When was the last time you went to the movie theaters and in the first five minutes of the film saw a man contort his body in order to "pleasure himself?" I'll admit, I've never seen that in any film, but Shortbus popped my cherry.
John Cameron Mitchell, director of 2001's musical odyssey Hedwig and the Angry Inch, once again brings his practiced talent to the big screen. The buzz surrounding this film is heated. It is sexually charged and features real actors having real sex and leaves nothing to the imagination. With these warnings in mind I approached the film with much reservation.
Instead I saw a modern cinematic masterpiece tied to an emotionally mature and complex love story. Sofia (Canada's Sook-Yin Lee) is a "relationship therapist" with a secret. In the midst of handling the relationship problems of the film's other protagonists, James and Jamie (Paul Dawson and PJ Deboy), Sofia comes to terms with her affliction. "I'm pre-orgasmic," she admits. "Does that mean you're about to orgasm?" questions Jamie. It means she's never had an orgasm, despite her healthy marriage to Rob (Raphael Barker).
James and Jamie lead Sofia to Shortbus, a sexual salon where people go to find solutions to their sexual issues in a supportive and inebriated environment. It is at Shortbus where we see James and Jamie search for a third party (played by the hilarious Jay Brannan) to add to their monogamous relationship, the voyeuristic neighbor who follows their every move, Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a dominatrix with a clingy client, and Sofia.
Eventually the characters that meet at Shortbus move outside the confines of the club and begin to help each other overcome their real life issues with love. Especially refreshing is the dialogue. In a movie that could easily churn out stiff theorizing and snarky one-liners it never even enters the realm. Each word is fresh and believable and that makes the job of the actors so much easier. This can be credited to Mitchell's decision to have the actors help write the script and it creates a feeling that the actors aren't so much acting as they are living.
Yes there was sex. In fact, there was a lot of it and in many different positions. But, Mitchell makes sex real. It is not the awkward and clichéd Hollywood version that most movies try to sell to the masses. In fact, the story behind the sex is so enveloping that most of the time you forget a scene is taking place during an orgy. Shortbus is just that well done.
Though the ending is fairly predictable and dramatic, it is happy without being cheesy. Shortbus is truly a gem of a movie, the kind that restores your faith in modern cinema.
