This is the second documentary I have watched regarding sex workers in the Czech Republic, which this one focuses on both rent boys and porn stars. I hated the first one and this one was only marginally better. If you took away the content and look at the documentary process, this is far superior.
However, there are many ways this was such a let down. The director is interfering with the content too much and therefore the viewer cannot make an unbiased view on the content. The overuse of mood music to emphasise the sadness of the boys' stories and the shots of the evil porno director in his full time job in the morgue dissecting human bodies are clearly trying to artificially create a horrible mood. This sensationalist method makes the director appear one sided.
He also fails to contextualise the topic. There is no mention of the poor economic conditions and the minimal rule of law in a post communist country. It is not a surprise that at that point there are a number of boys who get forced into the industry due to poverty. In addition to this, I imagine the regulation would be weak while a democratic government establishes itself. The way the director presented this would imply all male sex workers suffer the same situation rather than being the result of extreme circumstances.
From the way he presents the situation you would think this is representative of all of the gay porn industry. The film's focus is on the teenage, skinny boys rather than older, bigger men. He uses this to emphasise the vulnerability of the boys. Had he used older men as his subject his documentary might not be so harrowing and he would not be able to paint the picture he wanted to. I also found some of the scenes a bit too staged - but maybe I am being too negative!
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