Shortbus (Unrated Edition)
by John Cameron Mitchell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Lindsay Beamish, Paul Dawson, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Sook-Yin LeeDirector: John Cameron Mitchell
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
Movie Reviews of Shortbus (Unrated Edition)
Movie Review: Haunting, Honest, Funny, and above all, not Gratuitous
Summary: 5 Stars
Remember Caligula, with it's R-rated and X-rated version; the debate then was over the relative merits of both, and the same debate now hovers around this film.
Forget about that part. The film is sexually graphic, but not gratuitous at key moments (like in the beginning, when the film is establishing what you're going to be likely to see, or in the moments when personal or a couple's pleasure is a material part of their existence). The rest of the time, as in the club Shortbus itself, the sex is brilliantly gratuitous, in precisely the best way it can be.
But again, we went for the sex, but what we got is a film. John Cameron Mitchell (writer and director, of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" as well) has now, I'd say, established himself as a filmmaker of preeminent relevance. Both of his films have a very definite, if hard to name, something--a world-weariness that's not exactly jaded, certainly a quirky eye for details that is not merely surreal. To make an irresponsible comparison, brilliant as Charlie Kaufman's movies are, the strange worlds they evoke are always somewhat contrived, perhaps wonderfully so. The strange world that John Cameron Mitchell lets us see are wholly realized, but still a kind of alternate reality. Yes, it's New York. Yes, it's the scene. But at the same time, it's super-real in a way that extremely few other filmmakers can manage.
I'm trying not to do spoilers here, but there are three perfect examples of what I mean. When Sofia and Rob confront the problems in their relationship by using psychological techniques from Sofia's couples counseling practice, this perfectly embeds both the sense and the meaning of their interaction. Similarly, it may not be immediately clear at first why Severin and Sofia should meet in a sensory deprivation tank--maybe it seems like simply a quirky detail--but both the safety of the setting and that sensory deprivation implies a lack of feeling turns out to be exactly the right context to frame that conversation. Even without this insight, the choice of a sensory deprivation tank is wonderful. Still later in the movie, a truth or dare dare has James and Severin in a closet, having a very heart-to-heart conversation. Again, the setting is perfect to the theme, and yet subtle enough without browbeating the viewer, to say nothing of paralleling Severin and Sofia in the deprivation tank as well.
I am certain that the entire film is put together with this much care and attention throughout. Why, for instance, are there two characters (Jamie and Severin) who have alternate names? (That Jamie changes his name to James rather obviously expresses his increasing distance from his boyfriend, Jamie.) One could note also that there is a ton of sex and rock n roll in this movie (look at the long soundtrack list at the end), but not drugs. Or that the overwhelming number of scenes are shot inside; even Sofia's jaunt in the park is not an actual exterior shot.
This is just another way to realize that John Cameron Mitchell is showing us a realized (artistic) vision of the world, and not New York itself; a fact emphasized, perhaps, by the animated cartoon version of New York that is the backdrop for the film, and that the ex-Mayor of New York in the film is Tobias, a fictional mayor, but one who is strongly reminiscent of Ed Koch in a number of ways. For those familiar with the controversies surrounding Koch during the AIDS crisis, the admission in the film that the ex-Mayor is gay portends to be not only a sly counterfactual, but even a kind of painful moment of healing for gay New Yorkers who have long felt betrayed by the Mayor. Yes, this is fiction, but it's an alternate reality, where he-who-was-closeted finally tells the truth, as it were. Mitchell is clever enough to write the scene in such a way that you don't need to know all of this background to feel its pathos; mentioning it here is mostly just to underscore the deliberate wicked craft of the writing. Or, if this may be suggested even more briefly in one other way, as Severin is running a patter for the sake of Sofia's fantasy, there is a line, something to the effect of: "Phil Mudd approached the table and asked, `Is someone sitting here?'" The reply is, "No one's ever sat there." That's a brilliant, very outside-of-the-box moment of writing; one that comes from a point of view of long-standing loneliness, where no one ever sits. It's a beautifully perfect thing for Severin to say, all the more poignantly in something she is imagining as a fantasy. The whole movie is informed by this outsiderness, which was equally palpable in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."
Ultimately, it is this kind of care and attention and coherence that makes the sex not gratuitous, because even Shortbus itself (the sex club) is, again, precisely the context that the film's themes calls for.
It is not often that a movie lingers with me after I watch it, and the ones that have, have since entered the pantheon of great movie experiences for me. In and of itself, this may mean nothing to you, but if you can see past the mere titillation of the film, there's something haunting and effective here. And funny and honest too.
Ultimately, the difference between the R-rated and X-rated Caligula was merely sex. By contrast, Shortbus integrates sex deeply into the characters in a way that thoroughly motivates it. Not everything's perfect in this film, and not everyone will be able to get past the sex, but that's okay too. Highly recommended.
Summary of Shortbus (Unrated Edition)
From the director of ?Hedwig and the Angry Inch? comes SHORTBUS, an exploration into the lives of several characters living in present-day New York as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex. Male and female, straight and gay, the characters find one another ? and eventually find themselves ? when they all converge at a weekly underground salon called "Shortbus," a mad world of art, music, politics, and polysexual carnality. One of the true sensations of this year?s Cannes Film Festival, presents sex and sexuality as never before seen in mainstream entertainment, and promises to be one of the most talked-about films for months ? and years ? to come.Similar DVD Movies
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