American Eunuchs

Castration is one of America’s best-kept secrets. Officially, the operation is rarely – and always after intensive psychological counselling – performed. Health insurers refuse to reimburse the expenses of this surgical treatment. But the Internet offers an enormous number of so-called ‘cutters’ who, for a fee, are willing to rid desperate clients of their testes. In AMERICAN EUNUCH, Gian Claudio Guiducci and Franco Sacchi investigate the motives of these voluntarily emasculated men, the shady world behind the internet and the inevitable ethical issues. Dog trimmer George, happily married for 15 years, explains that his entire life he longed to be sexless. Dr. Felix Spector is an 84-year-old doctor who used to perform the semi-illegal operation for years in his back-street office in eunuch paradise, Philadelphia. As an eloquent guru of the eunuch community Gelding appears in a revealing G-string, laconically talking about castration, hormones and lust, casually showing us instruments for do-it-yourselfers. Cutter Jack, wearing a balaclava, explains why he is prepared to run serious risks for next to nothing. And then there is the deeply Christian Michael, who is desperate to bring his sexlessness into conformity with his beliefs. The interviews alternate with straightforward shots of the surgery on the operating table, in this cutting-edge film.