Poikien bisnes

It's not only the western economy that is in a funk these days, please spare a thought for the creative, poor, but good-looking young men who, in their ephebic years, could always rely on making much more money by getting their clothes off and getting it on than working in a dead-end job, but now, thanks to the creative destructive forces of the internet, file sharing and sheer ease of satisfying customer demand for fresh faces, the economics of the porn industry have collapsed under the weight of over-supply of films, easy DIY marketing and zero distribution costs. A Finnish documentary, Poikien Bisnes (All Boys), seen on NZ's Documentary Channel the other night, was a worthwhile attempt to trace the gay porn business in Central Europe, especially its move eastwards by producers searching for ever cheaper models. If you have been fed up with all that relentless Czech and Hungarian twink for the past decade, you are not alone! But the expose of the sheer exploitation by mostly foreign (German, American) porn producers - inevitably always sleazy old men - of any hairless, white, uncut, well-hung young man with a swimmer's physique, is the film's major strength. One of them proudly told us that his was the first full length bareback movie which heralded the condom-less trend in porn production, and which has led to a general disregard for the health and safety of his 'employees'. And then he had the hypocritical gall to tell us that his favourite model 'didn't love him' or 'only thought of himself', so he had to get rid of the boy after his cherubic years were over, back to the homelessness of the Prague streets, while bemoaning the fact that his films were available all over the internet for free and he's not able to make money anymore from trawling the Eastern European back alleys for fresh meat. Forgive me for not feeling sorry for him. But the health havoc he caused is unforgivable.

In the intriguing documentary "All Boys," film maker Markku Heikkinen travels to Prague and takes on the rise and stagnation of the Czech Boys gay porn phenomenon. While he talks to many in the scene, he concentrates on four particular men; Director Dan Komar, and three of his actors Rudy (stage name Aaron Hawke), Josef and Filip. While each of these men has a striking story, it is Aaron's that forms the film's emotional core.

Komar is an adult trapped in arrested development, surrounding himself with perpetual 18 to 20 year olds and making movies of them having sex. It's hard to tell if he's got any emotional investment in his charges; frankly, he is a blank slate emotionally. Josef is a boy who only wants to provide for his impoverished mom. Filip is a straight boy and a go-getter, who works three jobs and does porn for the extra money. These three stories seem to work on the supply and demand theory. Komar has money and jobs, the boys are broke and in desperate need. In a country that has just broken into uncharted territory, these fresh and innocent faces lunge right into an industry that would die without a constant conveyor belt of fresh names.

However, the dark side of this story is Rudu, who gets discovered sleeping under a bridge. He is the hot new kid on the DVD player, makes a load of fast money, and when his features no longer fit the Czech Boys mold, he doesn't have the maturity to move on. He goes from being a "superstar...like Jim Carrey" to a homeless drunk sleeping in a junkyard. From fresh new face to junkie in barely two years is a depressing arc to behold.

While Josef and Filip found their way out of porn and into a life after their twinky expiration dates, it is Rudu's face that stays with you. There's another man who appears briefly, admitting to being a prostitute after being in porn and is already damaged beyond likely repair...at the age of 27. (I won't even go into the fact that these boys are almost all barebacking.) "All Boys" takes a hard look behind the bright lights and gaudy colors to stare at what happens after the clock runs out.