Shortbus (or, I can see your arse, and everything else!)

One lucky thing about getting to see John Cameron Mitchell's new sextastic opus before it opens in Australia is that you actually get to see it. Chances are the film will be banned well before it gets a general release. At least I'm sure they'll try. Let's face it, it has gays in it, and lessssbians, and sexxxxx. Not just sex but really real sex. In the first five minutes a guy cums into his own mouth, if that is any indication of how explicit it is.

That said, it isn't porn. And it doesn't feel like porn. It doesn't even feel that arousing, probably because the film is dealing with real relationships and the sex in between and as anyone who has been in a relationship knows, the sex in between is fun, funny, playful, messy, laughable, confused, fumbley and hilarious; it is certainly never "sexy" in the porno sense (or maybe that is just my relationships). Right from the outset the film is assuredly frank and funny when it deals with the sex, and the sex is a major part of the film, all of the plot lines revolve around it. Not just frank, but refreshingly frank.

The plot follows three interweaving relationships that tend to gravitate towards a New York club named Shortbus. It is the same old story, two guys are hunting for a threesome, while a sex therapist is trying to have here first orgasm, while a dominatrix is trying to connect with the world... sex ensues.

There is a quaint fairy tale feel to the proceedings, thanks in no small part to the excellent animations of NYC, but there are also some very poignant links to the reality of the real world. The ex-mayor of New York has a wonderfully heartwrenching scene, which still manages to be strangely uplifting, and there are many passing comments about the aftermath of 9/11. It is not all successful (which is to be expected in any workshop driven production) but it is most definitely always engaging. Everything ends up mixing together in an intoxicating melange and in the end, when the whole mess plays out at the final shindig, you will be left quite, quite sated.

Recommended.

Tags: movie review, cinema, film