• ALL
  • NEWS
    • GAY MOVIE/ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
    • GAY FILM TRAILERS
    • GENERAL MOVIE NEWS & TRAILERS
  • GAY SHORTS & SERIES
  • REVIEWS
    • GAY FILM REVIEWS
    • CINEMA REVIEWS
    • DVD & BLU-RAY REVIEWS
  • BGPS BLOG
  • COMPS
  • ABOUT
    • Contact Us
    • Join The Team
    • Terms & Conditions
    • Gays On Film – A Short History

Big Gay Picture Show

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema and more

Taking a look at the world of film through gay eyes - news, reviews, trailers, gay film, queer cinema & more

Jason & Shirley (US Cinema Review)

October 15, 2015 By Tim Isaac Leave a Comment

Starring: Sarah Schulman, Jack Waters, Eamon Fahey, Orran Farmer
Director: Stephen Winter
Running Time: 79 mins
Certificate: NR
Release Date: October 10th 2015 (US)

I think it’s fair to say that a small, slightly experimental art film all about the making of another film that not many people have seen, is never going to find a huge audience, however for a very niche crowd there’s enough to keep their interest piqued – even if they probably won’t exactly like the film at the end.

The movie is a fictionalised recreation of the making of Shirley Clarke’s influential 1967 documentary, Portrait Of Jason, a movie which is extremely well-regarded in academic film circles, although not widely known outside that (partly due to it being difficult to find until a recent restoration). The original documentary was made over a single 12-hour period in Clarke’s apartment, where she interviewed gay, African-American hustler Jason Holliday, where he talks about himself and his life. As he gets more stoned and drunk, his happy, polished veneer begins to crack to reveal a darker, sadder life underneath.

Jason & Shirley is about those 12-hours, imagining what happened in-between what we see on screen in Portrait Of Jason. The idea seems to be to question the idea of documentary, with Clarke presented as being extremely manipulative, making a film about Jason in a rather Machiavellian fashion, where she knows exactly what she wants – to break him down so that she can make a more interesting film, using Jason quite callously and not really caring about him at all.

Jason meanwhile is portrayed as a man where half the time he seems primed to be manipulated by Shirley, but the other side appear very self-aware. He wants money, and having negotiated a fee based on the success of the film, he is keen to ensure Clarke gets what she wants – although whether he’s manipulating her or she him isn’t always clear.

It’s the sort of movie where you can almost feel the makers being very pleased with themselves, taking an approach that is inherently pretentious but not necessarily illuminatory, in order to talk about the nature of documentary. They do have a few points, as documentary is far more slippery than it might appear. After all, it’s never the pure unvarnished truth but the result of the filmmakers decisions both when shooting and in the editing room. However, Jason & Shirley never feels like it’s getting very far.

As it’s not revealing the ‘truth’ of how Portrait Of Jason was made – it’s a fictionalisation – all it can really do is raise questions about the film and the nature of documentary. However, you could just watch the original film to have the same questions and the same level of depth about them raised in your own brain, without the need for a whole other movie. It might have been more worthwhile if it felt like it was really getting to the heart of something, but it’s more like the essay of a freshman university student, which is excited about ideas that are new to the writer, but they don’t realise that they’ve only scratched the surface and haven’t presented anything new or all the interesting.

At least the acting is pretty good, especially from Jack Waters, who does an extremely good job as Jason. Co-writer Sarah Schulman is also effective as Clarke, even if the script isn’t exactly kind to her and turns her into a bit of a manipulative Jewish hausfrau – indeed more than questioning Portrait Of Jason, it made me question the makers of this film, and whether what they have to say about others is really more about a certain meanness and artistic narcissism on their own part, masquerading as a quest for art and truth.

Overall Verdict: Fans of Portrait Of Jason will find it interesting, but also perhaps a bit frustrating, as Clarke’s film is genuinely fascinating – one of the only looks at the life of a gay, black man before Stonewall, which also does a great job on its own of questioning the nature of truth, both in terms of film and whether the image we present to others is what’s really happening inside ourselves. Jason & Shirley meanwhile is intriguing but to a certain extent it’s, well, pointless and too pretentious for its own good.

The film is playing at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, October 20th-27th, 2015.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Wanna share?:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Flipboard
  • More
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Print
  • Pocket
  • WhatsApp

Overall Rating 4outof10

Related

Filed Under: GAY FILM REVIEWS, Top Posts

Leave a Reply (if comment does not appear immediately, it may have been held for moderation)Cancel reply

Search this site:

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebookStumbleUponMySpace

E-maily Stuff

Get the latest in our daily e-mail

Most Recent Posts

Young Hunter Trailer – First teen gay love takes a dark turn into blackmail

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Trailer – The hit gay, drag West End musical is coming to the screen

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 3 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 2 (Short Film Reviews)

Iris Prize Festival LGBT+ International Short Films 2020 – Part 1 (Short Film Reviews)

The Scottish Queer International Film Festival 2020 Has Opened, & It’s Online Across The UK

The Iris Prize LGBT Short Film Festival Returns Next Week, & It’s Online & Free!

An Apology From Big Gay Picture Show

Win The Miseducation of Cameron Post DVD & Book!

Seventeen Trailer – The vagaries of teen romance erupt in the lesbian-themed film

My Best Friend Trailer – Gay romance flickers between two teen boys

New Sauvage Trailer – The gay prostitute movie that divided Cannes is coming soon

We're Needy, Be Our Friend

RSSTwitterFacebook

E-maily Stuff

Get all the latest from BGPS in our daily e-mail

Blogroll

  • Blinkbox – Gay & Lesbian
  • DoorQ
  • Movie Muser
  • Peccadillo Pictures
  • Peccapics Blog
  • TLA Gay (UK)
  • TLA Releasing (UK)
  • TQS Magazine

Copyright © 2023 Muser Media · Powered by WordPress & Genesis Framework · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're OK with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Read More Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT