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The Navigator

Film fest takes frank turn in 'Shortbus'

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published October 13, 2006

But viewers familiar with Mitchell's previous offering, the acclaimed 2001 cross-dressing glam-rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, will correctly suspect otherwise.

Shortbus should be a highlight tonight at the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which wraps up its 11-day run Sunday. For all of the festival's diverse offerings, this controversial film written and directed by Mitchell stands apart.

The title refers to the name of a sex club in the film, which screens at 9:45 p.m. at the Channelside Cinemas. Shortbus is a nonporn film real plot, real characters that features nonsimulated, hard-core adult sex - straight, gay, all of the above - and plenty of it.

As you might imagine, it has been released without a rating, and all viewers must be at least 18 to attend. Baby faces, bring ID.

Variety reviewer Todd McCarthy called Shortbus "unquestionably the most sexually graphic American narrative feature ever made outside the realm of the porn industry."

Glenn Kenny of Premiere notes he was warned about the "stomach-churning" opening sequence, which involves a man's contortionistic attempt to accomplish a task that usually requires a partner.

But Kenny said he ultimately found Shortbus "an engaging viewing experience."

And in Village Voice, Jim Ridley calls the film "a triple-X midnight movie with a heart of squarest gold." He lauds Mitchell's intent to document "explicit sex treated as a facet of shared existence rather than taboo raincoat material."

While the film hasn't received the near-universal raves piled on Hedwig, some critics have been highly impressed. The New York Times' Manohla Dargis wrote that "as utopian visions go, it doesn't get much better than Shortbus, a film in which all you need is love - and sex, lots and lots of mutually, sometimes collectively, pleasurable sex."

For viewers with other interests, of course, the festival continues today through Sunday with many other screenings at Tampa Theatre and Channelside. Check out the schedule at www.tiglff.com.

Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 226-3431.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 11:35:12]