(Click Poster to Purchase)
 |  | Get Showtimes... |
Review #278 of 365
Film: Shortbus (2006) [NR] 101 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.50
Where Viewed: Landmark Mayan, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 16 October 2006
Time: 4:40 p.m.
Film's Official Website
Directed by: John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
Written by: John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Sook-Yin Lee (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) • Paul Dawson (The Big Kahuna) • Lindsay Beamish (Jimmy and Judy) • PJ DeBoy (debut) • Raphael Barker (debut) • Peter Stickles (Dead Serious) • Jay Brannan (debut) • Justin Bond (Imaginary Heroes)
Soundtrack: order the CD soundtrack below
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Given some of the publicity for Shortbus and the NR-rating and the warning signs posted at the theatres that absolutely no one under the age of 18 will be admitted to the film, it's hard to get up the nerve to go see this film let alone write about it the next day thereby proving that one saw it. There is terrible irony in that for a couple of reasons. First, director / writer John Cameron Mitchell (creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch) purports in interviews published on the film's web site that he intends for the film to cause some discussion of the increasing prudishness of America. We know we are prude, but are we getting more so? He makes a very interesting point in that same interview about how an ever-increasing number of young people are getting their sex education from internet porn. What choice do they have in a prude country? In any case, a nation of prudes will never see this film to see him make his point and consider our prudishness. Second, if he really wants us to push ourselves and to get beyond this, how can that be done if everyone who wants to grow is too embarrassed to even go see the film. I mean, I can actually picture people sneaking in wearing trench coats, dark sunglasses, and backwards baseball caps and flushing their ticket stubs down the toilet on the way out.
Well, so anyway, I took the risk and went to see it. I'm over 18 to be precise. I'm not married, have no kids, and have no concerns that if someone finds out I went to see the film, I'll be labeled a rebel or a deviant. And, definitely, I felt it my civic duty to see if for the others who cannot. Ok, so let's get the 's' word out of the way. To give some background, Mr. Mitchell and his cast (selected from hundreds of applicant actors and novices—apparently everyone wanted to be in a real sex movie) developed their own characters and the story together in workshops over two and half years. This fact, by the way, shows in the film. Once you know this, it makes sense how they all seem so real and connected—they are. It also shows in the depth of understanding each actor has for his or her character—it stands to reason that if you developed a character with all his or her hopes, dreams, fears, and baggage, you'll be able to bring them to life in a very realistic way. So, in the film, there is real sex--real people, having real sex, with each other. It is not a pornography film, however, because the people are not having the sex for others to watch. They are having the sex because, guess what, real people have sex. The difference between this sex and the sex in major motion pictures is that there are no body doubles for celebrities, there are no skin-colored tights to prevent real contact, there are no simulations and fancy camera tricks. So, it's real, it's raw. The difference between this sex and pornography is that the purpose of the filming of the sex is not to show two actors doing taboo things to entice the prurient interest of the viewers. The purpose here is just because that happened to be what the people were doing at the time—not all the time. Many people have mentioned to Mr. Mitchell that by the end of the film, they don't even notice the sex. I found that too, and it's not because you become immune to it because you've seen so much of it, it's because you move from the sex being something wild and interesting to the sex being something normal the people just do. It's not that it's not a big deal, it's just that it's not a big deal. Part of the problem in getting this stems from growing up in an extremely prude country that very often confuses sex with love and sex with gender. Gender is one's maleness or femaleness. Sex is physical entanglement with another person for physical gratification. Sex and love can be entirely mutually exclusive things as we all know. We also tend to equate far too much touching with being sexual. But love is a deep emotional and mental connection between two people. Any or all of these things can get muddled together in a relationship between people. So, yes, there is sex in the film. There is sex for people of many diverse styles. But, the important thing is that the sex is just a part of the people's lives. It is just one way for them to express themselves with each other. It is not the focus of the film though most people will focus on it.
Well, so anyway, I took the risk and went to see it. I'm over 18 to be precise. I'm not married, have no kids, and have no concerns that if someone finds out I went to see the film, I'll be labeled a rebel or a deviant. And, definitely, I felt it my civic duty to see if for the others who cannot. Ok, so let's get the 's' word out of the way. To give some background, Mr. Mitchell and his cast (selected from hundreds of applicant actors and novices—apparently everyone wanted to be in a real sex movie) developed their own characters and the story together in workshops over two and half years. This fact, by the way, shows in the film. Once you know this, it makes sense how they all seem so real and connected—they are. It also shows in the depth of understanding each actor has for his or her character—it stands to reason that if you developed a character with all his or her hopes, dreams, fears, and baggage, you'll be able to bring them to life in a very realistic way. So, in the film, there is real sex--real people, having real sex, with each other. It is not a pornography film, however, because the people are not having the sex for others to watch. They are having the sex because, guess what, real people have sex. The difference between this sex and the sex in major motion pictures is that there are no body doubles for celebrities, there are no skin-colored tights to prevent real contact, there are no simulations and fancy camera tricks. So, it's real, it's raw. The difference between this sex and pornography is that the purpose of the filming of the sex is not to show two actors doing taboo things to entice the prurient interest of the viewers. The purpose here is just because that happened to be what the people were doing at the time—not all the time. Many people have mentioned to Mr. Mitchell that by the end of the film, they don't even notice the sex. I found that too, and it's not because you become immune to it because you've seen so much of it, it's because you move from the sex being something wild and interesting to the sex being something normal the people just do. It's not that it's not a big deal, it's just that it's not a big deal. Part of the problem in getting this stems from growing up in an extremely prude country that very often confuses sex with love and sex with gender. Gender is one's maleness or femaleness. Sex is physical entanglement with another person for physical gratification. Sex and love can be entirely mutually exclusive things as we all know. We also tend to equate far too much touching with being sexual. But love is a deep emotional and mental connection between two people. Any or all of these things can get muddled together in a relationship between people. So, yes, there is sex in the film. There is sex for people of many diverse styles. But, the important thing is that the sex is just a part of the people's lives. It is just one way for them to express themselves with each other. It is not the focus of the film though most people will focus on it.
"… this film is filled with humor, laughter, joy, discovery, and love as the characters learn to overcome and grow beyond their own hang ups."
The main characters that evolved out of the workshops were Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) the sex-therapist (she prefers couples counselor) who engages in fantastic, Kama Sutra-beware, love-making sessions with her long-time domestic partner Rob (Raphael Barker) but never has an orgasm. Rob, the Meals-On-Wheels delivery guy, who feels inferior to Sofia, and worries he'll never give her an orgasm and who secretly likes things a little rougher and tougher than he thinks Sofia will execute. The sullen dominatrix call girl, Severin (Lindsay Beamish) who has never yet really connected with another person for a real relationship, lives in a storage unit, and takes Polaroid® pictures of people she sees all over New York City doing uncharacteristic things. There's Jamie and Jamie (he's been going by James lately) who've been labeled the cities cutest couple by all who know them or 'stalk' them as is the case for Caleb (Peter Stickles) who has been following their every move for two and a half years via his apartment window situated across the street from theirs. It's not clear what Jamie (PJ DeBoy) does for a living—all he seems to do is worry about his relationship with James (Paul Dawson). James, is a former hustler turned burgeoning filmmaker and part time life-guard at a pool in an athletic club for men. And then there's Ceth (Jay Brannan) pronounced like Seth, who seeks true love and things he's found it a love triangle between Jamie and James. The lives of all these people collide once a week as they meet and learn weekly at the NYC salon, Shortbus run by Justin Bond. Here practically anything safe and public goes on: art, music, grown-up spin the bottle, support groups; and, of course, sex. Sofia discovers Shortbus from Jamie and James who recommend she attend after learning in their first session that she's never had an orgasm. She takes Rob, and she hope both of them will learn some things to improve their lives. There, Sofia meets Severin and they become friends with Severin on the path to teach Sofia how to have an orgasm, and Sofia to help Severin make a real friend on her road to a real relationship.
In the end, this film is filled with humor, laughter, joy, discovery, and love as the characters learn to overcome and grow beyond their own hang ups. There is a lot to learn about love and those who confuse it for sex as well as those who put too much pressure on the sex or use it for sex's sake. The film is artistically very creative, not just in the process used to create it, but from the 3-D computer model of NYC used rather than real shots of NYC, to the music—many of the songs are sung and written by people in the film, to the show-stopping final number with everyone in the Shortbus is treated to Justin Bond's musical extravaganza "In the End". In the end, this film may not be for everyone. It's too bad, because it seems most USAers could learn a lot from it. Perhaps, it is the lack of love, connection, and intimacy in the nation, that drives us further from the path of joining the rest of the planet in forming a global civilization rather than one which is contained by fear, hostility, and mistrust. If we cannot even take the risk to understand the role that sex is supposed to play in our lives, versus, love, versus touching, versus friendship, versus partnership, versus appreciation and connection, by seeing this movie for fear of being labeled or outcast, that says a lot.
In the end, this film is filled with humor, laughter, joy, discovery, and love as the characters learn to overcome and grow beyond their own hang ups. There is a lot to learn about love and those who confuse it for sex as well as those who put too much pressure on the sex or use it for sex's sake. The film is artistically very creative, not just in the process used to create it, but from the 3-D computer model of NYC used rather than real shots of NYC, to the music—many of the songs are sung and written by people in the film, to the show-stopping final number with everyone in the Shortbus is treated to Justin Bond's musical extravaganza "In the End". In the end, this film may not be for everyone. It's too bad, because it seems most USAers could learn a lot from it. Perhaps, it is the lack of love, connection, and intimacy in the nation, that drives us further from the path of joining the rest of the planet in forming a global civilization rather than one which is contained by fear, hostility, and mistrust. If we cannot even take the risk to understand the role that sex is supposed to play in our lives, versus, love, versus touching, versus friendship, versus partnership, versus appreciation and connection, by seeing this movie for fear of being labeled or outcast, that says a lot.
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Shortbus (2006)
Cast Members
Sook-Yin Lee
• Paul Dawson • Lindsay BeamishPeter Stickles
• Justin Bond Writer / Director
John Cameron Mitchell
| CD Soundtrack | Related Book | Related CD |
Shortbus (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
Writer / director John Cameron Mitchell (creator of Hedwig and the Angry Inch) intended Shortbus to cause discussion of prudishness in America. With characters and script born of the creative energy of the cast and director during two and a half years of workshops, the result is a film that is filled with joy, sorrow, love, pain, and, yes, real sex because real people do have sex. The main characters include: Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) the sex-therapist who's never had an orgasm, Severin (Lindsay Beamish) the dominatrix who's never found true love, and James (Paul Dawson) the former hustler who's never allowed himself to make love despite having found true love. In the end--also the title of the finale musical number--there is much to contemplate as the characters overcome their fears, loneliness, and baggage while learning the role sex should play in their lives as they ride the mercurial Shortbus.
No comments:
Post a Comment