Get on the Bus
Oct. 23rd, 2006 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
So last night, I went down to Kendall Sq. to see Shortbus, a movie about sex and relationships and New York City. It's by the same guy who did "Headwig and the Angry Inch".
It is officially unrated because honest, non-violent sex (straight and gay) would land it an NC-17 rating whereas if it was simply about a guy who went around pushing chainsaws into people, it'd be R-rated.
So, yes, it's a very sex positive film. It's also a very sex honest film. It's not the rarefied fantasy world of porn. The actors are all very attractive, but also not strictly porn-star perfect (for porn film definitions of perfect). The sex takes place in the context of relationships (even when it's sex with someone not in the relationship). All in all, it handles itself very, very well.
There are several stories about relationships in crisis that weave back and forth across each other. The loom that holds them together is Shortbus -- one part cabaret, one part salon, one part orgy. There's the marital counselor who's own marriage is on the rocks, the gay couple who are trying to fix their problems by opening up the relationship ("monogamy is for straight people!"), and there's the dominatrix who's longest-standing relationship is with one of her johns. Plus a few other complications along the way. It all makes for some great after-movie dinner conversations.
If there's any flaw with the movie, it's that people who live in/come from New York will probably find a deeper movie than outsiders looking in. There are a few scenes that seem to be speaking directly to New Yorkers. That said, this is still an interesting film whose daring choices should be seen and appreciated.
later
Tom
So last night, I went down to Kendall Sq. to see Shortbus, a movie about sex and relationships and New York City. It's by the same guy who did "Headwig and the Angry Inch".
It is officially unrated because honest, non-violent sex (straight and gay) would land it an NC-17 rating whereas if it was simply about a guy who went around pushing chainsaws into people, it'd be R-rated.
So, yes, it's a very sex positive film. It's also a very sex honest film. It's not the rarefied fantasy world of porn. The actors are all very attractive, but also not strictly porn-star perfect (for porn film definitions of perfect). The sex takes place in the context of relationships (even when it's sex with someone not in the relationship). All in all, it handles itself very, very well.
There are several stories about relationships in crisis that weave back and forth across each other. The loom that holds them together is Shortbus -- one part cabaret, one part salon, one part orgy. There's the marital counselor who's own marriage is on the rocks, the gay couple who are trying to fix their problems by opening up the relationship ("monogamy is for straight people!"), and there's the dominatrix who's longest-standing relationship is with one of her johns. Plus a few other complications along the way. It all makes for some great after-movie dinner conversations.
If there's any flaw with the movie, it's that people who live in/come from New York will probably find a deeper movie than outsiders looking in. There are a few scenes that seem to be speaking directly to New Yorkers. That said, this is still an interesting film whose daring choices should be seen and appreciated.
later
Tom
