VividSimon Simply Perfect

Borserie it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Edgar Soberon Torchia 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.

Bene Cumb Generally, I am not into documentaries, not against them, really, but I choose to follow the topics that a) I like and know b) are totally unknown to me. Telo bez duse falls into the latter category as I have never been even approached by a man offering to sell himself, but several awards and accolades promised to obtain a thorough picture of what was going on in a 1990ies post-socialist country.And yes, I am generally satisfied with the result, although the thoughts and comprehensions of the boys are more profound and versatile than those of the man who irresponsibly and stonily victimised the boys who were even often neither gays nor bisexuals... Thus, there is even no frivolous glamour, but real lowlife, lots of violence, drugs, abuse, poverty, diseases. The filmmaker's daily employment in performing autopsies provides the film with macabre undertones, as in other circumstances, his thoughts and actions would be just odd and sometimes darkly humorous, but as for his "creations" with underage hetero boys (being a family man with children!), he is just plain and loathsome.The film in question could also be a warning film for teens who sometimes think that prostitution is a quick money and plentiful entertainment.

rosecalifornia 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.

didier-20 Aside from the jaw dropping sensationalism of this film making, which left me speechless at several points......Once i came back to earth i feel it has to be said that this is "auteur" film masquerading as documentary. As documentary film, it remains irresponsible. The film maker went on to make three films about this subject, and it's more about the film makers own obsessions than anything else. Was it a film about a period in a drug crazed pornographer's monstrous life and how he moved from beyond horror and into the absurdly grotesque.(dark, dark,black comedy) ?? As documentary, i thought this was it's most successful subject. To say it is a film about under age male prostitution in Praha is incorrect. Only part of that reality is ever revealed, so much of what ought to have been explored simply remains absent.To have done all these boys honour & justice, he would have had to expand the true context of their lives and humanised them as much as possible. In the very least abandon a sensationalist and mythologising approach in favour of level headed factual survey. He did not. To say it is a film about pornography in Praha is also incorrect. Again only a small part of that reality is seen, and most left out. No other geographical or social context was explored, no interviews with police or other pornographers. No context of what life is like now in the city of Praha, concerning these matters. To this extent you can charge the director with exploitation of these boys as much as anybody else. This film is a pornographic documentary about sex, drugs and death which happens to be set in Praha . The audience manipulation is phenomenal. I really had to re-check in myself a number of realities after it had finished. Be critical and don't just take this highly disturbing film at face value.