got in the game, the camera follows them to the home of Pavel Rousek. Under the name Hans Miller, he makes gay porno videos, primarily for German distribution. Intercut with a movie shoot chez Rousek is an interview that follows him to his day job at a morgue, where he performs an autopsy as he talks about his work. The sex is without protection; the boys are without family. They talk about their bodies and souls, money, their sexual orientation, AIDS, their dreams, and death.

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Plot Keywords:

sexploitation | male objectification | autopsy | male prostitute | porn industry | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Alternate Versions

The 18-rated UK release of this film was cut by 1 minute and 40 seconds by the BBFC.

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Soundtracks

Your Mother's Tears
(ritual music of India)
Written by Petr Janda (as Olympic)
Provided by PhDr. Zuzana Ondomisiová

User Reviews

Relentlessly heart-breaking

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.

Details

Country:

Czech Republic

Language:

Czech

Release Date:

9 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Body Without Soul

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Company Credits

Production Co:

MiroFilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1