The iconic Israeli gay porn star allows filmmaker Tomer Heymann to follow him with his camera for eight years, creating one of the most unflinching documentaries of the year. Indeed, the drug use is just as explicit as the nudity and sex. But this isn’t a cautionary tale, as Heymann lets this story unfold intimately and without judgement. So it’s riveting, engaging and sometimes shockingly real.
After being bullied as a child, Yonatan Langer became Jonathan Agassi when he began making porn. A charming muscle boy, he’s gorgeously hairy and tattooed, and obsessed with sex. Splitting his time between Berlin and Tel Aviv, he rises to the top of the profession with movies, exuberant sex-club shows, modelling and escort work. But while he’s a genuinely nice man, he’s almost always stoned on a variety of substances. And his erratic behaviour begins to cause problems on the job.
Heymann’s cameras are with him as he visits his mother and siblings in Israel, trying out his latest fetish gear for them, then as he tries to reconnect with his estranged father in Germany. The cameras also watch him do a blinding array of drugs, including trips that are so seriously awful that we wonder if we’re going to watch him die on-camera. This brutally honest approach sometimes feels like Heymann is exploiting the endlessly affable Agassi, but the honesty provides an important jolt to the audience. Although it seems a little odd that the film neglects to mention that being sacked for drug use forced Agassi to clean up his act.
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life is out on DVD/VOD on 18th November.
FILMS IN CINEMAS…
A blisteringly well-made drama, By the Grace of God (25 Oct) comes from gay French filmmaker Francois Ozon and weaves together three true stories of men abused by their priest as children. And now they’re getting together to take him on legally. It’s staggeringly powerful, never remotely maudlin or sentimental and utterly riveting throughout its epic length.
Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren star in the con-artist drama The Good Liar (8 Nov). With added Russell Tovey. Ah, now I have your attention.
The gorgeous Lee Pace runs around in tiny 1970s shorts in Driven (8 Nov), in which he plays John Delorean, whose iconic car was immortalised as a time machine in Back to the Future. This is the entertaining, comical tale of the dodgy FBI sting that brought him down.
Lupita Nyong’o livens up this year’s best Aussie zombie comedy Little Monsters (15 Nov), a raucously witty romp co-starring Josh Gad and the scruffy Hemsworth-like hunk Alexander England. Expect laughter, violence and a few lively sing-songs.
The nutty American comedy Greener Grass (21 Nov) is a suburban satire like nothing you’ve ever seen: smart and silly, deeply deranged, drenched in pink and panic-strikingly funny. Don’t miss it. JC
MORE FILMS AT HOME…
One of the finest gay movies of the year, The Blond One (11 Nov) is by astute Argentine filmmaker Marco Berger (Plan B, Taekwondo). It’s about two flatmates who begin a sexy romance, but struggle to admit this to their friends in the macho culture of Buenos Aires suburbs. It’s a skilful look at masculinity and sexuality.
Compiled from a six-part series, the feature-length drama The Third (28 Oct) mixes comedy and mystery into its story of a three-way gay relationship in sunny Palm Springs. It’s well-acted and remarkably realistic. And the guys are hot.
The documentary Mr Leather (11 Nov) is a warm exploration of Sao Paulo’s growing fetish community. The film profiles four contenders for the title, leading to a joyous climax at the competition.
This may look like a standard British crime thriller, but A Good Woman Is Hard to Find (28 Oct) is much more than that. It’s sharply well-written, darkly gripping and anchored by a stunning performance by Sarah Bolger.
And Barbra Streisand gets a special re-release for her 1983 classic musical Yentl (18 Nov) in which she plays a cross-dressing Jewish girl who falls for a ridiculously sexy young Mandy Patinkin. JC
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