Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.
PORTRAIT OF JASON
Synopsis
On December 2, 1966, director Shirley Clarke and a film crew gathered at the Chelsea Hotel. Bestowed for 12 hours with the one-and-only Jason Holliday, Clarke confronted the iconic performer about his good times and bad behavior as a gay hustler, on-and-off houseboy and aspiring cabaret performer.
Synopsis
On December 2, 1966, director Shirley Clarke and a film crew gathered at the Chelsea Hotel. Bestowed for 12 hours with the one-and-only Jason Holliday, Clarke confronted the iconic performer about his good times and bad behavior as a gay hustler, on-and-off houseboy and aspiring cabaret performer.
Our take
American independent Shirley Clarke’s vérité masterpiece, this wily portrait of a flamboyant hustler hinges on its subject’s supple and shape-shifting persona. Both a fascinating window into the life of a Black gay man in America and a clever interrogation of cinematic artifice and complicity.