An award-winning gay porn star, Jonathan Agassi travels the world for exotic shoots, claims to love sex and lives part-time with his cool mum, who chirps "each to his own" when his skin flicks arrive in the post along with her religious paraphernalia. But Tomer Heymann's intimate doc reveals an emotionally bruised performer who escorts to support his family, is unhealthily close to his mother and numbs daddy issues with hard drugs. Clear-eyed and empathetic, this is a fascinating look at the motivating forces that create a man doing a job that is unfathomable to many.
5 Reviews
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life
Prismark1010 March 2020
I'll take the producers word that Jonathan Agassi was a successful gay porn star. I do not claim to have any great expertise in porn stars, gay or straight.
This documentary was filmed over eight years. Jonathan divides his time between Israel and Berlin. He is close to his mother, his father abandoned them when he was young.
Director Tomer Heymann reveals a young man in turmoil. Jonathan lives a destructive lifestyle, taking crack and needing to inject his penis to keep it up for sex scenes.
A porn producer lets slip why Jonathan's star in porn faded quickly. He would not take advice. Instead Jonathan went for more tattoos, cut his hair shorter and shorter and bulked up his muscles with steroids. Jonathan goes into escorting as he ceases being the main star in porn movies. Other actors take the limelight and win awards.
This is no surprise, porn is an industry that physically and mentally screws you up. It is well known. Jonathan also seems to have daddy issues. Especially by the way he abandoned his family and also tried to force Jonathan to go straight. A young Jonathan knew he was gay but was also conflicted about gender.
The documentary implies that father and son have been distant for years. However his father lives in Berlin so it is hard to believe that they have not been in touch, even though Berlin is a big city.
It would had been nice if the documentary had a timeline. What we see is someone on a downer because his father seemed to have lied to him about why his marriage broke down. There is a scene where Tomer intervenes as Jonathan has a bad reaction after taking drugs.
Jonathan Agassi is now off drugs and works in a store. He turned his back on porn. I am not sure if he is at peace though. The documentary suffered because at times it looked to be too obviously manipulated.
This documentary was filmed over eight years. Jonathan divides his time between Israel and Berlin. He is close to his mother, his father abandoned them when he was young.
Director Tomer Heymann reveals a young man in turmoil. Jonathan lives a destructive lifestyle, taking crack and needing to inject his penis to keep it up for sex scenes.
A porn producer lets slip why Jonathan's star in porn faded quickly. He would not take advice. Instead Jonathan went for more tattoos, cut his hair shorter and shorter and bulked up his muscles with steroids. Jonathan goes into escorting as he ceases being the main star in porn movies. Other actors take the limelight and win awards.
This is no surprise, porn is an industry that physically and mentally screws you up. It is well known. Jonathan also seems to have daddy issues. Especially by the way he abandoned his family and also tried to force Jonathan to go straight. A young Jonathan knew he was gay but was also conflicted about gender.
The documentary implies that father and son have been distant for years. However his father lives in Berlin so it is hard to believe that they have not been in touch, even though Berlin is a big city.
It would had been nice if the documentary had a timeline. What we see is someone on a downer because his father seemed to have lied to him about why his marriage broke down. There is a scene where Tomer intervenes as Jonathan has a bad reaction after taking drugs.
Jonathan Agassi is now off drugs and works in a store. He turned his back on porn. I am not sure if he is at peace though. The documentary suffered because at times it looked to be too obviously manipulated.
Same old story.
desimonici-898-58442115 January 2022
Are there really still people out there that think that those who do porn and or prostitution are actually happy well adjusted people? Everything about both activities are going to chew you up and spit you out and sadly that is what these people want. It's the same with drug addicts in my opinion.. Everyone knows that drug addiction will bring you to ruin, it always has it always will and yet they choose it.. It is self abuse. This docu follows the trials of this attractive gay man while he punishes himself for other peoples mistakes. It's an old story and a sad one. I read somewhere that he left the porn/sex industry so I hope that is true. At some point you have to let go of the past and live in the present. You are not your past, you are not your childhood, you are not their mistake.
A torn apart handsome boy
alfa-624-37668814 April 2020
Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life is a documentary about a handsome and sexy young man who tries to establish an identity on his good looks and sex skills. The reason why his identity is shallow and manufactured becomes transparent during family scenes of great intimacy. Together with Jonathan you discover his youth, consisting of a long process of alienation and confusion. Is Jonathan able to accept where he comes from and who he actually is?
Hard to watch, brutal insight into the life of a porn star
MauriceKA30 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
As an empathetic viewer, I really had trouble watching this film. To me, it was too intimate a portrait of the state of a broken family. I wonder how the family members could agree to make their disaster public in such an exhibitionistic way.
We see a broken porn actor who has daddy issues (an absent and non-caring dad) and mummy issues (being very close to his mum, almost as a substitute husband). As a very sensitive and fragile person, he gets ground by the porn industry. Not being able to cope with the hardships of such a job, he flees into drugs. On the other hand, he is very outgoing, challenging his peers and employers with extravaganza and exaltation, leading to continuous rejection. This leads him to get drugged out when facing emotional challenges. We see him drugged in infantile states, sobbing, babbling and not able to walk.
In my very humble opinion, the innermost family business and the innermost emotional abysses of a human being should not be made public in such a brutal way. It would be bearable if this was a story, but not the real life or a real human being. The film makers lack sensitivity here, failing to protect this family and the main person of the film from totally exposing themselves in such an undignified way.
We see a broken porn actor who has daddy issues (an absent and non-caring dad) and mummy issues (being very close to his mum, almost as a substitute husband). As a very sensitive and fragile person, he gets ground by the porn industry. Not being able to cope with the hardships of such a job, he flees into drugs. On the other hand, he is very outgoing, challenging his peers and employers with extravaganza and exaltation, leading to continuous rejection. This leads him to get drugged out when facing emotional challenges. We see him drugged in infantile states, sobbing, babbling and not able to walk.
In my very humble opinion, the innermost family business and the innermost emotional abysses of a human being should not be made public in such a brutal way. It would be bearable if this was a story, but not the real life or a real human being. The film makers lack sensitivity here, failing to protect this family and the main person of the film from totally exposing themselves in such an undignified way.
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