Call Sheet: Requiem for a Ream

Shortbus, director John Cameron Mitchell's much-anticipated new movie, just opened here in New York, with wider release set for the coming weeks. If you've been following any of the advance press, you'll know the film flaunts typical cinematic convention by featuring full-on, unsimulated sex on-screen. The intercourse may be real, but the impact of the film even more so. We went with our friend and resident sexpert Stella and in our humble opinions, the film was everything it set out to be: a frank exploration of sex and relationships with genuine humor and warmth (and cumshots).

Every character is fully realized. The sex in question is alternately freeing and awkward, the attempt at connection often more elusive than one character's quest for her first orgasm. If anyone's shocked by the film, it'll be by the heartfelt depiction of its characters: flawed, damaged, human, authentic.

More than anything, the movie is a love letter to a New York that is slowly dissapearing, gentrified and homogenized out of existence. As one of the characters states in the film, New York is where everyone comes to be forgiven. The film is, ultimately, about forgiveness; forgiving ourselves, our trespasses, our trespassers. It is also, artistically, a hearty "Fuck you!" to Bush's America, our current procreation nation, where sex is evil and enjoying sex the ultimate taboo; where fear has replaced any sense of hope, joy, or fulfillment.

The New York Times enjoyed their ride on the Shortbus, Rotten Tomatoes has a round up of the other opinions, enthusiastic to mixed.

While we're pretty sure the film won't be embraced by the mainstream, or lauded at Oscar time, John Cameron Mitchell has succceded in creating an artful, endearing, and affecting exploration of love. That counts for more than a slew of good reviews and a trophy or two in our book.

Shortbus [official site]

Related: Lust in His Heart [NYM]

John Cameron Mitchell ;Shortbus ;Films