Shortbus [DVD]

Shortbus - "a salon for the gifted and challenged". The story is based around Brooklyn's D.U.M.B.O. club (called ShortBus in this film - a reference to the shorter yellow buses that are provided for less-able / special-needs kids in NY) and follows the crossing of paths of the main protagonists therein: Sofia - a sex therapist ("I prefer `couples councillor'") who is "pre-orgasmic" and her partner Rob; a gay couple - Jamie and James, one of whom is manic depressive, and looking to open up the relationship, and a dominatrix by the alais of Severin (who is just looking for a "real human interaction"), all stage managed by Justin Bond - the mistress of Shortbus.

Set against the electrical brown & black-outs that afflicted Manhattan shortly after 9/11, this film sets out to contrast the intensity of their sexual energy and the frequent absence of emotional depth ("I can see the love, but it stops at my skin") - successfully using the parallel of how day to day the energy of the city (the sex) keeps it ticking over, but you need to feel the intimacy of love (the black outs that didn't lead to the widespread looting the NYPD predicted but instead acted as a cohesive moment for the NYC communities).

The film is extremely sexual graphic in places - and I expect will or already has ellicited a campaign by the Daily Mail to "BAN THIS FILTH!". It's far more extreme than Winterbottom's Nine Songs - previously the most "sexually shocking" mainstream UK film - was, and the uncensored nature of these scenes is a tool that director John Cameron Mitchell uses to convey the intensity of the sexual relationships. So, this is definitely not a film you'd want to in the presence of your parents. Whilst the orgies and ejaculations might be the reason the film has attained so much notoriety, it would be a shame if you were put off by the film's sexually explicit nature - I wouldn't have said the sex is gratuitous - it serves to demonstrate the emotionally vapid nature of some of the main characters' lives, and the director also skilfully addresses the wider emotional context. This film rarely misses a beat throughout and finishes with a lavish crescendo that can't help but make you feel that you've felt something as you leave the cinema. Don't accept any edited or censored versions.

"Shortbus" deals with many of the same issues as "Hedwig" and the "Angry Inch," but in a new and equally groundbreaking way. Yes, there is hardcore sex, and honestly, there should have been even more, it is used as another layer of paint on one of the most poignant canvases I have seen in years. This film is part of a new breed of cinema that dares to force actors to cross over the line from acting in a film and portraying a fictional character to actually being a subject in a documentary: the once strict line that distinguishes where a character begins and an actor ends has become totally blurred and is no longer recognizable for the actors or rather beautiful and real human beings who appear on screen in this film.

As much as this film is about its characters and their lives, it is about the state of underground or lack of underground art and culture in New York City, particularly the lower east side art scene - a nostalgic yearning for a time and an age of culture and community that is sadly gone in present day Manhattan. Theoretically, "Shortbus" forces us to question the nature of the spectator in a movie theater, watching a TV screen or computer monitor, or looking through the viewfinder of a camera. It is rare for any film these days to ask and provoke the kind of emotional responses and questions about the nature of spectatorship, voyeurism, censorship, viewership, and pornography while at the same time pushing the boundaries of cinema, redefining cinematic, and fusing multiple aesthetic systems that "Shortbus" does in under two hours. The actors were earnest in their efforts (and brave to perform the sex scenes), although no Oscar-winning performances I'd say. I did find Paul Dawson to be quite effective in his ability to convey emotion, esp. in the scene where he's looking out the window at PJ DeBoy. Despite not speaking or moving, we can feel his emotion.

A note about the ending without ruining anything: many people that will balk at it for not being realistic or digging deep enough or as deep as the rest of the film may be missing part of the point. The whimsical CGI animation used throughout the film should immediately tip you off to the fact that there is a magical fantasy element present in the storyline that is represented by "Shortbus" itself. This when combined with the nostalgic seedy underground art scene depicted in the film causes one to realize that the ending and resolution of each character's issues is in fact a just a continuation of that nostalgic fantasy for the bygone lower Manhattan cabaret scene, and thus adds another bitter sweet layer to the film. We can already guess the brutal reality of what will happen to each set of characters and their relationships in the film, but that doesn't mean it is what has to happen on screen. What happens inside "Shortbus" is a hopeful and optimistic fantasy set in a burlesque and erotic theatre of the absurd, what happens outside is our hardboiled reality.

If you cannot find yourself somewhere in this film, somewhere in the mythical "Shortbus," you might not actually exist.

I saw this film a while ago but its just been one of those ones that sticks in my head. Its strange because at the end of the film I didnt feel like I loved it, but now I've bought the soundtrack and I think I'll end up buying the DVD. The whole film just has this really great atmosphere about it, its sad but its joyous, its dreamy and romantic whilst at times depressing, its full of raw energy but in a strange way very soothing. I suppose the key is that it is bursting at the seams with life in all its colourful and often messy forms. It feels very real and true and there are some beautiful and very touching moments. The characters feel well rounded and not cliched like in so many films trying to be 'different' or controversial'. Much has been made of the graphic sexual nature of the scenes but this couldnt feel less like a porn film and it actually is a joy to see sex depicted in this way on film - sex as part of life, sometimes complicated, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes hilarious rather than some ridiculously choreographed performance.

As mentioned earlier, the sound track is great, very varied and really adds to the wonderfully distinctive feel of the whole film- I love the animation they use too.

I read that the director advertised for people willing to play characters that were similar to themselves and that all the actors had lots of imput into the final product -i think this shows as the characters really seem very natural and there are some great performances- I especially liked Jay Brannan as Ceth. Brannan actually features on the sound track singing his own song, Soda Shop which I now love, and think that he will be a big talent in the future, as both an actor and singer/songwriter.

Anyway my advice would be watch this film if you want something genuinely different, enjoyable, thought provoking and lovely!