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"Shortbus" at Cannes
The biggest buzz release at the Cannes Festival (except for, you know, that one where Tom Hanks beats up Jesus) is "Shortbus", the new film by John Cameron Mitchell that has the critics delighted by its funny and thoughtful look at sex and relationships. Originally titled "The Sex Film Project," the movie (which you could have been a part of) has generated its share of controversy ... and includes scenes of unsimulated sex and orgasms, though that's probably just a coincidence. Despite all the (mostly) positive attention, the question everyone seems to be asking is whether audiences in the US will get to see it; it's sure to land an NC-17 rating, and that's if it can even find a distributor. We're more curious, however, about why a film that features actual penetration, graphic oral sex, and a man ejaculating into his own mouth isn't considered a porn movie. "The purpose of pornography is to arouse, and I don't think anybody got a hard-on watching this film," explains Mitchell. Fair enough, but we don't appreciate this cheap shot: "I define pornography as [being] devoid of artistic intent." Hey buddy, that hurts!
· "Explicit 'Shortbus' rides to Cannes fest" (AP @ seattlepi.nwsource.com)
· "The Sex Film Project" (filmstew.com)
· "The Shortbus Dilemma" + "Shortbus" review (cinematical.com)
· "Sex and the CBC host: it's definitely not PG" (theglobeandmail.com)
· "Real sex in 'Shortbus' an 'act of resistance'" (John Cameron Mitchell interview @ hollywoodreporter.com)
Previously: "Shortbus" Actors Wanted, Riding the "Shortbus", "Filthy/Gorgeous",
READ MORE: bisexuality, couples, film, media, movies, news, sex culture, shortbus, text, top
No one in the theatre may have gotten a hard-on, but I've got one just reading about it finally coming out. I've been waiting for this movie since he first announced the idea. w00t!
I loved loved loved INCH and am very excited to see SHORTBUS! But it always makes me feel a little wistful when a mainstream director has the boldness to give sex a try, and then immediately starts backing up on the erotic aspects. (If the actors got hard making the film, why shouldn't I get hard watching it?) I don't expect or especially want Shortbus to be a stroke film, but I hope that the sex won't be so drained of eroticism that I might get at least a little turned on. Of course I'm easy, no doubt much easier than a jaded Cannes audience, so there's still hope! :-)
Well, all the reviews linked there noted how hot it was, so I think Mitchell is just trying to play it down for the media coverage to try to avoid the inevitable repressed hysteria. Hopefully we won't be disappointed.
Absolutely. JCM has to manage expectations all the way around, both from those who will be outraged that he's gone too far (How dare you show sex!), and those who are dispointed he hasn't gone far enough (How dare you show sex and not give me something I can stroke to!).
Whether or not I get a boner, so long as SHORTBUS is an entertaining movie, I'm not going to be dissapointed, and based on what I've read so far, I don't expect to be.
I do wonder though; can you imagine Hitchcock saying "Yes, there's a bit of violence, mayhem and murder, but I don't think anyone got scared watching this film." If even JCM can't say outloud that it's okay if his movie gives you an erection, we're living in repressed times indeed!
So this is the project that CBC brass had a problem with SYL starring in. Wild. Anyone who saw Sook-Yin's last day on Muchmusic has already seen her ass. She mooned the nation!
by Al aka El Negro Magnifico on 05/23/06 06:13 PM
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