Product Details

• Actors: Wiktor Grodecki
• Directors: Wiktor Grodecki
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Water Bearer
• DVD Release Date: October 17, 2000
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004YKRN
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #85,240 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #6 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > By Genre > Documentary
  #47 in	Movies & TV > Art House & International > European Cinema > Czech Republic & Slovakia

• For more information about "Body Without Soul" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Review
A fascinating look at a seldom seen world. --TLA Video Guide

Product Description
From director Wiktor Grodecki (Mandragora) this startling and disturbing feature is a graphic insider's view of the seedy but burgeoning East Europe industry that trades nubile young men. The film introduces us to one of the adults (now jailed) who exploits Prague's youth; the city's police coroner and prolific porn director named Pavel. Told with unflinching honesty, Body Without Soul provides an explicit view of the exploitation, pain , and pitiful existence of young men who, out of necessity, sell their bodies to survive. The camera follows the young men as they walk the streets, work on porno shoots, hustle for money, and talk abut their emotions, bodies, sexual preferences and fear of AIDS, their hopes and demons.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, Sickening, and Very Disturbing, September 19, 2002

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Body Without Soul [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Descent Into Evil, April 18, 2001

By	Brian Demma (Pakkret, Nonthaburi Thailand) - See all my reviews

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profoundly disturbing..., July 17, 2002

By	"archersf" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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.