Anyone who’s read a description of the movie, which follows a decade in the life of Israeli gay-porn star Jonathan Agassi, but who expects some refinement or concealment, will be disappointed. The opening scene of “Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life”, a new documentary film by Tomer Heymann, leaves no room for doubt. The dissonance and the dissociation between their actions and their attitudes leave the viewer aghast. It is not a sensual gesture, seemed to generate pleasure, but more like the polishing of a tool, with one hand consoling, with fluttering strokes, the other rubbing.
There is nothing erotic about it, it’s purely mechanical, almost totally incidental. As part of the preparation for the show that is about to begin, a live sex act on the club’s stage, they are handling their penises, aiming to create and maintain an erection.
While this updating and consolation take place, the two are engaged in something else as well. “Still working in porn?” The second man replies: “No, last year my sister got cancer, I couldn’t do anything.” “Is she OK now?” asks the first man. Apparently the two have met before: “Are you still living in Barcelona?” one asks the other.
As they sit next to each other on a couch they engage in conversation. As they wait to go on stage, loud bass sounds and electronic music are heard clearly in the room. In an inner room in a darkened club sit two young men in work overalls.
