by Damon Scott
Daily Lobo
At the screening of John Cameron Mitchell's feature film, "Shortbus," the owner of the Guild Cinema asked if it was too cool in the theater.
"You may need to cool down after watching it," he said before anyone could answer.
"Shortbus" is not a film your mother would likely seek out. If she did, she probably would not understand it completely. And that's exactly why moviegoers will watch it and think about it for some time to come.
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Writer and director Mitchell's follow-up effort to 2001's critically acclaimed "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," features a lot of body parts - but not in the way the "Friday the 13th" horror films feature body parts.
It is a sexual romp through the lives of several characters - including dominatrix Severin, confused gay couple Jamie and James, and a Chinese-Canadian sex therapist who has never had an orgasm.
They live each day in an animated cityscape of New York - each scene humorous, sometimes sad and often lonely.
The writing is fresh, the script unique and touching. This is a cast of newcomers - many with no acting experience at all - and the result is at once impressive.
This group of emotionally beat-up gay men, straight women - and sometimes transvestites, too - meet up regularly at a warehouse-style building called the Shortbus for a kind of group therapy that isn't for the timid or shy.
The film is steeped in sex and was not rated, though it could easily have received an NC-17 with a couple X's thrown around for good measure.
As you are watching the sex scenes, which include orgies, talk of menstruation and anything else that would make your mother blush, you can't help but wonder if it's there to kick-start the marketing.
It seems a little gratuitous at times.
"The sex was very integral to the story regarding the intersecting lives of these several individuals," said Roberto Appicciafoco, director of Closet Cinema.
Closet Cinema is an Albuquerque nonprofit that promotes alternative cinema throughout the state. The organization is promoting "Shortbus" in New Mexico for ThinkFilm, the studio distributing the film.
"I believe one of the reasons the film has been so successful and critically acclaimed is that there is humanity here with the depiction of real sex," Appicciafoco said. "The audience will connect and emphasize with its characters."
"Shortbus" premiered Oct. 4 in New York and has been expanding to cities nationally and internationally since then.
For Jay Brannan, who plays the innocent-looking, but decidedly street-smart Ceth in the film, the sex scenes were not an issue.
"We're so afraid of certain words or the human body or sexuality," Brannan said by phone. "I think it's harmless. If we put some of those things in film and TV and music, we become comfortable with it."
Brannan said sex is unfairly marked as taboo, while gore is often accepted in American culture.
"No one cares about the violence in 'Saw 3,'" he said.
For Brannan and many of the actors in the film, working with Mitchell was an accomplishment and a challenge.
"I love John (Cameron Mitchell)," Brannan said. "We've become very close friends, and he's a dream to work for."
Brannan explained that Mitchell did not want to cast stars for this film. He went into the project looking for interesting actors with whom he had a certain trust and comfort level.
The sexual compatibility between characters becomes very apparent very quickly. This is a film of beautiful actors with beautiful bodies, and men with appendages that would make Tommy Lee blush.
Mitchell, who wrote and directed the movie, wanted to make a film based around improvisation and workshopping.
"I always listen to my actors," Mitchell said in a recent posting on the film's official Web site. "They often know best, and they'd tell me if I was trying to force characters into something that wasn't believable."
"Shortbus"
Premieres Friday
Guild Cinema
Runs through Nov. 30
Two special screenings of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" on Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m.
For more information, call the Guild at
(505) 255-1848
