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SHORTBUS
Written & Directed by: John Cameron Mitchell.
Produced by: Howard Gertler, Tim Perell, & Mitchell.
Director of Photography: Frank G. DeMarco.
Edited by: Brian A. Kates.
Music by: Yo La Tengo.
Released by: THINKFilm.
Country of Origin: USA. 102 min. Not Rated.
With: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, P J DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles & Justin Bond.

Shortbus is the name of the weekly sexual soiree hosted by the Auntie Mame-ish Justin Bond (as Justin Bond) in his Brooklyn loft. It’s also a reference to the school van for gifted and challenged children. Though the party guests have the gift of gab and are preternaturally self-aware, they are not so much challenged as just horny and in search of a good lay. This free-form, free-for-all love-in is “just like the ‘60s, without the hope,” according to the hostess, who in the tradition of movie drag queens provides words of wisdom as well as condoms. Within this mix, a gay couple, the cheerful Jaime and the taciturn James, are both scoping the crowd for a possible three-way. They have brought along their couples counselor, Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee), for her own case of sexual healing. Even though she has a vigorous love life with her husband, Rob (Raphael Barker), she has never experienced an orgasm.

In gestation for years, initially this film was referred to as the “sex film project.” Director John Cameron Mitchell selected his cast after reviewing videotapes of actors relating their own sexual experiences. In the casting notices, actors were encouraged to be uninhibited. Besides nudity, sex on film might be required. Through improvisations and rehearsing, Mitchell based the script on the actors’ lives. (The cast is credited as developing the story.) Mitchell states in a New York Times interview, “I realized that for the actors not to feel exposed, they would have to be co-creators with me of the piece. So that dictated how we were going to make it.” But one could also argue that it would be easier for an actor to hide behind a character, especially one that is far removed from his/her life. As a result, the characters seem to be undergoing a more therapeutic than erotic or dramatic experience, especially James (Paul Dawson), who in the beginning is making a videotaped suicide note to his lover. Before he offs himself, he tapes himself really offing himself through self-fellatio (And I thought it was only the French and Woody Allen who equated sex with death.) Outside foreplay and sex talk, storylines drag a bit, especially in Sofia’s quest for satisfaction. The film is not nearly as focused in its dialogue as it is in its actions, and the conflicts are not exactly new. (Wasn’t Deep Throat’s Linda Lovelace, in her own way, also searching for the big O?) But in the time honored tradition of porno, all problems can be solved with a hot partner(s) and a roll in the hay.

Catherine Breillat’s lugubrious Romance, costarring porn star Rocco Siffredi; Bruno Dumont’s dour Life of Jesus; and Marco Bellocchio’s psychological and political diatribe Devil in the Flesh also included some graphic sex. But Mitchell’s characters drop their baggage when they drop their pants. The actors actually seem to be into what they’re doing, instead of following a choreography. With or without their clothes on, they’re intelligent without being self-conscious. Whatever trust-building exercises Mitchell used during rehearsals have paid off big time. You’re likely to believe these hipsters actually like and respect each other.

Shortbus is perhaps the most wittily and gleefully performed feature film to contain actual sex scenes. In 9 Songs, Michael Winterbottom filmed the arc of a young couple’s brief relationship, which included much more explicit sex than Shortbus, but minimal character development or interaction. Sex was the be all and end all. But in Mitchell’s film, you steadily forget about the act itself and care more for the individuals. Actually, there’s really little sex from what you may expect (aside from the opening sequence). If only all films about New Yorkers trying to connect (Trust the Man) could be as well acted as this semi-explicit film. Kent Turner
October 4, 2006