Amazon.com: Maverick director Michael Winterbottom wondered about the double standard of why novels can have explicit sex scenes and be legit and films could not. So his short film of a relationship based solely on sex and a love for music is the result of that thought. If the definition of a porn film is to shoot actors performing graphic sex scenes for real, then 9 Songs qualifies. It certainly doesn't feel or look like your standard whoopdee-do XXX feature. It's as glossy and low-budget arty as Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People or I Want You. But yeah, Matt and Lisa do everything to each other, and the actors are not "just acting" in some of the sex scenes. No matter how landmark the movie might be, there is not much story here (at least a book with hot sex often has a good story to it). Lisa is an American drifter in London who hooks up with Matt, a scientist who studies glaciers in Antarctica. They have sex and visit nine rock concerts including Franz Ferdinand and The Dandy Warhols. As advertised, you can't find these musical performances anywhere else, but we just see them from way back in the crowd. The film has an essence of how someone can find bliss in another person's body, and the emotional, magical weight that can hold over you. But that spell doesn't last. Since the sex is real, Winterbottom had to cast unknown actors, and they really don't make an impression, especially with the lack of story. --Doug Thomas
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - 9 Songs
With all the hoop-la surounding this movie I expected more. Rent it if you can & then purchase if you still want it.
Rating: - Post-structuralist cinema at its best.
This film is not a story, and to the extent it has a plot, you know all of what you need to know in the first minute of the movie. Hence if you are looking for a love STORY, skip this film. Rather it's a portrait (viewed after the fact) of a brief passionate relationship between a glaciologist and an American drifter. The whole movie consists of a series of flashbacks covering sex, a little in the way of drugs, and a lot of music, mostly rock and roll. At the same time the movie has a tenderness ... Read More
Rating: - Boring and Tedious Pornography
The most elementary definition of pornography is simply a graphic depiction of sex, this movie fits that description all right. It is pornographic in the sense that the sex, which is really happening between the actors, is graphic, but the movie is in no way obscene. Boring yes, tedious even at a mere 69 minutes (was that an intentional pun by the filmmaker, I guess we'll never know) because the movie lacks context and characterization. What should have been a two and a half hour movie with a tight plot ... Read More
Rating: - Two people have sex and go to concerts. Why would you watch this?
Dumb.
Two people have sex and go to concerts.
My Question: Why would you watch this?
Well, I did. I was curious.
After about 20 minutes or so I realized this was a bad idea.
I mean, if you saw a couple at a concert who was all over each other, would you follow them home and watch them have sex?
THEN YOU'RE CREEPY.
It gets two stars because it has some occasionally sweet moments that barely make it a tolerable drama, ... Read More
Rating: - MUSIC & SEX WORK HERE IN SURPRISING WAYS,,
Anytime I come across a unique film I'd like to see, I'd add it to my list of "Movies to Watch," aka "Movies I'll Probably Never See." However, with an impulsive grab at a Netflix free trial, I decided to knock a few off of this list, and one of them was 9 Songs.
The basis of the film is two young lovers, constantly engaged in acts of sex with interludes of live rock music.
With this description, I'm sure you're either turned completely off or on, so let me elaborate.
The title 9 Songs represents ... Read More
- Post-structuralist cinema at its best.
- Boring and Tedious Pornography