"Shortbus," now playing in theatres, had a reputation to live up to. Five years ago, writer/actor/director John Cameron Mitchell adapted his hit off-Broadway show "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" to the screen. In the quirky rock opera, Mitchell played the title character Hedwig, a glam rock artist who suffers a botched sex change operation, leaving her lost between two genders. Hedwig tours America with her band on a determined search for fame and her other half.
The viewer didn't have to be female, male, transgender, straight, bisexual or gay to sympathize with Hedwig's plight. A varsity football player could even identify with Hedwig and her angry inch. Well, maybe not. But either way, it was pretty remarkable for a directorial debut. So remarkable that one would assume Mitchell had dug his own grave. How could he possibly top "Hedwig"?
Mitchell's new film, "Shortbus," is an explosive tale of sexuality and modern relationships in New York City. In the tradition of Robert Altman, Mitchell follows a large group of characters and reveals how their seemingly different lives intertwine.
James is a depressed filmmaker who suggests to his boyfriend, Jamie, that they be sexually open to others. Jamie shows reluctance to the idea and schedules an appointment with Sofia, a sex therapist, who confesses during the session that she has never reached orgasm with her husband.
James suggests that she join a club called Shortbus. Located in a Brooklyn domicile, Shortbus is a vibrant carnival for the "gifted and different" who never rode the normal-length bus to school. Members discuss politics, art and music, screen films, do drugs and have sex. Lots and lots of sex.
At the club, Sofia meets a disgruntled dominatrix named Severin, who offers to help Sofia find her orgasm. Night after night, the characters flock to the carefree atmosphere of Shortbus to escape their insecurities and humdrum daily routines.
Once again, Mitchell steps over the boundaries of conventional cinema. And this time, it's to a shocking extent. "Shortbus" is undoubtedly the most sexually explicit film of the year, if not decade. The documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," also currently playing in theatres, suggests we as Americans are relatively open to violence, yet when it comes to sexuality, we're surprisingly uncomfortable.
Mitchell is aware of this and does his best to test the viewer's comfort zone, capturing sexual encounters completely real and uncensored. Even at the press screening for "Shortbus," critics were humming porno background music while waiting for the film to begin. Why does sex make people so uncomfortable? After all, it's far more likely that we, as humans, are going to have sex than partake in a bloody shootout. Sex is scary, sure, but Mitchell won't hear it; he calls attention to this fear and the necessity of overcoming it.
As in "Hedwig," Mitchell achieves a universal tone in his depiction; every sexual orientation, gender, race and fetish is represented in full form and an array of glittering colors. With "Shortbus," Mitchell challenges viewers in ways that they have never been asked to before, and with that, he has assured critics and audiences alike that he's one of modern cinema's most unique and progressive directors.
