Movies
Michael Winterbottom provides a lot of sex and little feeling in this modern-day love story inspired by Michel Houellebecq’s novel Platform.
9 Songs takes place in London in the autumn of 2003, portraying the relationship between Matt (Kieran O’Brien), a glaciologist, and Lisa (Margot Stilley), an American student studying in Britain for a year. The story is told in flashback mode as Matt, now in the Antarctic, recounts his memories of their relationship in a collage of the sex they had and the gigs they attended.
The film has been hyped as containing the most explicit sex scenes in British cinema, and for good reason – it certainly feels like half of it is comprised of love-making scenes. However, while little is left to the imagination as far as the couple’s sex life is concerned, the audience is given next to no information about their relationship outside the metaphorical bedroom.
We know that they meet at a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig at the Brixton Academy and that they split up when Lisa sets off home to America. We also know that they attend a fair few concerts, have a rampant sex life and enjoy drugs – the rest is a mystery. This means that we never get to know the characters well enough to care about them, and when the pair split at the end of the movie the audience is hard-pressed to bat an eyelid.
The controversial sex plays far too great a role in the film and to so little effect. The scenes don’t seem to be designed to be overtly arousing but nor do they add much to the story-telling process. Some of the sex, though by no means all of it, could be seen as allegorical as to what is happening in the relationship – scenes of bondage and control later giving way to Matt’s alienation as Lisa enjoys herself with an erotic dancer and as he witnesses her masturbating. On the other hand, I think this may be an attempt to find profundity where there is none.
While some quarters of the media dismiss the film as pornography due to its sex-heavy approach, this is unfair. Anybody going to see it because they want to see porn will be disappointed, but then those wishing to see an engaging movie will hardly leave the cinema in ecstasy either. That said, 9 Songs is comparable with porn movies in its apathy towards having a storyline.
Winterbottom obviously wanted the movie to take the form it does, but the question is why? Its originality lies in its minimalist approach to story-telling and the explicit nature of its sex scenes. While the novelty of the latter wears off, which it does quite soon, the former is plain frustrating rather than clever.
The footage of the nine songs of the title from bands of such calibre as BRMC, Franz Ferdinand, Elbow and the Super Furries, provide enjoyable and well-deserved relief.
In summary, there is little to draw people to 9 Songs except interest in seeing a failed experiment. The movie is certainly not to be denounced as pornography, but nor is it to be lauded as an impressively groundbreaking film.
9 Songs takes place in London in the autumn of 2003, portraying the relationship between Matt (Kieran O’Brien), a glaciologist, and Lisa (Margot Stilley), an American student studying in Britain for a year. The story is told in flashback mode as Matt, now in the Antarctic, recounts his memories of their relationship in a collage of the sex they had and the gigs they attended.
The film has been hyped as containing the most explicit sex scenes in British cinema, and for good reason – it certainly feels like half of it is comprised of love-making scenes. However, while little is left to the imagination as far as the couple’s sex life is concerned, the audience is given next to no information about their relationship outside the metaphorical bedroom.
We know that they meet at a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig at the Brixton Academy and that they split up when Lisa sets off home to America. We also know that they attend a fair few concerts, have a rampant sex life and enjoy drugs – the rest is a mystery. This means that we never get to know the characters well enough to care about them, and when the pair split at the end of the movie the audience is hard-pressed to bat an eyelid.
The controversial sex plays far too great a role in the film and to so little effect. The scenes don’t seem to be designed to be overtly arousing but nor do they add much to the story-telling process. Some of the sex, though by no means all of it, could be seen as allegorical as to what is happening in the relationship – scenes of bondage and control later giving way to Matt’s alienation as Lisa enjoys herself with an erotic dancer and as he witnesses her masturbating. On the other hand, I think this may be an attempt to find profundity where there is none.
While some quarters of the media dismiss the film as pornography due to its sex-heavy approach, this is unfair. Anybody going to see it because they want to see porn will be disappointed, but then those wishing to see an engaging movie will hardly leave the cinema in ecstasy either. That said, 9 Songs is comparable with porn movies in its apathy towards having a storyline.
Winterbottom obviously wanted the movie to take the form it does, but the question is why? Its originality lies in its minimalist approach to story-telling and the explicit nature of its sex scenes. While the novelty of the latter wears off, which it does quite soon, the former is plain frustrating rather than clever.
The footage of the nine songs of the title from bands of such calibre as BRMC, Franz Ferdinand, Elbow and the Super Furries, provide enjoyable and well-deserved relief.
In summary, there is little to draw people to 9 Songs except interest in seeing a failed experiment. The movie is certainly not to be denounced as pornography, but nor is it to be lauded as an impressively groundbreaking film.
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