Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Shortbus Blu-ray Movie Review

"I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 28, 2024

Where to even begin with Shortbus? As shocking now as it was in 2006, it's perhaps the perfect film for debating the boundaries between arthouse cinema and pornography, as well as how far is too far when exploring sexuality and the fringe of sexual and social expression. With a decided indie flair to everything from the performances to the cinematography, music and often improvisational nature of the loose character arcs and story that unfolds, the film is, at its core, a heart-wrenchingly sad, melancholic drama that focuses as much on mental health as it does the means in which depression, suicidal ideations and other more difficult trials of the mind play out amidst human interaction and intercourse. It asks big questions -- ambitious questions -- though it rarely offers more of an answer than "well, because... people." And at no point does its satisfying ending feel all that much like a happy ending, not that one is necessary given all that's being unearthed. Unfortunately, the result is that Shortbus emerges as little more than an explicit dead-end that fails to do much more than cross lines. Its filmmakers and cast certainly mean well, and lay everything (and I mean everything) out on the table. No boundary is left untested. But I felt the absence of insight as much as I felt the pull of independent films that have shown far less and revealed far more. There is no doubt a prime audience for Shortbus -- those for which its messy titillation only arouses the mind -- but I felt continually disconnected from its search for fulfillment in a hollow world of group sex and emotionally cold physical encounters.

Hedwig and the Angry Itch filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters navigating the heart, humor and hurt of love, sex and loneliness in and around a modern-day underground world of open sexual relationships, orgies and other mergings of skin and sexual expression. We meet a female couples' therapist unable to orgasm, a conflicted dominatrix who's unable to connect with others, a gay couple struggling to unpack the possibilities of a potentially polyamorous relationship, and the people who weave in and out of their lives, all converging at a weekly gathering called Shortbus: a mad nexus of art, music, politics and polysexual carnality. Set in a post-9/11, Bush-exhausted New York City, Shortbus weaves its tale with frankness and honest gratuity, suggesting new ways to reconcile questions of the mind, pleasures of the flesh, and imperatives of the heart. The film features explicit unsimulated sex (including graphic self-fellatio and ejaculation, so consider yourself warned if you have the least bit of pearl-clutching to your cinematic tastes) and stars Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles, Jay Brannan, Alan Mandell, Jan Hilmer, Shanti Carson, and (as themselves) Mistress Justin Vivian Bond and The Hungry March Band.

Shortbus Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Oscilloscope's Blu-ray release of Shortbus features an unerringly faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that stays true to Mitchell and cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco's every intention. The film is shot in an almost self-serious documentary style, with roving cameras that place its audience in every room and hall. At-times extremely grainy and gritty, the aesthetics work well and the presentation, loyal to a fault, follows suit. Colors are largely satisfying, though a pinkish hue tends to dominate flesh tones. Likewise, contrast is more than adequately dialed in, despite some inconsistencies when lighting isn't all that ideal. There are shots and scenes of incredible beauty and just as many that are subjectively ugly and frought with a clarity you may wish was more subdued. But that same clarity reveals plenty of detail throughout the film, from finely resolved skin textures to light hairs along an arm, the weave of clothing, the dimpled quality of leather or the sheen and smoothness of metal. Some artifacting creeps into club scenes here and there, presumably present from the original filming on, but it doesn't appear to be exclusive to Oscilloscope's encode. Similarly, the infrequent crushing that plagues shadows likely had no "fix" and is a part of the intended presentation. All told, Shortbus isn't as striking as you might hope but it isn't meant to be. Realism and fly-on-the-wall visual bluntness is the name of the game and the distributor's efforts fall in line nicely.

Shortbus Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shortbus features a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that retains the qualities of the film's original sound design. However, like the visuals, the sonics are intentionally down and dirty. Dialogue is intelligible on the whole, though crowd noise sometimes combats fidelity, and prioritization is decent. LFE output musters some notable support during club scenes and the rear speakers keep pace, making more chaotic group sexual encounters immersive with plenty of, erm, activity. There isn't much more to praise or criticize, though. This is Shortbus as its meant to sound, for better or worse.

Shortbus Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries - Two commentaries are included: a 2006 track with the filmmakers and key members of the cast, and a more recently recorded 2022 retrospective with director John Cameron Mitchell and producer Howard Gertler. There's quite a lot to be gleaned from both commentaries, past and present, with a great deal of investment made in justifying the more controversial aspects of the production, as well as outlining the difference between art and pornography. At the very least it's clear a lot of thought and prowess went into the making of Shortbus, regardless of whether or not that translates to the screen.

• Deleted Scenes (SD, 30 minutes) - Eight extended and deleted (and explicit) scenes are included, although most are overly long and rarely, if ever, suggest that they shouldn't have been cut from the film.

• Making-Of Featurette (SD, 31 minutes) - A rather revealing behind-the-scenes featurette with cast and crew interviews aplenty. Shot at the time of the film's release, it offers yet another glimpse into the intentions of all involved, though more time seems devoted to defending the film than peeling back its layers.

• A Conversation 15 Years Later (HD, 21 minutes) - This early Covid-era Q&A features the filmmakers and the majority of the main cast sitting down to answer questions about the film.

• A Conversation With... (SD, 26 minutes) - Director John Cameron Mitchell, actress Sook Yin Lee and famed shock-filmmaker John Waters chat at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. As the opening text explains, though, the first half of the conversation wasn't properly recorded and is lost forever.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

• Alternative Trailer (HD, 3 minutes)

Shortbus Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shortbus is a challenging film, albeit one built on a gimmick that isn't meant to be a gimmick but "feels" like one all the same. It seems more interested in challenging than revealing, questioning rather than answering, and exploring rather than reaching any truly meaningful destination. Longing looks, rising music and slow zooms are meant to convey epiphany but rarely strike as genuinely revelatory. Fortunately, Oscilliscope's Blu-ray release delivers a solid, faithful AV presentation and quite an impressive supplemental haul.