Lisa (Margo Stilley) is a student. She
has a job, although it is never clearly explained what she
does for a living. Matt (Kieran O’Brien) is a glaciologist
and spends time studying them in the best possible environment
for doing so: Antarctica. They meet at the Brixton Academy
in London during a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert (“What
Ever Happened To My Rock and Roll”) and then they fuck
(and yes, let’s get this out of the way: they really
do have actual sex on film.) So begins the saga of our two
young lovers.
The rest of the film… well I will sum it up for you:
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WARNING: MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS
AHEAD!
Matt and Lisa go to The Von Bondies concert. (“C’mon
C’mon”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa make coffee and do lines.
Matt and Lisa dance.
Matt and Lisa fuck again.
Matt and Lisa have boring conversation.
Matt and Lisa go to an Elbow concert. (“Fallen Angel”)
Matt and Lisa drive around.
Matt and Lisa bathe and fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to the beach.
Matt and Lisa go to the Primal Scream concert. (“Movin
On Up”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa fuck yet again.
Matt and Lisa go to The Dandy Warhols concert. (“The
Last High”)
Matt and Lisa discuss their Thanksgiving dinner plans.
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to a strip club.
Lisa fucks herself.
Lisa cries.
Lisa fucks herself again.
Matt goes alone to the Super Furry Animals concert. (“Slow
Life”)
Matt and Lisa drink tea and argue.
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to the Franz Ferdinand concert. (“Jacqueline”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa do lines.
Matt and Lisa go to Michael Nyman’s 60th birthday concert.
(“Nadia”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Lisa leaves Matt.
Matt sees The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club again. (“Love
Burns” – a very fitting close)
In short, more than any other, this is exactly the type film
chapter stops were made for.
 9
Songs is a daring piece of cinema, and all daring
cinema should be commended. Every scene is absolutely beautiful,
and I do mean every scene. Michael Winterbottom, who never
fails to make everything he touches a visual feast (see also
what I feel is the best sci-fi of the 00’s, Code
46), does so again here. From the explicit sex, to
the concert footage, to the unscripted conversations between
the two leads, every single scene is given the same detail.
The same detached eye. It’s stunning, and truly a work
of a visionary.
But the film is still greatly flawed.
The main problem with 9 Songs isn’t
its graphic nature, or the music, which makes for a stunning
backdrop. It’s the fact that it tries to have it both
ways. Although it features enough bands to cement it forever
to a specific place and time, it doesn’t really document
this enough - so the film isn’t really about the music.
And the sex, while very raw, isn’t always erotic enough
to make the film feel like pornography. The place where the
film really comes together is the short vignettes of their
relationship. These  mini-scenes
really capture the bond between them. Unfortunately, they
are mere minutes of the already too-short 67-minute running
time. More of these scenes would have really elevated the
film from a mess with interesting ideas to a well-constructed
investigation of human relationships.
Without these scenes, it is hard to care one way or another
about Matt or Lisa, and while it could be argued that that
is the point, that we are supposed to remain as detached voyeurs,
it all just seems rather pointless. If you want me to take
your characters seriously, develop them. If you want to lose
me entirely, show me the money shot. You don’t need
to show me this to make it believable. So don’t.
As it stands, 9 Songs is 30 minutes of footage
shy of being brilliant. It doesn’t need more sex. It
doesn’t need more music. It needs more humanity.
 Presentation
The transfer looks impeccable really. The print is
anamorphically enhanced and there is not really a single smudge
or anything of that sort. All DVDs should look this good.
Sound is especially important in this film, so I am quite
happy to report that the sound mixes are AWESOME. All the
concert sequences are enveloping. You will feel you are in
a sweaty night club. It sets perfect mood. The audio is English
only and subtitles are available in Spanish only. It is unfortunate
that English subtitles are unavailable, but I guess that with
half the film being music, there may have been issues with
the reproduction of the lyrics. Nevertheless, it is the only
fault of an otherwise stellar presentation.
Extras
9 Songs: The Music –
(22:27) Not so much a music only track as a “jump to
a scene” type feature, for those only interested in
seeing the music performances. It’s rather a neat feature
to have but it still has the narration from the film over
certain scenes as well as interspersed sex, which doesn’t
allow any separation of the music from the actual film.
Cast
and Crew Interviews with Michael Winterbottom (6:35),
Kieran O’Brien (7:48), Margo Stilley (13:51) –
The three of these are extremely interesting, because with
the graphic nature of the film, you, as a viewer, are naturally
interested in what these people have to say about what inspired
them to do this, why they did it, and how they did it - and
it is all entirely fascinating. Each of the participants talk
rather candidly about the issues involved in making a film
of this nature. Whether you hate or love the main
film, it is worth going though all three of these.
 Original
Theatrical Trailer – (1:57) The trailer to this
film is
really well done, and it makes you think it is far more Earth
shattering than it actually is. It is a shameful that it is
presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. Other than this small
complaint, I’m glad it’s included.
The
Dandy Warhols “Smoke It” (4:06) and “The
Last High” (4:38) music videos – Of the bands
featured in this film, The Dandy Warhols are one of my most
favorite. I’m only a recent fan, having been introduced
to them through the theme song to Veronica Mars,
“We Used To Be Friends.” Both of the songs here
are great, with “The Last High” being the most
trancing (and sounds a bit like The Faint). The video for
“Smoke It” is a lot simpler of a music video;
a live performance with dogs running around. “The Last
High” is higher concept, a near complete parody/homage
to the early 80s video clip for Duran Duran’s “Planet
Earth” (except for the naked Devil lady cooking eggs.)
Like most of the music related features, it is an awesome
inclusion.
The
Von Bondies “C’mon C’mon” music video – (2:25) A great, short song with an equally great video.
This is a fun tune. This song has inspired me to check out
some more of the band’s work.
 Elbow
“Forget Myself” music video (3:49) and
interview (11:00) – This music video has both real
footage and animation superimposed on it. It’s a cute
little video, and the song is worthy of some head-bobbing,
but is ultimately forgettable. The interview is more intimate
than you might imagine. It is certainly more inviting than
a promo piece that you would usually see on MTV. They openly
admit to their flaws and strengths. It’s a solid interview
and fans should check it out.
Photo
Gallery – Twenty-six images from the film. I never
really understood the point of this kind of extra. You could
freeze frame the film and get better results.
Tartan
Trailer Gallery – You get three other trailers
for films being released on video by Tartan. These include Oldboy (1:35), which is an entirely fantastic
film that everyone should see, Milwaukee, Minnesota (2:12), in which you can watch Randy Quaid beat the hell out
of the mentally challenged, and Mysterious Skin (1:49), which looks like Brokeback Mountain-lite.
I
personally would have liked to see a commentary, but the extras
included are great and make for a fine overall package.
Fine
The late, great Stanley Kubrick once
mentioned interest in making the first serious pornographic
film. He never made it. 9 Songs echoes such
sentiment, but while there is a lot to be admired about it,
it feels like there is still a lot missing. The sex scenes
work as sex scenes, and the music is exceptional and works
well to set the location and time, but the film forgets the
fact that there has to be something to join it all together.
What it needs is to get to know the characters better. With
such a short running time, there is no reason that it shouldn’t
have happened. Michael Winterbottom calls this movie “an
experiment” and like many an experiment, it was a failure.
Perhaps
someday, someone will succeed.
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