Shortbus

Shortbus
Directed by	John Cameron Mitchell
Written by	John Cameron Mitchell
Produced by	Howard Gertler John Cameron Mitchell Tim Perell
Starring	Sook-Yin Lee Paul Dawson Lindsay Beamish PJ DeBoy Raphael Barker Peter Stickles Jay Brannan
Cinematography	Frank G. DeMarco
Edited by	Brian A. Kates
Music by	Yo La Tengo Scott Matthew
Distributed by	THINKFilm (www.shortbusthemovie.com)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	~$2,000,000 USD

Shortbus is a 2006 film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, writer/director/star of the play and film Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

The comic and tragic plot revolves around a sexually diverse group of emotionally challenged New Yorkers trying desperately to connect in post-9/11, Bush-exhausted, bohemian New York City . The characters converge on a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by various underground NYC gatherings that took place in the early 00s. According to Mitchell, the film attempts to "employ sex in new cinematic ways".

It was released in North America in October 2006 by THINKFilm after premiering in May at the Cannes Film Festival, and it played in over 25 countries, winning multiple awards at the Athens, Zurich, and Gijon Film Festivals. Howard Gertler and Tim Perell received an Independent Spirit Award as Producers of the Year. The film was released to DVD in North America on March 13, 2007. The DVD features a comprehensive documentary "Gifted and Challenged: the Making of Shortbus" (Director/Producer M. Sean Kaminsky), the vérité-style "How to Shoot Sex: A Docu-Primer", a number of deleted scenes (including a dropped subplot about a character who is the Bush twins' personal assistant), as well as a filmmaker/cast audio commentary.

Plot

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Brannan and Lee

The movie is set in contemporary New York City and revolves around Sofia (played by Canadian singer and radio/TV personality Sook-Yin Lee), a married woman and couples counselor/sex therapist who has herself never achieved an orgasm. She comes into contact with a couple: Jamie (PJ DeBoy) and James (Paul Dawson). The soft-spoken James, a former prostitute, is the film's other main character. At the outset, James suggests to his boyfriend that they open up their relationship to sex with others.

During their first consultation, Sofia snaps, slaps Jamie and apologetically reveals her "pre-orgasmic" status. The couple suggests she attend a weekly social/artistic/sexual salon in Brooklyn called "Shortbus", which is hosted by drag performance artist Justin Bond playing himself. Bond is well-known in the alternative cabaret world as Kiki of Kiki & Herb. Sofia slowly opens up to new experiences; this includes a friendship with a dominatrix who goes by the name Severin (Lindsay Beamish) , which was the name of the masochist male protagonist of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's classic novel Venus in Furs. Sofia's inability to achieve orgasm begins to cause conflict with her husband Rob (Raphael Barker). Rob begins attending Shortbus with Sofia.

James and Jamie meet a young ex-model and aspiring singer named Ceth (pronounced "Seth", and portrayed by singer-songwriter Jay Brannan) and the three begin a sexual relationship. Meanwhile James and Jamie's life is being closely watched by their across-the-street neighbour Caleb (Peter Stickles). Caleb fears the inclusion of Ceth in James and Jamie's relationship might break them up and thus destroy his ability to live vicariously through them, so he attends Shortbus, where he confronts Ceth.

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Deboy and Dawson

Sofia begins to go daily to a spa with a sensory deprivation tank to meet with Severin, and the two begin to have intense conversations. Severin begins to help Sofia loosen up sexually; Sofia helps Severin achieve a deeper human connection than she had experienced before. One evening at Shortbus, Severin discusses with Sofia the idea of giving up sex work to pursue her dream of being an artist. The two then have an unplanned sexual experience, and once again Sofia is left unsatisfied.

Throughout the film we see James making a film about himself and his relationship. It turns out to be a suicide note. He attempts to take his own life and is rescued by his stalker, Caleb, who calls for help but is too embarrassed to wait with James for the help to arrive. He writes his phone number and email address on James's face while he is unconscious. When James wakes in the hospital, he calls Caleb. James goes to Caleb's home to be consoled, but does not contact Jamie or Ceth, neither of whom can understand why he wouldn't call them or come home.

There follows an interlocking trio of scenes showing connections between the characters' emotional problems and their sexual lives.

1) At Caleb's house Caleb and James have sex, and James allows Caleb to penetrate him, something he has never allowed anyone to do to him before. In a dramatic revelation, James is seen in the window of Caleb's apartment by his boyfriend, Jamie, who realizes in that moment that James is alive and okay.

2) Rob and Severin have a paid encounter where Rob asks to be beaten, something he couldn't ask Sofia to do. As this progresses, Severin loses control and Rob tries to comfort her.

3) Sofia seems to have a dream of struggling through an overgrown, wild forested area to a gentle seashore where she tries to achieve orgasm again. On failing, she screams, and in the real world the lights go off across the city, seemingly caused by the simultaneous and collective frustration of the characters.

The film ends with a song by Justin Bond at Shortbus during the blackout. Sofia arrives and finds Rob with Severin and after acknowledging him sits down by herself. James and Jamie also arrive followed by Ceth and Caleb.

Justin's song starts on a wistful note, but as it progresses it becomes more energetic and positive thanks to the arrival of the Hungry March Band. This is mirrored in the actions and emotions of the actors. Jamie and James make out on the floor, and Ceth and Caleb start to hit it off. Rob seems to find a friend, and Severin progresses from nervous anxiety to happy elation upon the arrival of the band.

While having a threesome with the couple, Nick and Leah (Jan Hilmer and Shanti Carson) who she has seen several times before, Sofia finally achieves an orgasm, the blackout affecting New York ends, as does the film.

Public reaction

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Sofia observing the Sex-Not-Bombs Room

Some have branded the film "pornographic" but the filmmaker points out that the dictionary defines porn as "material created and viewed for the primary purpose of sexual arousal". According to Mitchell, the sex in Shortbus is often purposefully "de-eroticized" to "remove the cloud of arousal to reveal emotions and ideas that might have been obscured by it".

Sex, like music, is a universal language. We want to use it to introduce character, evoke emotion, propel the plot. Sex is also the funniest thing I know. How the hell do we find ourselves in those positions? - Mitchell

Lee was nearly fired by her present employers, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for which she hosts a radio program Definitely Not the Opera because she took part in several unsimulated sexual scenes in the film. Ultimately, she retained her job as the CBC relented in the face of support for Lee from the public, as well as from celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Stipe, Julianne Moore, Gus Van Sant, David Cronenberg, Moby, Todd Haynes, Douglas Coupland and Yoko Ono.

Production

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Barker, Lee and Mitchell

The film's characters and story were created collaboratively over 2 1/2 years through improvisation workshops with the cast. The audition website elicited half a million hits and 500 audition tape submissions. 40 people were called in for improv auditions and 9 actors were cast, all before there was any story in mind. Mitchell wrote the screenplay from the raw material generated by the workshops and rehearsals.

Much of the sex in this movie is unsimulated. Mitchell says:

In the old days, when you couldn't show sex on film, directors like Hitchcock had metaphors for sex (trains going into tunnels, etc). When you can show more realistic sex, the sex itself can be a metaphor for other parts of the character's lives. The way people express themselves sexually can tell you a lot about who they are. Some people ask me, 'Couldn't you have told the same story without the explicitness?'. They don't ask whether I could've done Hedwig without the songs. Why not be allowed to use every paint in the paintbox?

As indicated in the DVD special features, Sook-Yin Lee and Shanti Carson each suggested they be filmed having real orgasms rather than fake them--specifically, for the final scene involving Lee and the orgy sequence involving Carson. Mitchell also participated in the latter scene, performing oral sex on a woman for the first time "as a gesture of solidarity".

Many viewers mistake the panoramic cityscape interspersed through the film as a scale model of New York, but it was completely computer-generated and designed by John Bair.

Inspiration

The characters all converge on a weekly underground gathering or salon called Shortbus, inspired by the short yellow schoolbuses for "challenged and gifted" students. The Shortbus salon was loosely based on a series of New York social/artistic/sexual gatherings. One was the monthly "Shortbus Sweaty Teenage Dance Party" organized by Mitchell (circa 2002) as "DJ Dear Tic", his Radical Faerie nickname (Mitchell was influenced by annual Radical Faerie countercultural gatherings in Tennessee and New Orleans). Others influences include the Lusty Loft Parties that took place at a Brooklyn art collective called DUMBA (where the film's salon was actually shot), and the weekly CineSalon film gathering, both of which were organized, in part, by Stephen Kent Jusick who plays Creamy in the film. The still-running underground Rubulad party was also an inspiration.

The character of Tobias - the elderly man who claims to be an ex-Mayor of New York City - played by Alan Mandell, alludes to Mayor Ed Koch.

Joke References

There is a plot device involving a vibrating egg with the brand name In the Realm of the Senses. This is a wink to the explicit 1976 Nagisa Oshima film of the same name in which a man urges his lover to insert a hard-boiled egg in her vagina and "lay it".

Justin Bond's line: "As my dear, departed friend Lotus Weinstock used to say, 'I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.'" refers to a stand-up line from real-life comedian Lotus Weinstock, a beloved L.A.-based performer who was Lenny Bruce's last girlfriend. Mitchell was friendly with Weinstock and her daughter, singer-songwriter Lili Haydn before Weinstock died in 1997.

HIDDEN JOKE: look for the scene in the hospital with the snoring Suicide Watch Nurse. Freeze frame on her laminated badge and you'll find the name of the hospital is "Our Lady of Adequate Grace".

Hedwig Players

Several members of the cast previously worked with Mitchell in the Hedwig film, including:

• Sook-Yin Lee previously played Kwahng-Yi, the electric guitarist in Hedwig's original band in Junction City, Kansas.
• Sofia's therapy client "Cheryl" is played by Miriam Shor, who portrayed Yitzhak.
• Alan Mandell, who played the Mayor, appeared as a restaurant customer who receives a "car wash" from Hedwig. Mandell met Mitchell when they performed together wearing radiation burn makeup in a 1987 LA stage production about Chernobyl. Mandell was a great friend and collaborator of playwright Samuel Beckett and was directed by him in Waiting For Godot and Endgame. They met after Mandell co-founded the San Quentin Prison Drama Workshop in the mid-60s which produced works of Beckett among other playwrights. Mandell introduced Mitchell to Beckett in Paris in 1988, the year before Beckett died.
• PJ Deboy appeared as the Hedhead with dreads in the scene where Hedwig recounts her Tommy Gnosis stories atop a big pile of tires.
• John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig) himself is featured in two shots in the Sex-Not-Bombs Room: the first, kissing a dark-haired man; and the second, performing oral sex on a woman sitting on a couch.

Cameos

• Jonathan Caouette, director of Tarnation, as the man who steals some "blondies" off a plate in the Sex-Not-Bombs Room. Mitchell met him when Caouette auditioned for Shortbus and subsequently became executive producer of Tarnation.
• Mary Beth Peil, best known as Evelyn "Grams" Ryan on Dawson's Creek, as the woman with her hand down the storm drain (Severin takes a Polaroid of her).
• Singer-songwriter Reginald Vermue (aka Gentleman Reg) has a song on the soundtrack and appears as "The Albino"
• Tristan Taormino, a sex columnist and porn film director/occasional actress, is one of the participants in the orgy sequence.

Well-known downtown New York performers who provide cameos in the film include:

• Comedian Bradford Scobie (Dr. Donut)
• Singer-songwriter Jasper James, who also appears on the soundtrack, has a cameo as the woman being eaten out by Mitchell (on the couch next to Rob).
• Comedian/bon vivant Murray Hill (on the swing)
• Acrobat-comedians The Wau Wau Sisters (on the trapeze)
• Miss Exotic World 2005 Dirty Martini (doing the strip tease)
• Burlesque star The World-Famous *Bob* (sitting with the Mayor in the Truth-Or-Dare Room)
• Ray Rivas, like his character Shabbos goy, is known for his blood-inclusive brand of extreme performance art which he performed at DUMBA.
• Bitch, of the bands Bitch and Animal and "Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion," plays herself.
• Daniela Sea, queercore musician and former circus juggler of Cypher in the Snow and cast member of The L Word, also plays herself as Little Prince, her Radical Faerie nickname.
• JD Samson of the band Le Tigre (who actually played their first show in DUMBA) appears in the "Bitch's Bedroom" scene.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on Conor Oberst's (Bright Eyes) record label, Team Love. John Cameron Mitchell directed the music video for Bright Eyes' "First Day of My Life" (which featured Shortbus cast members Bitch, Daniela Sea, and Ray Rivas). The soundtrack was released in Europe on V2 with the Anita O'Day song replaced by "What Matters To Me" by Tiebreaker (John LaMonica). In Europe, the film found its largest audiences in France and Italy. (The Italian poster featured a hidden bomb in an artist's rendition of the Sex-Not-Bombs Room [see poster at right].)

Tracklisting

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Italian Poster

1. Scott Matthew - "Upside Down"
2. Azure Ray - "If You Fall"
3. Yo La Tengo - "Wizard’s Sleeve"
4. Animal Collective - "Winter’s Love"
5. Scott Matthew - "Surgery"
6. Sook-Yin Lee - "Beautiful"
7. Gentleman Reg - "It’s Not Safe"
8. John LaMonica - "Kids"
9. Scott Matthew - "Language"
10. Jay Brannan - "Soda Shop"
11. Anita O'Day - "Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby"
12. The Ark - "Kolla Kolla (Nationalteatern Tribute Version)"
13. Jasper James and the Jetset - "This House"
14. The Ark - "This Piece of Poetry Is Meant To Do Harm"
15. The Hidden Cameras - "Boys of Melody"
16. Scott Matthew - "Little Bird"
17. Justin Bond and the Hungry March Band - "In the End (Long Film Version)"
18. Scott Matthew - "In the End (Acoustic)"

External links

• Official Website
• Shortbus at IMDb
• Shortbus at Rotten Tomatoes
• BBC Collective Shortbus feature including Sook-Yin Lee and John Cameron Mitchell video interviews
• Shortbus Reviews at Metacritic.com
• DVD Journal article by Mark Bourne
• AZcentral On the making of 'Shortbus', 2004
• Breitbart News
• Shortbus review at Reel Film Reviews.
• EconoCulture - Sook-Yin Lee on her character Sofia in Shortbus
• Shortbus Review by Jürgen Fauth
• [1] "Gifted and Challenged: the Making of Shortbus"