9 Songs [2004]

The rock music is mostly from live concerts. If the music that people pogue and stage dive to is not for you, you probably won't want to sit through an hour of it (check the soundtrack listings - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Von Bondies, Salif Keita, Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Dandy Warhols, Goldfrapp, Super Furry Animals, Elbow - do you recognise/like a few of them?) The sexual explicitness is a matter of personal taste - and tastes in sexuality vary a lot. If you can identify or empathise to some extent to this 20-some young couple and feel comfortable seeing how their relationship develops through sex and rock music you may, as I did, find it beautiful and intimate. The lovemaking is so natural that it is in sharp contrast to the fictionalised and very artificial sex scenes in mainstream films. There's also some wonderful symbolism in contrasting shots and details of Antarctica (connected to the daytime work of the main character). It's also a triumph British cinema that the Censors have allowed it to reach mainstream cinemas uncut.


Context   May 9, 2006
 11 out of 18 found this review helpful

Is it coincidence that Michel Houellebecq's "Platform" appears in the film ? Read that and "Atomised" by the same author and it puts a different context on the film. Who knows ! This is a great story about our times. Hedonism and isolation, worth a look. Then maybe I am reading too much into it and it is just porn ... This film is worth seeing.


A great film and lovestory   January 26, 2006
 5 out of 10 found this review helpful

The best film I have ever seen with a modern love story, real sex-scenes and å lot of good pop-music. This is a good alternativ for couples who want to view an erotic film!


Rare 5 star Film   December 23, 2008
this review wont stand out by itself, please read a few 1star reviews to back this up, because the only way you will understand if this film is for you, its to find out why so many people have hated it... but...
i cant fault this film.

i can accept the criticisms of everyone who has given this film a 1star review, and i am not about to sit down and argue with any of their comments, because largely they are correct. and you too may very well hate this film... but... i would list it in my top five favourite films of all time.

let me explain;
for all the graphic scenes in the film, there is really very little in the way of pornography. this is not your typical, girl pleasures guy, gets on top, they do dirty things all night long, It's not porn, and if you sit down to watch it as a porno, you will be very dissapointed.

it's also a film with very little structure, although, having said that, the structure is one of the most important parts of the film, the essense of it, but you will not find a begining, middle and end here,you can walk in, 10mins from the end, and still get to grips with the entire story.

and the plot, seems to have been a forgotten element, although, i would personally list it as one of the best scripts in modern film.

i can critisize this film like everyone else, but i cant argue with the film. and there is a difference. this film is for the thinking person, the critic among us.

the characters are flawed, the story is anti-hollywood, and an entire scene can have two lines of excruciating dialogue.

BUT, this is the 21st century, where "p.s. i love you" and heck, even "batman" have us still spellbound by clever dialogue, and charasmatic main characters who always know the best thing to say, and say it at the best possible moments.

where-as this is life, this is for those people among us, who can appreciate silence, and slow paced film-making. People who can be in the back of cars for a journey of 200miles, and not speak, but smile, because of who they've been in the car with.

if you've ever seen no country for old men and enjoyed it, then this is something you will also love, it will challenge you, and you will fall for its charms. if you hated old country, then avoid this movie, go watch p.s. i love you, or notting hill. they'll give you all the romance you'll ever need


Rewarding, if you take it for what it is.   November 5, 2007
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Okay, I'll admit it; when I decided to watch 9 Songs, I was looking for something saucy to spice up my marriage... and what I got was all that and more. If you read any of the critics' reviews at the time, and indeed some of the customer reviews on this site, you'll know that this film incited a lot of controversy and has divided opinions. Some love it, some hate it, but it certainly gets everyone talking - in my eyes that marks out a film as one to see, even if it's only so you can join in the discussions! Indeed I am now very glad I saw the film, and will be buying my own copy of the DVD as soon as the rented one has to go back.

First and foremost, yes, there is a lot of explicit sex and it is as explicit, but fortunately not nearly as unrelenting, as many pornographic films. But hey, I expected the explicit sex. What I did not expect was the tenderness with which those scenes were directed and played out. They had a sincerity and depth of feeling that is rarely if ever seen in pornos, and whilst I know the actors are only doing their job and were not a couple in real life at the time, both seem completely at ease with the raw intimacy involved and even display significant on-screen chemistry. Neither O'Brien nor Stilley are typically attractive in the Hollywood, plastic, overly-made-up artificial sense of the word; rather they are real and human, and beautifully imperfect. And so the sex (despite it being so truly believable that at times I almost thought I was watching myself!) is undeniably hot.

The emotion and chemistry carries over into the rest of the characters' relationship. They are a credible couple, at times both likable and hateful as we all are and this only served to make me care about them more. At the sad yet inevitable disintegration of their union I even felt a pang in my chest - exaggerated perhaps by the stunning, desolate antarctic shots that evoke a deep and slightly disturbing sense of isolation and loneliness. As such, the entire film (at its relatively short length of, ah-hem, 69 minutes) is tinged with melancholy, reflected well in the dim lighting and low-key cinematography.

The music perhaps does not add quite what the production team may have wanted - the much sought after 'edge' - but it does fill out the film and serves as an unusual way to timeline the couples' demise. I can't help feeling though, that it may be also be a vehicle to promote the bands, and so would have preferred to see some that actually need promoting! As if anyone hadn't already heard of Franz Ferdinand. However, this is really the only solid negative I want to put forward (hence the four stars).

Overall the film is unusual in style and substance, and whilst I'm not sure it has quite achieved what it set out to (the much discussed 'commentary on censorship' is notably absent, and having seen the film just the idea of that is irrelevant and unnecessary - it stands up fine without anything like that), I thoroughly enjoyed it - it left me with the most bizarre mixture of feelings... both pensive and turned-on! Not previously a fan of Winterbottom, in my opinion he did a great job here and this film is an admirable addition to his body of work that I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind. It is not the great controversial release of the noughties that it was hyped as, but simply an enjoyable and moving film... in more ways than one.