The word shortbus originated in America where most children catch a long yellow bus to school. The shortbus is reserved for the “children with special needs” – the disabled, the emotionally disturbed and the abnormally gifted – because there aren’t so many of them. In Mitchell’s film, Shortbus is an underground salon in New York where people gather on a weekly basis to appreciate music, art and polysexual carnality.ÂÂ
The opening ten minutes of Shortbus probably holds a record for depicting the greatest amount of early morning acts of a sexual and/or voyeuristic nature in a mainstream film – and Mitchell assures us all the orgasms in the film are real. We are introduced to a married sex therapist who has never had an orgasm, a dominatrix who has an interesting collection of Polaroids, a couple of gay guys who are deciding whether to open up their relationship and a guy with a very long camera lens.
Most of the film has the audience laughing hysterically, but alongside rampant orgies there are quiet moments where people contemplate serious issues. As he did in his previous film Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Mitchell explores sexual issues with a frankness that is reminiscent of the 60s and 70s. Even though it appears on the surface that these New Yorkers are the most sexually liberated people on the planet, shadow sides are revealed as they intersect each other’s lives.
By the time the film has ended, you have practically forgotten about the sex, but you do remember the complexities in the characters’ lives. Well ok, there some sexual acts in the film that are quite unforgettable.
