Shortbus (2006)

The magic "bus"

This term is so cliched, but to this film, it really applies: I've never seen anything quite like this movie.
"Shortbus" is a unique film that is about sex, yet more about everything else in our lives which connects to it. Writer-director John Cameron Mitchell did a beautiful job of guiding this tapestry of sexual pathos. Like porn, you see people engaging in sex; yet, it is more "humanly" tangible because we feel the genuine emotions coming from each sex act, not just "acting" or rather, mechanical sex.
How this film was assmbled is almost as interesting as the film itself: Actors helped craft the script as well as their own characters with Mitchell.
"Shortbus" is a sex club in New York; sort of a bohemian-like atmosphere in which, as one character describes, "people come here to use 'the motherboard of life' in order to find the right connections". Here, people from all walks of life gather to find something---whether through sex or deep conversation.
As the film progresses, we watch these characters intersect with one another, and help, solve, or simply listen to each other's life dysfunctions. Whether the characters are straight, gay, bi-sexual or transgendered, the labels do not matter---they are just people trying to relate to one another through the wonders of sex and love.
If you feel you'll be overwhelmed by the frank content, then don't watch. But I think you'll be compelled to by the sadness, honesty & compassion of the interweaving plots. September 18, 2008

Throwing light on topics not often discussed, at least in American movies

If Robert Altman had ever taken on the subject of sex in America in one of his big, sprawling, multi-character epics, the result would probably have looked a lot like John Cameron Mitchell's outrageous yet moving "Shortbus". You get all the things Altman gave us in films like "Nashville" and "Short Cuts": lots of characters, lots of situations, a lot of sadness, but a lot of hope, too. Of course, here you also get lots of sex, in a very graphic manner and in all its various permutations. If you can take that, and if you don't mind a film that doesn't offer easy answers to its many characters' many predicaments, I think you'll enjoy this movie, or at least find it fascinating.

By the way, if some of the sex scenes overwhelm you, be sure to watch the special features. You'll be reassured to see that the challenge of those scenes overwhelmed, at least temporarily, many of the actors called on to perform them. For some reason, it was good to see that hip young people up for being in an edgy, sexy movie could nevertheless feel a little shy when it came to actually doing certain things in front of the camera. Maybe because seeing such trepidation on the part of the actors made the sexual problems of their characters, many of which involved shyness and discomfort, feel all the more believeable. September 16, 2008

This film is....um....penetrating!

This film was like being dosed and getting lost back stage at an Elton John concert. Whether you think it a bad trip or good depends on your own sexual set of pathos. However, any non-porno film that showcases self-fellatio replete with facial, shoooo.....got my vote. If only I could do that, I wouldn't be writing this right now....hells, YEAH!!PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale July 9, 2008

Provocative

I have to say this film was erotically stimulating but I am unclear as to the various story lines what the characters were trying to achieve. Provocative topic...sexuality and relationships...but I really thought it was more of an art film (visual) than a film to question our own lives with. June 30, 2008

I LOVE this film!

Some have branded John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus" as pornographic. I'm not sure what they (or any of us, for that matter) mean by "pornography," but I suspect that people who apply the word to "Shortbus" intend it as a synonym for "sex." There's lots of sex in "Shortbus," but it's sex that's celebratory, fun, funny, poignant, self-revealing, and loving.

Humans are sexual creatures, and our sexuality is irreducibly connected to our personal identities, our ability to love (as well as our ability to hate), and our need for companionship as social animals. In "Shortbus," the complexity of sexuality is explored through several interrelated story lines: Sophia's (masterfully played by Sook-Yin Lee) search for satisfaction, Jamie's (P.J. DeBoy) and James' (Paul Dawson) almost tragic but ultimately fruitful love for one another, Severin's (Lindsay Beamish) fear of intimacy, and drag performance artist Justin Bond's wonderfully exuberant celebration of human love in all its manifestations. One particularly touching scene is an encounter between an "ex-mayor of NYC," a gay, thinly disguised Koch, who reflects on loneliness, aging, and AIDS.

The film's dialogue is witty at times, poignant at others. The actors are all, without exception, quite good. The cinematography is superb. The presentation is uninhibited, honest, funny, and thought-provoking. If this is pornography, hurrah for porn. June 30, 2008

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