Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy: John Cameron Mitchell's 'Shortbus' Pushes Every Button in Reach

Throughout cinema history, there have been some iconic nude scenes that have transcended the bounds of the films in which they appeared. Our weekly column Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy will take an in-depth look at these scenes, their history, their deeper meanings, and their legacy. This week, John Cameron Mitchell follows up Hedwig and the Angry Inch with the even more sexually liberated flick Shortbus!

An encore is a tough thing to pull off at the best of times, but the weight of expectations can often crush a director approaching their sophomore effort. It probably helps that Hedwig and the Angry Inch co-creator and director John Cameron Mitchell had already been around showbusiness for most of his life when he made his directorial debut in 2001. In 1985, at age 23, Mitchell began his professional acting career playing Huck Finn in the musical Big River, becoming a Broadway sensation who eventually broke into the world of television. Theater was always his first love, though, and his return to the stage in the late 90s with Hedwig made the journey from obscurity to cult sensation.

His 2001 film adaptation showed off not only his singing and acting chops but also the fact that he knew his way around a camera. It was immediately apparent that Mitchell had a future as a filmmaker, should he choose to pursue that path, and he ultimately did. His follow-up was a way for him to push the boundaries of sex and sexuality on film further than he had with Hedwig, thanks in no small part to the work of directors like Catherine Breillat (Romance, Anatomy of Hell), who regularly incorporated unsimulated sex into otherwise mainstream films. He wasn't necessarily sure what the film would look or feel like, however, which took several years to fully flesh out.

In an interview with IndieWire at the time of Shortbus' release, Mitchell talked about the process he used to bring the story to the screen...

IW: Please elaborate a bit on your approach to making the film, including your influences (if any), as well as your overall goals for the project?

JCM: I realized that for such a project the actors would feel unusually vulnerable, physically and emotionally. To create a safe working environment, I decided they should help create their own characters through improv. We took a page from Mike Leigh and John Cassavetes and cast the actors first (we avoided agents and stars and organized an open web call) then headed into a series of improv workshops. I wrote a traditional script from the material they generated. Together, we worked off and on for 2 1/2 years before shooting.

The development process was long and leisurely. It was really rather perfect. Certainly, the actors were often nervous, but we had a lot of time to work through tensions. Some actors dropped out (ironically, it was the only characters that didn’t have sex) which made me sad. But they were young and not used to collaboration. It was also difficult when I had to let some actors go because the script was getting too long.

The film that Mitchell ended up making was an explosive celebration of sex and sexuality in all its many forms, exploding off of the screen in a torrent of explicit sexuality that certainly blew a few wigs off and knocked a few monocles loose in the film world. The film covers the lives of a number of different characters, but the main focus of the narrative is based around therapist Sofia (Sook Yin-Lee) who is happily married to the doltish but committed Rob (Raphael Barker) except for the fact that she's never achieved an orgasm.

One of the couples she is currently working with is James (Paul Dawson) and Jamie (PJ DeBoy), a former prostitute and former child star, respectively. James is becoming bored in the relationship and though he loves and cares for Jamie, he really wants to open things up to a third person in the bedroom. Shortbus is the titular sex club where they meet Ceth (Jay Brannan) a model and singer whom they decide to have fun with one night. 36 minutes into the film, the three actors have a sucking and fucking spectacular threesome, culminating in them blasting out the Star Spangled Banner. Can you imagine the middle-American sensibilities this scene must have shaken to their core...

By the by, Jay Brannan is a real deal singer and if you like what you see from him here, you may also want to check out his music career, including this killer cover of The Verve Pipe's late 90s classic "The Freshmen."Shortbus, of course, was released unrated in America and was a modest hit. Its legend has grown since it arrived on home video the following year, as most folks don't tend to make the pilgrimage to theaters to see explicit films. Mitchell managed to prove that he wasn't done pushing buttons and certainly wasn't done directing.

He has since directed two more features—Rabbit Hole and How to Talk to Girls at Parties—as well as episodes ofNurse Jackie, Happyish, and GLOW. I don't know if he'll ever return to the world of hardcore sex as it may be a "been there, done that" kind of topic for him, but it's rare that a filmmaker can imbue a film with hardcore sex with that much pathos and humor. Anyone still questioning things or just wanting to see a good old fashioned celebration of sex and nudity would do well to check out Shortbus. Nearly 15 years after it was made, it's still very much one of a kind.

Catch up with our other editions of Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy...

Two of History's Manliest Men Wrestle Naked in Women in Love

Ewan McGregor Has Got It, Flaunts It in Velvet Goldmine

A Pair of Stars are Born in Y Tu Mamá También

Harvey Keitel Goes Hog Wild in Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant

Viggo Mortensen is Naked From Every Imaginable Angle in Eastern Promises

There's No Shame is Michael Fassbender's Dick Game

Kevin Bacon Steals the Show Going Full Frontal in Wild Things

How We Met Jason Segel's Dick in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Jack Reynor is Uniquely Vulnerable for a Man in Midsommar

Jaye Davidson Knows All There is to Know About The Crying Game

David Bowie Battles Rip Torn for Dick Supremacy in The Man Who Fell to Earth

Al Pacino Doesn't Get In All That Deep for William Friedkin's Cruising

John Cameron Mitchell's Ass Gives Hedwig and the Angry Inch the Perfect Ending

Ross Lynch Makes One Sexy Future Serial Killer in My Friend Dahmer

Rocketman Not-So-Boldly Goes Where Bohemian Rhapsody Refused

Color of Night Brings Us the Return of Bruno's Dick

Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu Get Serviced in Bertolucci's 1900

Future Oscar Winner Mark Rylance Gets Real and Really Nude in Intimacy

Louis Garrel Lets It All Hang Out in the French New Wave Biopic Godard Mon Amour

Bronson Makes Tom Hardy and His Uncut Cock a Star

Henry June Ushers in the NC-17 Rating with a Distinct Lack of Parity in Nudity

The Gay Cowboys of Brokeback Mountain Do More Than Eat Pudding

Pretty Boy Eddie Redmayne Makes One Very Pretty Danish Girl

Tom Cruise's Dick Has All the Right Moves

Christopher Atkins Rises Above the Curly Blonde Pack in The Blue Lagoon

A Pre-Fame Sylvester Stallone Shows Us His Italian Stallion

9 Songs Combines Real Music with Real Sex

Willem Dafoe Gets a Hardcore Assist in Lars von Trier's Antichrist

The Naked Men of A Room with a View are Real Period Pieces