Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rewarding, if you take it for what it is., 5 Nov 2007
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.
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes less is more, 23 May 2007
I have been conscious of the controversy surrouding "9 Songs" since it first appeared, and it was in part my curiousity, and in part its appropriateness for the moment, that led me to choose to curl up with it, a glass and a friend.
Unfortunately, I spent much of the time struggling to follow and hear what was going on. I'm sure this was largely due to the editing, but perhaps also because I was looking and listening for something that simply wasn't there. It's a simple, realistic (but rather dis-jointed) snap shot of a brief relationship between two very ordinary people in which not very much happens. It is the very ordinariness of the couple that is both refreshing and reassuring. Erotic intimacy is not simply the domain of the beautiful. Indeed, it took me a while to adjust to the androgyny of Lisa. To me, a brave and honest move on both the parts of Director and cast to step outside the mould.
It is noticeably short, but, to my mind - without more of a tale to tell -long enough. There is something almost soporific about it, and not only did we have to re-wind the bits I missed, but, I think I must have nodded off through several of the 9 songs! I should, however, like to find the time to see it again. I came away feeling privileged to be invited to be a "fly on the wall" and to be part of such simple human tenderness. Certainly not porn but definitely an adult movie best watched with the someone in your life you feel completely comfortable with.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Effectively Fuses Pornography into the Mainstream, 3 Aug 2007
I'm not sure there is much to say here. Simply put, Michael Winterbottom has entered the world of pornography, at least partially. Here, he has definitely made a very dirty film with very little else to say. I'm not saying it offends me. Perhaps Winterbottom's 9 Songs comes off this way because it is about a relationship founded on and maintained by its sex. We see Matt, a guy who does some work in Antarctica, meet Lisa, an American student. Their relationship seems to be based predominantly on two things; a common bond with music and a common bond in enjoying sexual intercourse. There is seemingly very little attachment beyond that and then the relationship ends when Lisa returns to the states.
The explicit sex scenes are intertwined with footage of rock bands including the Von Bondies, the Dandy Warhols and Franz Ferdinand, just to name a few. I was tempted to praise the film for combining elements that are pornographic with a compelling story and somehow attempt to not be gratuitous. I don't know whether to call the graphic scenes honest or exploitative, but I suppose they serve some purpose within the context of the story. It definitely seems empty and bleak in their final scene together. 9 Songs portrays sex far colder and realistic than porn does.
I'm not sure that means it should qualify as good movie, but it certainly seems like an honest attempt to be original and bring elements like this into mainstream cinema, for better or worse. The performances have been praised by some as daring but I have to say, any acting was pretty much a non-factor here. I assume the performances are muted intentionally but they are either done so because the relationship portrayed is a bleak and selfish one or because the acting chops were just no there. It really doesn't matter why because either way it conveniently and perhaps unwittingly works for the benefit of the film. It is a glimpse into the very private lives of too people only associated by their lust.
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