Sixteen year old Marek (Mirek Caslvka) is about to embark on an adventure. He will set out to determine his own life away from his over-powering father in the busy city called Prague. And, in less than a year (and within 135 minutes – the running time of this film) Marek will become a street prostitute, a drug addict, a porn star, and worse of all – a statistic. He will be just one of the over 300 young men who flock to Prague each year in search of freedom – only to end up learning the hard way.

In Mandragora there is no lesson to be learned. None. Director Wiktor Grodecki (Not Angels But Angels and Body Without Soul; two documentaries which weigh heavily in Mandragora) used real life prostitutes and a non-professional cast to depict the despair and tragedy that infects so many young adults in Prague. Throughout the entire movie I kept wondering if a lesson would be taught. If some central character would stand out as a moral beacon and learn something. Anything that they could then take from their experiences and at the very least make a change in their own life. But there is none. Each character who falls into this trap – is caught in the trap. Like a mouse after a piece of cheese – all the of teenagers in Mandragora become trapped. They may fight for their lives once they are inside the trap – but they eventually succumb. That is what makes Mandragora a very hard film to watch.

You truly get the sense of Marek’s life without it feeling that you are simply watching a “scene” within a movie. Mirek Caslvka embodies the innocent soul who although seems to be grounded in his decisions, is yet unable to make the right ones. The camera constantly focuses on his facial expressions which center around his eyes looking at those around him. With the assistance of the musical score which weighs heavily on violins – his performance is pure tragedy. Granted another decision(s) could have been made – but still his life, his world, his thoughts, his choices - are…sad.

In the beginning Marek leaves home for all the wrong reasons. His father berates him one day for not going to school. The act of not going is not because he is missing out on an education – but because it makes the father look bad. Marek’s father isn’t some important politician who would have to worry about looking good – but a single man working hard to support he and his son. It’s obvious in the beginning that a little more communication between father and son would of saved both – but like so many families, that communication just isn’t found. And so, Marek runs away from home in search of something else – but without a plan that “something else” becomes just about survival instead of one’s dreams.

Almost immediately Marek finds himself being “taken care” of by Sasha (Karel Polisensky). A pimp who claims to look out for his boys. The camera however immediately focuses on Sasha’s boys who all look depraved for one reason or another. The camera pans over each who are motionless either because they have no emotions left or they have no soul to live. In the next few minutes Marek will find himself to be the property of Sasha who has a verse clientele. These buyers will buy Marek to live out their fantasies. Sometimes it may be that they just want to stare at his body. Or have him stand up on a revolving platform while holding a sword like some centuries old painting. Or someone into S&M and in need of “breaking in” someone new. Whatever it may be – Marek isn’t treated as a human being, but a purchased product. And, that is only the beginning of his horror.

Marek soon meets David (David Svec who also co-wrote the film and won the Prize of the City of Setúbal for his performance) another street hustler. Take the two of them and plop them down any place else – and you’d have best friends who look out for each other. But this is the streets of Prague and this is prostitution. Slowly it becomes obvious that Marek loves David – as a friend – even though their circumstances require them to do much more. After meeting they decide to become pimps themselves by combining their money together to purchase a handful of young men. When that fails, they turn to petty crimes by using and preying on those who in the beginning used and preyed on them. Their world however never has a gleam of hope, because unlike those who took advantage of them – they don’t have the benefit of being grounded in society. Their story is pure injustice – since who would you believe? A street hustler or a banker who is well capable of hiding his own guilty indiscretions. With each step forward Marek and David take they find themselves at least three steps back.

In the end, Marek sees himself drugged out, sick from AIDS, maggots and worms are eating away at his skin while he is sitting at the base of a public toilet. He then proceeds to slash with a knife at his leg over and over unaware that his father who has come in search for him is just a mere two feet away in another stall. That would be enough but Mandragora ends by showing yet another young man getting off a train in Prague. He like Marek and countless others before him, step off the platform and proceed to walk down the stairs and through the tunnel that will perhaps lead them to Sasha or someone like him. Its happened in the past, its happened to Marek, and it’s happening again.

There are a few scenes in the movie where it would seem that Marek has started to quote/quote “learn” from his experiences – perhaps just enough to realize that he needs to escape as fast as he can. He even begins to play tricks on both his prey and his “employer” that lead to them being arrested and at least for a short while scorned by all those around them. But with each break he receives he doesn’t take full of advantage which only leads him back, and in most cases deeper into, that which he for a second escaped from. There are times where you just want to reach your hand inside your television set and smack some sense into the characters. But as a viewer you cannot do so. Instead we are left to see the decline of human life.

In case you’re wondering about the film’s title, Mandragora (also known as Mandrake) is a plant from North Africa. A plant that has been described as “having magic power to heal a great variety of diseases, to induce a feeling of love, affection and happiness.” But, there is also a myth to Mandragora that it was a plant that grew (note: from all account this myth has been disputed) under the gallows from the sperm of hanged men. It was in a way life that grew out of death – but death of the condemned and infested. The myth of Mandragora would seem to have more prudence in relation to the film – especially since happiness is all but absent from Marek’s story.

Another interesting key point that I wanted to briefly discuss is that Mandragora is considered a Gay movie in the sense that it is listed in multiple online establishments including Netflix as such. And, yes, after watching Mandragora it is easy to see why – since the boys are sold as prostitutes to other men in search of sex. Plus, the film does explicitly reference this life through multiple scenes where the term “holds nothing back” can best be said. But, I think it’s an injustice to the film and to perhaps the gay community to easily reference Mandragora as such. It’s wrong to define Mandragora a gay film simply because the story revolves around male prostitutes or shows scenes involving man-on-man contact. Mandragora is a tragic story of countless young men who flock from disruptive homes in search of a new life only to be dragged down into a pit of sorrow and ultimately death. It could happen to anyone, anywhere, from any walk of life. Gay, or not.

I’m faced with the question about weather or not I should recommend this movie. All I can say is that Mandragora is a very hard film to watch. Most viewers will never rent it in the first place – and if they do, they may never survive past the first 10 minutes or so. Grodecki’s film is about despair, injustice, and life. Life that we perhaps only hear about in passing. Life that like many we wish never happened. Life that we cannot ignore because it does happen. What we see, what we think, and then what we do – is what matters. Only then can we hope that things will change. For the better.

Mandragora is Not Rated (NR) for good reason. The entire movie is filled with scenes of ultimate despair. Nudity, sexual situations, rape, violence, foul language, and worse of all – absent of any human spirit.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age