Shortbus – Unrated (DVD-Video)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
John
Cameron Mitchell’s cinema is one of sexual limits and dysfunctions, but instead
of dealing with the concepts seriously or with a measure of maturity, his works
hit a serio-comic wall where he is more self-amused than saying anything
important and just showing something different is not sufficient for good
filmmaking. It was an issue in the
overrated Hedwig & The Angry Inch
and shows up with new troubles in Shortbus
(2005) whose title refers to a place of group sex but offers the bandwagon
approach and attitude he has that always lacks focus.
We get
the lives of an unhappy gay man taping himself doing @#%&! crazy things, a
sex therapist without an orgasm and an S&M send-up (most are) with a yuppie
guy and goofy gal. None of this ever
adds up and just being graphic and daring has no point to it. When it is all over, only Mitchell knows what
he is trying to say. In a supplement, he
says he was trying to say something positive about sex because some graphically
sexual films from Europe were begin graphic and negative.
We have
no idea what films he meant, but this results in an indifferent conclusion
after 102 oddly unmemorable minutes and it becomes a XXX film with respectability
and almost-as-bad acting. As for those
Eurofilms, Michael Winterbottom’s 9
Songs (reviewed elsewhere on this site) is far superior and certainly more
positive with graphic sex that is taken seriously. Guess he missed that one.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is not too sharp or clear, but is enough
so to see how graphic much of the sex is.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is dialogue-based and surprisingly front-heavy
with the mix really stretching out multi-channel. Extras include trailers for this and other
THINKFilm releases, feature length commentary with Mitchell & many cast
members, a making of piece and shooting sex piece.
- Nicholas Sheffo
