Shortbus (2006)

Director:

John Cameron Mitchell

Writer (WGA):

John Cameron Mitchell (written by)

Release Date:

6 October 2006 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Voyeurism is Participation

Plot:

A group of New Yorkers get caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

Plot Keywords:

Dominatrix | Depression | Queer | Exhibitionism | Albino

Awards:

6 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Sook-Yin Lee	...	Sofia
Paul Dawson	...	James
Lindsay Beamish	...	Severin
PJ DeBoy	...	Jamie
Raphael Barker	...	Rob
Peter Stickles	...	Caleb, the Stalker
Jay Brannan	...	Ceth
Alan Mandell	...	Tobias, the Mayor
Adam Hardman	...	Jesse, the John
Ray Rivas	...	Shabbos Goy
Bitch	...	Bitch / Shortbus House Band
Shanti Carson	...	Leah, the Beautiful Couple
Justin Hagan	...	Brad
Jan Hilmer	...	Nick, the Beautiful Couple
Stephen Kent Jusick	...	Creamy

Also Known As:

The Sex Film Project (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Canada:R (British Columbia/Ontario) | Finland:K-18 | UK:18 | Australia:R | USA:Unrated | Germany:18 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:15 | Norway:18 | Italy:VM18 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/18 | Singapore:(Banned) | Japan:R-18 | Ireland:18 | South Korea:Limited (original rating) | Argentina:18 | France:-16 (with warning) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) (2009)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

THINKFilm

Trivia:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was going to fire Sook-Yin Lee when they learned that she was going to be participating in a film with explicit sexual content. Several prominent individuals came to her rescue, including Gus Van Sant, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg and Julianne Moore, in successfully urging CBC to retain Lee as a member of their staff.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When viewing his profile Ceth reads Magnum's "measurements". An important one is listed as 15cm, which receives a gasp from Sofia. In reality 15cm is a bit under 6 inches, which is about average.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jesse, the John: Are you a top or a bottom?
Severin: I beg your pardon?
Jesse, the John: I mean in real life.
Severin: This is real life.
Jesse, the John: Let me put it this way: do you think we should get out of Iraq?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Back to the Well: 'Clerks II' (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

If You Fall

Explicity Wonderful

Shortbus reviewed by Sam Osborn

I have a bad feeling that after the first ten minutes of Shortbus are through, much of the audience will have already left; because within this first segment, sophomore director John Cameron Mitchell has the mind to show his audience the nature of this very, ahem…frank work. Audiences will have witnessed filmed masturbation, wild fornication in a myriad of poses, and a scene of S&M sexual nature. These are all acts we've seen before from other Hollywood pictures; but then again, those pictures only played pretend. Shortbus requires all its actors to do such acts for real.

Is Porn too strong a word to describe such a film? It's debatable, I suppose. Films that boast actual penetration are usually not found in theatres anymore; instead hidden in the back of your video rental stores, or placed neatly on a shady internet site. But Pornography uses plot mechanisms only to drive the story into another sex scene. Shortbus has plot mechanisms to drive the arcs of its characters. That its characters all play roles indulgent in fornication is simply the nature of Shortbus' stories. But enough about the ethics of Shortubus; it's a good film. And if you're not too squeamish for the subject matter, and have a mind for tongue-in-cheek wit, then it shouldn't matter how close to porn the film means to aim.

It's a story of New Yorkers. A fringe group of New Yorkers who all meet at the underground lounge Shortbus. It's a place of casual frivolity, where people of any sexual preference are free to indulge in whatever they please. They mingle and dance and drink and have sex, all happily and without any semblance of filth or vice. These people are simply enjoying themselves and being quite hilarious while they do it. The members that we're asked to follow all come from the Magnolia school of connections, where links between characters are often coincidental and illogical, but acceptable as obligations of an ensemble drama. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a Sex Therapist who prefers to be called a Couples Councilor and who's unable to have an orgasm. She's invited to Shortbus by the club's poster child couple, Jamie and Jamie (Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy), who assure Sofia that if there's an orgasm to be found, it's hidden within Shortbus. In a dark room there, Sofia meets Severina (Lindsay Beamish), a lonely dominatrix who gets mean when uncomfortable, and whose longest relationship was with the geeky trust fund sexual deviant.

All their stories are all human and kind of affecting, managing to dig their way out of the film's heaping shock factor to create something like empathy. It's nothing heartbreaking or particularly inspiring, but how much can we really expect from a film that has an entire scene dedicated to the National Anthem being sung into an anal orifice. But that's the charm of Shortbus, I suppose. Director/Writer John Cameron Mitchell has made a film more explicit than most pornography while keeping eroticism completely out of the equation. The film's sexuality is frank and the humor always constant, while avoiding jokes that patronize its cast of outsiders.

It's too easy to forget the poignancy of Shortbus, though. The dialogue that's sure to be shot wild by its release won't be about its humor or spirit; talk will be of the skin that was exposed in finding the better, realer bits. It's too bad, but, again, what can we expect from a film that sings the National Anthem into a man's anus? Rating: 3 out of 4

Samuel Osborn