Documentary filmmaker Tomer Heymann directs his lens at the life of internationally acclaimed gay porn star Jonathan Agassi. Picking up just as he wins an award for best male performer (US) the film documents the impact that porn had on his life and identity, the tensions it only occasionally causes with his very supportive mother and the cost that Jonathan is paying to be Jonathan Agassi.
Heymann achieves fascinating insight into the life of a charming but seemingly very troubled man. In a wonderfully revealing moment he describes his father’s intolerance towards his sexuality and that as a boy he was told his father lived inside of the camera his grandparents used to keep the absentee father updated about his sons. His fondness for filming the sex he enjoys so much is suddenly revealed as a liberating act of transgression against his father’s intolerance. It’s a beautiful insight.
There is great humour to be found in Jonathan’s extraordinary lifestyle. The camp and contrivances of the sex shoes are wonderfully conceived. In one sequence the muscular men pose as soldiers missing home who find solace in each other, all in a jumping club setting. Little old men posing for selfies with their muscular heroes and extraordinary outfits that Agassi demonstrates for his sometimes bewildered mother are just some of the camp scenes the film captures.
The documentary is also very troubling. Jonathan tries to treat his unhappiness with drugs. Scenes of him casually grabbing a crack pipe whilst waiting for his mother to answer the skype call are captured with the same detachment as his use of performance enhancing injections. It’s a horrific descent into excess we are seeing and it culminates in a truly troubling sequence in which Jonathan truly loses himself and the film makers are forced to finally step in.
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life is a film with profound insight and no easy answers. It dissects the legend and looks behind the extraordinary image to find a deeply fragile and wounded person. It’s provocative, funny and very human.
Five Stars