SummaryJohn Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex in and around a modern-day underground salon. The characters converge on a weekly gathering called Shortbus: a mad nexus of art, music, politics and polysexual carnalit...
SummaryJohn Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections between love and sex in and around a modern-day underground salon. The characters converge on a weekly gathering called Shortbus: a mad nexus of art, music, politics and polysexual carnalit...
You'll never see another film quite like Shortbus. It's a rom-com, a heady emotional drama and a study of sex and desire in one, all broken up by quite graphic sex scenes that wouldn't look out of place in pornography. The way in which the sex scenes are performed (i.e. for real), isn't a criticism, on the contrary, after witnessing the first few instances of passion, these scenes lose their shock factor and become woven into the fabric of the film as a whole. Shooting these scenes for real also has an interesting side effect - it allows the actors to introduce a liberal doses of improvised humour to these situations, humour which would be almost impossible to pull off if these moments were simulated. Every scene in the film is a miniature character piece, and it's a testament to the skills of the actors that they've managed to instill their characters with so much depth. The cast appear to be effortlessly natural, and it was entirely left up to them to flesh-out their respective characters and story-lines, therefore the film feels pleasingly organic and completely believable. Despite the flexible nature of the narrative, the plot never loses focus, everything is tied together by quirky, animated sequences which sweep through an abstract version of New York, and the film builds towards an extremely pleasing symbolic, yet emotionally grounded finale. The film isn't just about love, or even lust, it's really about coming to terms with who you are, and exploring your own mind and body. Shortbus isn't all frolicking about with naughty bits on show, either. At points it touches upon some extremely dark issues, and handles these with maturely and sensitively whilst at the same time using them for the maximum dramatic potential that they offer. It's one of the finest examples of collaborative filmmaking in history, and it's also probably the best film about sex that's ever been made.
A movie that makes you feel and think and is as good as any. It's a shame that not many people will see it, and some that start it won't get through it. It has a rare depth and perspicacity. Very successful, indeed.
A darkly comic trifle that follows in the footsteps of such films as Catherine Breillat's "Romance" (2000), "The Brown Bunny" (2003) and Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs" (2004) by incorporating hard-core sex into a nonpornographic narrative.
The quest for sexual happiness is a radical notion in these repressive times, as well as a legitimate basis for storytelling, but Shortbus doesn't quite delve as deeply as it ought into its characters' emotions.
Unquestionably the most sexually graphic American narrative feature ever made outside the realm of the porn industry, John Cameron Mitchell's ambitious attempt to merge his characters' active sexual lives with more conventional emotional content is playfully and provocatively entertaining for roughly the first half, but loses staying power thereafter when investment in the uncompelling characters' problems is requested.
Difficile de juger ce genre de film à la croisée des chemins de la comédie et de la pornographie... Mais apparemment, il est simplement qualifié d'érotique (?) alors que l'une de ses qualités réside... dans la qualité de ses quelques scènes pornograhiques. Appelons donc un chat, un chat et une chatte, une chatte. Et tout le reste viendra naturellement.
Donc, plutôt un bon porno en fait. Mais est-ce vraiment le cas ? car le réalisateur balance toutes ses cartouches au début et nous laisse sur la béquille à la fin, euh je veux dire sur notre faim, car le cul devient bien plus rare, quel dommage !
Le film se perd en effet dans le drame psychologique à la petite semaine avec ses **** dépressifs ainsi que son côté "peace and love" de bisounours progressiste. En même temps, toute la galerie des névropathes est illustrée ici avec le maso, le branleur, la sado, le voyeur, et la fille à voile et à vapeur mais toujours peine-à-jouir. Et tout ce petit monde se retrouve au "Shortbus", le bar à partouzes. Pour forniquer et mater. Et pérorer aussi.
Le côté comique est certes bien présent avec précisément la sexologue à la recherche de l'orgasme perdu... c'est quelque chose ! Un mélange bizarre, donc, de porno et de pathos, plus ou moins drôle... ou pathétique. Un peu court tout cela mais certainement audacieux.
It's sex, passion, lust, a bit of love, unfulfilled desires and also female orgasm dysfunction. Nice topics but they feel misguided and hollow.
The film presents interconnected stories that never feel strong or at least just more interesting.
I can say it was certainly unusual but very far from being truly thought-provoking
It's a genuinely terrible movie. Honestly, it's not even just because it's a basically a **** porno. It's because it's basically JUST a **** porno. And quite a pretentious one at that. The plot is reducibly thin, and it's inconsistent at that. In no way is it artistic, nor compelling, nor brave. It's not even shocking. I have lost friendships over this film, because there's a weird religiosity surrounding it, adding yet another undeserved layer on this utterly ostentatious crap.
Well I am sure that everyone involved in the making thought that they were all so daring to actually put a **** blow job on display alongside a bunch of other naked people having sex. However, as most of us know that is not new, there is actually a hole industry specialising in exactly that calle porn and they are rewarded at the annual AVN-award show. Shortbus certainly have several similarities with a porn flick. The plot is as poorly written, the dialogs as unreal and the acting only convincing when they are having intercourse. The fact that this movie has even been mentioned at any other movie reward but the AVN, shows that there are too many unreliable critics out there.