Portrait of Jason

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Portrait of Jason

1967

1h 45m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

A black male prostitute and aspiring entertainer recounts his life story for filmmaker Shirley Clarke.

Critics Consensus

Like any great work of art, Portrait of Jason tells a story that reaches far beyond its canvas in the act of illuminating its subject.

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J. Hoberman

ARTINFO.com

The larger truth is that Jason, who died in obscurity in 1998, and [Portrait of Jason] still have things to teach us about the nature of race, sex, and success in America.

Sep 30, 2015

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Noel Murray

The Dissolve

Jason's simultaneously funny and tragic, and almost heroic in the way he keeps eluding director Shirley Clarke's efforts to pin him down.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 10, 2014

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Mark Feeney

Boston Globe

Like any star turn, Holliday's performance rings utterly true. It's that indefinable but unmistakable reality-beyond-reality called art.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 11, 2013

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Clark's film often frames Jason out of focus, just out of reach, a fascinating enigma seen through the haze of celluloid, a lie at 24 frames per second.

Jun 2, 2022

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Winter's complex imagining of the episode sees Portrait's creation as a standoff between two sides of a race/class divide.

Sep 20, 2021

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Ann Birstein

Vogue

Shirley Clarke's latest film is an extraordinary interview, two hours of startling, candid self-revelation of Jason Holiday.

May 28, 2020

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Audience Member

Not even going to spend a second with Amazon's choices anymore.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Audience Member

Between a 8/10 and 9/10, Jason's simultaneously funny and tragic, and almost heroic in the way he keeps eluding director Shirley Clarke's efforts to pin him down. Portrait of Jason is a curious and fascinating example of cinema verité, all the ramifications of which cannot be immediately known. Born Aaron Payne, Jason Holiday gives the performance of any lifetime, and it is superb artifice.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

Rot. Why did she waste film on this. Just go watch the film about Capote if you want to see an interesting homosexual

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

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Audience Member

Such a lovely soul. Worth the watch, for Jason, not for the exploits of whomever this "Carl" or even Shirley Clarke in making the film. So happy to have found this after all of these years of hearing about it from the man himself. RIP Jason Holiday and live forever.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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s r

Fascinating despite its intimate, unruly frankness.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

A very important movie, a very good movie, though probably overlong. But a classic example of a kind of despicable filmmaking that really bugs me. I don't come away from this liking the filmmakers at all. Or liking Jason all that much really too, but I feel for him, because they ambushed him and took advantage of him. It's exploitative. And the best moments of the film are when it's not.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Shirley Clarke

Director

Shirley Clarke

Producer

Jeri Sopanen

Cinematographer

Shirley Clarke

Film Editing

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Synopsis

A black male prostitute and aspiring entertainer recounts his life story for filmmaker Shirley Clarke.

Director: Shirley Clarke
Producer: Shirley Clarke
Production Co: Shirley Clarke Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 22, 2016
Runtime: 1h 45m