"Mandragora," directed by Wiktor Grodecki is a well made but depressing film. It is about a fifteen-year-old boy who runs away from home and goes to Prague. He had not been going to school and his father threatens to beat him. It seems that his father loves him, but he does not seem to know what to do with his son. At the train station in Prague there are men who prey on runaways to lure them into lives of prostitution. Marek, the boy mentioned above, meets one of these men. He is not interested in whet the man wants him to do initially, but he fears being homeless on the streets of Prague. This man is one of several who promise safety and money to the teenagers, but they only want to exploit them. They are only interested in making money. They tell these youths that they need to keep their money to keep it safe. Once in the clutches of these men if they do not have sex with men they are beaten. They are also introduced to drugs and are often forced to be in porn videos. Most of these teenagers are boys, but there are some girls too. Grodecki has also made a couple of documentaries about teen prostitution and under-age pornography in Prague. Some of the boys in the movie had been prostitutes themselves. They appear in this film with the consent of their parents. I know that Prague is not the only city where these things go on. I do not have anything against prostitution, but I am against the exploitation of anyone. I will do anything I can to fight this exploitation. This film always has a strong effect on me. It is not an easy movie to watch.
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