9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version Reviews

• Sex as Storytelling

  
  By A17L4NUSA5KZ0H on 2006-03-13
  9 Songs tells a familiar story, but the way the story is told is innovative, poignant, and memorable. We found ourselves still talking about the movie hours later.
  
  The sex which comprises the movie is explicit, but it is neither Holywood sex nor "porn movie" sex. The couple's physical relationship is real and honest, and tells the story of the movie. I was impressed with the idea of using sex as the primary narrative device, and the director's implementation of the idea is brilliantly executed. 9 songs tells its story well in a language most of us can understand.
  
  

• A 00's LOVE STORY

  
  By A13O4D4TYSYLDW on 2006-02-23
  This whole movie is a memory of an affair. Matt working as glaciologist in North Pole remembers every single moment he passed with his girlfriend Lisa. They meet in a music hall in London during a concert. The mutual affection is critical and they going to spend several months together. As they experience strong sexual moments together they will experience also nine live concerts. Unique performances by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Von Bondies, Elbow, Primal Scream, The Dandy Warhols, Super Furry Animals, Franz Ferdinand and Michael Nyman are available in this very good movie.
  Even some scenes are a bit shocking I believe this a worthy to see film.
  
  
  

• To some, prurient, to some, nostalgic, but more than that...

  
  By A1S8W6V7QQCJIG on 2006-06-27
  Some might consider this movie prurient, while to others it will seem sweetly nostalgic. Anyone who is looking at this review will already know that 9 Songs is famed for its full-on sex scenes. Some, however, will not be aware that it really is about the nature of memory and the waking-up to ordinary life's intangible fleeting beauty.
  
  The main character is a British glaciologist through whose eyes, metaphorically, one "remembers" a relationship a lovely, egotistical, careless, charming, and crazy woman, not unlike the young women young men meet from time to time and with whom men try (unsuccessfully) to have a temporally enduring relationship.
  
  Matt (Kieran O'Brien) is an ugly-handsome winsome working-class bloke made good in Tony Blair's New Britain. Lisa (Margot Stilley)is an American, obviously from what is called a "good family", curvaceously slim, statuesque (about two inches taller than Matt), educated, and unserious about both her relationship with Matt and her job. As for her "job", though we don't see much of it at all, it's obviously just a time-marking "playing about with typewriters and latchkeys and calling it work", as EM Forster called the occupations of upper middle class twenty-somethings who receive regular checks from the family back home. She a good-looking 21 year old American woman in London with time on her hands, and a liking for men.
  
  Glaciology is a key thematic element in 9 Songs. Antarctica is a metaphor for one's memory. The snow laid down in the center of the continent becomes ice, trapping bubbles of air inside it. Those bubbles are the continent's "memory" of the weather on a certain day, a certain year. As more and more ice is laid down at the center, the earlier deposits move inecluctably toward the sea, there to be "calved" become bergs, and finally melt, leaving no trace behind.
  
  Apart from Antarctica, there's not a lot more than performances by bands like the Dandy Warhols, Super Furry Animals, and so forth. Nine songs sung in really fun-looking London venues, to be exact, and, of course, the famous scenes of the couple making love. The lovemaking is more inferred than depicted ofttimes, but taken as a whole one would doubt that there is even a square centimetre of the protagonists' anatomies that is not unmistakably displayed in all its glory for all the world to see in this movie. The sex, for the most part, has a quality of warmly relational authenticity that anyone could recognize as very distinct from exploitative porn. As a result, the viewer seldom feels terribly voyeuristic, but rather the director seeks for the viewer to experience a reflective nostalgia, redolent of times past - which is, of course, a function of memory.
  
  HOWEVER, the title of the film does not, I think, refer merely to the "songs" sung by the bands. My own theory is that the auteur, Michael Winterbottom, is alluding to the Chinese 13th century Yuan Dynasty cycle of poems, The Nine Songs, which is in many respects about the Shamanic quest. "Similar to the traditional shaman of Siberia, Central Asia and the Arctic, the wu enters into a trance state in performing ceremonies. However, unlike his northern counterparts, the Chinese shaman enters into a fleeting love relationship with the God (or Goddess)." [taken from Zekeriyah's excellent review of the book of the same name on this site]
  
  You see, this film is not only about memory, and what a guy remembers about a relationship with a woman he has loved (which guys being who they are, is mostly the perceived high points, like going to shows and making love), but 9 Songs also seems to be an extended metaphor for the Shamanic quest, which in the end requires union with the mysterious Beloved other, the mythological dakini, who both enlivens and kills her lover simultaneously and then simply disappears into the sky, and leaves behind (there's that word, memory, again) as her gift a precious, elusive realization of the ugly-beautiful reality of things-as-they-are.
  
  With that in mind, see this movie. It's not really about sex.
  
  

• Great performances all around!

  
  By A1LSK1O9DHSGAO on 2005-09-30
  Starting off with British guy Matt in Antartica, surveying the land, the movie is a flashback to his fling with an American girl named Lisa (Margo Stilley, who looks like a taller, learner Maggie Gyllenhaal). The two go to a great concert, have sex, go to a great concert, have sex, rinse, repeat 7 more times. Amazingly, even though you're only seeing the sex, you're seeing the reality of a relationship and able to see the emotions and feelings of both people from beginning to end. It's an interesting note to all those movies out there who try to show everything BUT the sex...maybe you're missing the real point.
  
  Of course what really makes the movie a must-watch is the performances. One of a kind concert footage from some of my personal favorite bands, Franz Ferdinand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Von Bondies, Super Furry Animals and Primal Scream. If you're a fan of these bands, its like getting a bonus DVD of footage.
  
  Be warned, the sex is real. No faking, no CGI. But it doesn't really feel like porn, least not to me. Winterbottom shots it the film on digital video, probably the best way to capture all the concerts. The film's a solid 65 minutes, just the perfect amount of time to course the relationship of two people in lust.
  
  
  

• Metronomic

  
  By A17II2K378G36C on 2005-10-28
  This is a movie for the sexually liberated, media-articulate contemporary individual who doesn't baulk at the sight of sex. The relationship of the film's two protagonists is portrayed in austere and non-manipulative terms. It does not insult an intelligent youthful modern audience: the sex scenes are candid and very real, and we don't get heaps of sharp dialogue from two people pontificating over the nature of sex and relationships. This film simply shows the intense but ephemeral bond of two people united by physical attraction.
  
  At least that's what I would have said if this film was any good. In fact I find it utterly insulting that anyone would think that I want to watch two bland characters going to concerts then having sex. That's it, that's the whole film! Wow, I'm blown away by its starkness and simplicity! No I'm not; I'm incredibly bored and a little bit angry. Oh look they're having sex again and it's quite graphic - how interesting and refreshing in its honesty. No, not really - unless perhaps you're a young dandy pretending to be intelligent and who hasn't come to terms with the brute facts of existence. Oh look, the two dullards have been to another gig and now they're having sex - again! Please, please stop! Can't we watch them playing Monopoly for a change?
  
  Traditionally, objectors to this sort of film airily claim that it is boring. This is the acceptable unshockable-sophisticate alternative to condemnation on moral grounds. Well, this film was both immoral and boring: I object to this film on the grounds that it is morally wrong to produce such a boring film: it was made by people who have horribly confused interesting and clever with boring and erm, boring. The only way this film could have been better was if it was called '2 Songs' and its content and structure were amended accordingly. For a far more enjoyable and insightful film on relationships try 'One Fine Day'.
  
  
  
• Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
  By ALLJT7S5QOFFZ on 2005-11-26
  This was an extremely DULL film. Yes, the sex is real but whoopee. The characters are neither likeable nor engaging, the relationship between the two leads never progresses beyond the physical and even the musical performances leave a lot to be desired, since the sound and cinematography are so amateurish that you can't even appreciate or enjoy them properly. If you are hankering to watch people snort coke and watch concerts, then go home to have S&M-lite sex, or oral sex, or masturbate, then this movie might hold some appeal for you, so have fun with it. But be warned: the actress in the movie is so hideously thin that watching her shirtless is almost as painful as watching Christian Bale in "The Machinist". Since when were ribcages sensual? That is just one of many reasons the sex scenes fail to make this movie enticing and instead actually make the film harder to watch.
  
  This film could bring up interesting questions about the difference between pornography and art, but mostly it just made me want to leave the theater. If you watch it looking to get aroused, I suggest you find yourself some free porn on the internet instead -- it's faster, more effective and far more entertaining! ;-)
  
  
• 9 Songs - Breaking new ground or an embarassment?
  By A179GX8E3M4G52 on 2006-08-21
  "I've read a few reviews on 9 songs and one thing they all seem to agree upon is that the movie has no story. I can't disagree with them. There isn't much of a story, but if you pay attention you do arrive at some interesting conclusions."
  
  "The plot of the movie can be boiled down to this, boy and girl meet at a, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, rock concert and go to his apt and f*ck. Another concert and another roll in the hay. With some small exceptions this is the modus operandi for nine concerts."
  
  "Matt is a scientist, a glaciologist and Lisa is a visiting American college student. Matt tried to keep up with Lisa, but I got the impression that he was overmatched, with Lisa, whom I thought was an excitement junkie. She was also more into experimentation. At one point one point Matt went home by himself as she stayed with a woman."
  
  "I couldn't figure out why the sex scenes seemed so well done - almost real. Then, as the movie progressed it became obvious. The bathtub scene with Matt and Lisa, the only actors in the movie, gave me the first clue. With Matt (Kieran O'Brien) leaning back on one side of the tub and Lisa (Margo Stilley) on the other, she uses her feet to massage his erect penis in full view of the viewers. That was about halfway through the movie and was only the beginning. Each sex scene thereafter, became increasing more explicit."
  
  "After about three months of steady rock concerts and sex, Lisa tells Matt that she will soon be going back to America. Matt is crushed, so that afternoon Lisa cheers him up by ... how can I say this? Blowing him! The viewer gets to see the whole episode, just like a porn movie. She sucks on him for about thirty seconds and then cuts away to a long view of Matt, ejaculating on himself."
  
  "On the day she is scheduled to leave, the spectator is presented a vision of the couple having intercourse including clear view of phallic penetration."
  
  "Speaking of the rock concerts, rock music fans, especially fans of British bands may be interested in the bands of the various concerts. I managed to dig seven of them out - they are:"
  
  * Super Furry Animals
  * The Dandy Warhol
  * Franz Ferdinand
  * Elbow
  * Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
  * The Von Bondies
  * Primal Scream
  
  Conclusion
  
  "What one might get out of this movie depends upon what one's expectations are. No, it doesn't have much of a story, but I thought the overall product was entertaining and very watchable. The movie was realistic in everyway (not just the sex) and earthy. The acting by the two actors was really something to behold and so was the cinematography."
  
  "It should be pointed out that the writer, producer, director of 9 Songs, felt there was a double standard regarding reading material vs film. He thought, since many erotic and even mainstream stories are extremely graphic, why can't mainstream movies also depict graphic sex. In comparison to the present day trend of filthy degrading pornographic films, 9 songs must seem extremely tame. Still, it is a big leap forward in sexuality from the average boring, poorly done soft-core movie. Therefore, I'm going against the grain, and giving the movie 4 stars."
  
  
• Sweet memories... Snapshots of a summer of sex and rock music
  By A29VKODW4R5U7W on 2006-08-02
  I liked this film. I bought the DVD because of its notoriety but with full awareness of the generally dismal reviews it received. It turned out to be a surprisingly sweet little film. Not much of a plot and not really a love story as such. It's more an experimental art film touching on memory - specifically the bittersweet memory of a lost love. A young Englishman remembers the short summer fling he had with a bright, vivacious, and beautiful 21-year old American girl. He obviously thought more of their summer tryst than she did. And when she leaves for home at the end of summer, he is devastated. He takes refuge in his work as a glaciologist, fleeing to the barren wastes of Antarctica. But if this film depicts what he thought of their relationship, it does beg the question, just how deep were his feelings towards her? If the only things you can recall of a relationship are the bouts of sex and rock concerts, that doesn't really say much for the relationship.
  
  This film has been endlessly compared to porn by various critics, even by the official reviewer here on Amazon. I find the comparison rather unfair. Yes, it has explicit sex scenes which would not be out of place in a porn video. But that does not make it porn. Sex is a natural part of a relationship and a natural part of life. The film depicts it as such without apology and without shame. When the relationship is over, this young man thinks back and concentrates only on the sex because that, sadly but truthfully, was what was most important to him, much as he would like to believe otherwise.
  
  The sex is hot. And more importantly, believable. Not the overblown silliness of porn. For people who have yet to see the film, make no mistake, everything is explicitly shown here, not lingering voyeuristically like in true porn but matter-of-factly like in a documentary. You see the couple engage in fellatio, cunnilingus and vaginal sex. And in a rare departure for a mainstream movie, you see the male partner ejaculate during fellatio. There are also 2 scenes where the young lovers experiment with mild bondage; blindfolds and tying down to the bed during sex. The actors are unknowns but they play their parts very well. Kieran O'Brien (Matt) looks like your average young London guy. Margo Stilley (Lisa) was in real life an American based in the UK and she is seriously cute.
  
  I am not a fan of contemporary British rock music, so I endured the songs more than enjoyed them. But the believabilty of the intimate moments more than made up for it. The 9 songs recorded during 9 live concerts, act as chapter breaks between the bouts of sex.
  
  The film was shot on Digital Video and is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio (enhanced for widescreen TV). Picture quality is fair considering the source material. Colours are strong and natural. Black levels are fine. Sharpness is satisfactory. Sound is available in both DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0. The sound is fair although rather lacking in Oomph for a rock concert, even when I did allow it get up to normal levels. I spent most of the time muting the volume during the rock concerts and boosting it to hear the dialogue. Optional Spanish subtitles are provided. There are about 30 minutes worth of interviews, 15 mins with Margo Stilley and about 7 mins each with Kieran O'Brien and director Michael Winterbottom. There are 5 separate music videos from the bands, The Dandy Warhols (Smoke it / The Last High), The Von Bondies (C'mon, C'mon) and Elbow (Intro-Meet the Band / Forget Myself). The film itself is playable as a concert only version, shorn of all the sex. I'm not sure who would want that but the option is there. Finally there is the theatrical trailer and a small photo gallery. The sex is hot but if you're looking for porn you'll be disappointed. If you're looking for a film that tells a story, like 90% of American audiences, you'll also be disappointed. But if you can appreciate a quietly reflective recollection of a lost period in someone's life, this could appeal to you.
  
  
• SEXUALLY EXPLICIT BUT BLAND
  By A3H9JSM1SUTE4O on 2006-09-19
  
  Pushing the envelope for explicit, over the counter home videos, 9 SONGS (Tartan) is about one year of sex and rock'n roll in the life of two lovers.
  
  Matt is a young glaciologist. He meets Lisa at a London rock concert. That night they start an affair. In between attending more concerts, they make passionate love. It's for real and explicit. Nine live-concert song footage is intercut with their coke-snorting, sexual encounters creating a sometimes ironic reflection of their intense physical but otherwise rather bland relationship. And finally, all this takes place in the memory of Matt as he flies across the vast frozen wastelands of the South Pole.
  
  This unscripted film is part musical, part drama, part documentary and part performance. It raises questions about the difference between pornography and art. Controversial and much buzzed about, this not fully satisfying experiment is of interest mainly as a novelty item by a usually innovative and creative director for what it could have been. And of course the sex. A special feature eliminates everything but the concert performances.
  
  
• a healthy libido...
  By A1VABWDOUQLULZ on 2007-02-26
  I still contend that I did not live to be 35 so that I could be repeatedly besieged by a market swamped with PG13 movies. I truly celebrate art that isn't afraid to express the world through an adult's eyes, unbridled. That said, this film contains sex between the lead characters, and it's all very sensual. The story itself is rather bare, few lines, mostly told through the visuals of the couples' interaction and the lyrics of the nine songs. It gave an interesting and sometimes painful look into the daily life of relationships. Real bodies adorned these sheets. Both the leads were attractive people but they were far from the caricatures we are inundated with in most sexually iconic films. The realism of their bodies, passion, problems, and interaction carried the film. The direction seemed sparse, as most of the dialogue was improvised, though I'm sure that careful attention to subtler details is what brought it all together. The songs selected were for the most part familiar, playing out the role of narrator despite the male lead's infrequent injections of perspective. In short, I liked this film. I wasn't dazzled or left emotionally altered, except that I felt some deep satisfaction simply walking away from a film knowing that it was made for adults about sex. Nobody was raped. Nobody cheated (without consent, anyway). Nobody suffered ill consequences as a result of having and expressing a healthy libido. Apparently that's a tall order in Hollywood. So for effort in redeeming sex in films alone, I applaud this one.
  
  
• Still gets 3
  By A1YU4LBG0Z9Q24 on 2007-03-17
  After viewing the uncut and the edited version, I realized how pointless this movie really is. Of course it was 4:20 when I figured it out. The sex is graphic, the acting is bad. But the sex is graphic!
  
  
• Thank goodness this film was short...
  By A3C6CZC2JP67VK on 2006-02-11
  This is a love-it-or-hate-it film, as reflected by the deep divisions in critical response. It is a serious piece of film-making but there are two major components that you may love or hate - extreme sexual explicitness and modern rock music. No narrative, no back story, no characterization, just plenty of sex and music. It's hard to know just what Winterbottom is trying to achieve with this film. There certainly is a good film to be made about a relationship built on sex, indeed there have been a number of classic films which do tackle the subject intelligently and provocatively, such as 'Last Tango in Paris' or 'Ai No Corrida'. But both those films benefited from strong character development and at least one superb performance ('Tango' is Brando's finest hour while Eiko Matsuda is extraordinary in Nagisa Oshima's film), and these are aspects that are sorely lacking in '9 Songs'.
  
  But the flaws of '9 Songs'' structure are the least of the film's problems. The main reason it doesn't work is down to the poor performances and total lack of chemistry between the two stars. Admittedly they don't have much to work with, as character development does not seem to rank highly on Winterbottom's agenda, but Matt and Lisa are such a dull, irritating couple that it is impossible to care what they get up to. The two actors are unconvincing and the heavily-improvised dialogue is utterly dismal (sample conversation: "Those glasses look stupid" "I'm trying to look stupid", "They look ugly" "I'm trying to look ugly").
  
  I'm sure Michael Winterbottom had good intentions with '9 Songs', but his experiment has turned up a dull, shapeless mess of a film which would surely have disappeared from sight completely if it wasn't for the fuss over the sexual content. Disappointingly, that sexual content may mean more people actually want to see this than any of Winterbottom's previous, superior films. And that's a real shame. Come again? No chance.
  
  
  
• Won't Play on PCs
  By A3HWKOAO1GXGFF on 2006-01-08
  Leaving aside the films content and notoriety, I was unable to get the DVD to play on my PC using any of the following software: Power DVD, QuickTime Pro, or RealPlayer. Perhaps they've encoded it to prevent PC play.
  
  
• Limey
  By A94WMDYX093LJ on 2006-01-15
  A disappointing film. It is certainly not for the faint of heart, being predominantly of adult content, with very explicit sex scenes. That in itself I would not find objectionable but the movie was aiming to break new ground and for me it did not. The sex was supposed to illuminate the relationship between the young man and woman but to me the relationship had no substance beyond the sex. It was not three-dimensional, not credible and almost entirely static.
  
  
• The Man-Woman dynamic, unpolished, and with a delicious score!
  By A3QR3AK6HAC0JF on 2006-06-13
  This unusual film has gotten so very little press--at least where I live--that if I wasn't a slave to Amazon.com, I wouldn't even have known it existed.
  
  First, before anything else, this is not a film for kids or for those who find explicit, adult content offensive. It is unrated because the sex is real, not acting. Hence why edgy director, Michael Winterbottom, had to cast unknowns as Matt and Lisa, the lead characters.
  
  Second, if you enjoy really good alternative rock music (and don't mind the adult content) you will love this film. With delicious live performances seen nowhere else from bands like The Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Primal Scream, the music is damned good.
  
  The premise of this film is a love story. Unlike 9 1/2 Weeks before it, 9 Songs is the everyman/everywoman unfolding of a romantic relationship, the stages it goes through, the way it ends, set against the backdrop of 9 live concerts attended by the couple.
  
  The story's core, revealed by Matt, who is a scientist studying Antarctica, is that of what a relationship feels like from the inside out. While we see bold, stark glimpses of this forbidding continent, we hear Matt telling us that the wide open, endless ice of Antarctica inspires both claustrophobia and agoraphobia simultaneously, "like being in bed with someone else." That comment struck me like a bucket of ice water with it's unrelenting truth.
  
  It has been suggested that Winterbottom is using sex as a storytelling device. This is true, but not the whole truth. Men and women will never change and though the explicit scenes may shock you, it is the man-woman dynamic at the heart of this film. The ways we communicate, or don't. The ways in which we meet. The manner that we use to walk away.
  
  You can literally feel Lisa's sense of being trapped by the increasing intimacy--and accompanying responsibility of not willfully hurting her lover--when in a drug-induced mania, she tells Matt that sometimes when he kisses her, she wants to bite his lip hard, to draw blood. You can see what these words mean by his reaction. . .and his continued reactions to her increasing level of cruelty toward him. Petty, childishly making fun of him when least appropriate.
  
  This is certainly not a film for everyone. However, if you enjoy indie films, edgy, dark and challenging concepts, 9 Songs will impress you. And, whether you like it or not, it will make you think about relationships; how they are created and how they are disassembled.
  
  For me, I was stunned to silence by the elegance of the unpolished look at "love," warts and all.
  
  
• Metronomic
  By A17II2K378G36C on 2005-07-15
  This is a movie for the sexually liberated, media-articulate contemporary individual who doesn't baulk at the sight of sex. The relationship of the film's two protagonists is portrayed in austere and non-manipulative terms. It does not insult an intelligent youthful modern audience: the sex scenes are candid and very real, and we don't get heaps of sharp dialogue from two people pontificating over the nature of sex and relationships. This film simply shows the intense but ephemeral bond of two people united by physical attraction.
  
  At least that's what I would have said if this film was any good. In fact I find it utterly insulting that anyone would think that I want to watch two bland characters going to concerts then having sex. That's it, that's the whole film! Wow, I'm blown away by its starkness and simplicity! No I'm not; I'm incredibly bored and a little bit angry. Oh look they're having sex again and it's quite graphic - how interesting and refreshing in its honesty. No, not really - unless perhaps you're a young dandy pretending to be intelligent and who hasn't come to terms with the brute facts of existence. Oh look, the two dullards have been to another gig and now they're having sex - again! Please, please stop! Can't we watch them playing Monopoly for a change?
  
  Traditionally, objectors to this sort of film airily claim that it is boring. This is the acceptable unshockable-sophisticate alternative to condemnation on moral grounds. Well, this film was both immoral and boring: I object to this film on the grounds that it is morally wrong to produce such a boring film: it was made by people who have horribly confused interesting and clever with boring and erm, boring. The only way this film could have been better was if it was called '2 Songs' and the film's content and structure were amended accordingly. For a far more enjoyable and insightful film on relationships try 'One Fine Day'.
  
  
• Boring!
  By A19RHEIQOU7YEC on 2005-10-29
  Apart from the music and (to some extent) the sex, this film is incredibly boring. Ok, maybe it does deserve some attention because of the explicit sex scenes, but if that's what you want to see you might as well buy some quality porn. Anyway, even these "hot" moments tend to be rather tedious in the long run. The music is ok, but doesn't justify buying the DVD - buy the actual music instead. The acting itself isn't worth mentioning. There are to many endless scenes of Nothingness. Given that there was no script I have to say I'm not surprised. Ridiculous. Stay away.
  
  
• Relationships are boring
  By A1D5G3MME9BBKX on 2005-12-19
  There are some who have said that 9 Songs is a terribly boring porno flick. I have to disagree. The best part of this movie is how it showcases an actual relationship. There isn't that much excitement day to day in a lot of relationships. Things get boring. The sex and common interests are what hold them together, and that is what this movie focuses on. I call this a romantic movie about two people joined by their love of music, and the bands used in the movie are amazing. The songs become the soundtrack of their relationship. As far as the sex scenes, they are intense and just about every other scene involves some sort of physical encounter. They didn't make me feel as though I was watching a cheap porno, however, but more that it was a normal part of any relationship. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys great cinematography, live music, or examinations of real relationships.
  
  
• Eroric reality
  By A2HO04DCIEPFHC on 2006-04-19
  This must be the first erotic film I've seen that isn't pornography, and because it shows real sex in explicit detail it has enormous potential for degenerating into porn. Two young people explore each other in and out of bed, while there are snippets of second-string pop groups in concert between the bouts of sex - not sure why, unless it is to legitimise the movie to allow it to be shown on public screens. What makes this film different is that the sexual desire is palpable. It must also be the first time that ejaculation has been allowed to be shown in the non-porn movie industry. I would not rate this as great cinema, but for a short highly charged bit of pure Eros it can't be beaten!
  
  
• Waste of time :(
  By AOZFJX6JBPVZ7 on 2005-12-02
  Was VERY disappointed in this film when I saw it in the theater. I was excited about the bands, because I LOVE most of the bands featured here, but the way it was filmed, I could not even get into the concert footage. So grainy and amateurishly filmed...And the sound was so bad, I was shocked. :( I do not object to the basic idea of the film, but it just needed to be more interestingly presented with a genuine story with characters that we care about that just happened to have both elements(sex and music) in it. ZZZ...So what about the "real" sex. It's TEDIOUS because it's real. It made me feel very detached while watching it. I agree with the other reviews above, get either a porno film or the music bands' DVDs, or watch their music videos. It would be better.
  
  
• Good Movie, Bad DVD
  By A3M9EQEY9RU59U on 2006-04-17
  As far as this movie goes, it is what it is, and what the movie is about is the sexual relationship between a couple. Therefore, I won't be too critical of either the acting or the story itself, because that was not what I was expecting when I saw this movie. After initially stumbling across this movie while leaving a movie theater, I assumed that this movie must have had explicit sex given that the movie wasn't rated (a tactic studios use when they fear their movies might get the dreaded "NC-17" rating, a rating that would keep their movie out of certain theaters and markets). As expected, the movie has sex scenes, but I was very surprised (and pleased) in the level of sex that was performed.
  
  This movie, whose two lead actors were involved in an actual relationship in real life, leaves very little to the imagination, showing acts such as copulation, fellatio (including orgasm), maturbation, bondage and other methods of sex. However, in spite of all the sex, the movie was tastefully done and shouldn't be classified as "porn." When watching it, I felt as though I was a "Peeping Tom" seeing a real relationship transpire before my eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if couples watch this film to get them in the mood for sex.
  
  As far as the music (concert footage between each scene) was concerned (which I fast-forwarded past) was okay. I guess the director used the music to compensate for the lack of a story. However, I have to make an exception for Michael Nyman for his piece "Nadia," a somber composition performed at an appropiate time in the movie. The piece was beautifully performed and set the tone for the remainder of the movie.
  
  Even though the movie itself was pretty good, the DVD doesn't perform well. At first, when I initially rented it, I encountered many technical glitches while playing the DVD. I assumed that it was just this particular DVD, but I discovered the same problems in another DVD that I purchased. These problems are the following:
  1) To get the disc to play the movie, you have to hit the "Menu" button on your DVD's remote control as soon as the DVD player begins to play the disc. Otherwise, the player will not play the disc, citing a "disc error."
  2) Once the main menu is displayed, you must select "scene selection" and then select the first scene to play the movie. If you select "play movie," you will get a disc error.
  3) In the "special features" menu, only the "9 Songs: The Music" and "Photo Gallery" features are accessible. All the other "special features" don't work, meaning that you'll get a disc error when attempting to play them (On my DVD player, I cleared the "disc error" by pressing the "menu" button on my remote control).
  
  Overall, the DVD is pretty good, once you get past the DVD's flaws. However, don't expect great thespian performaces. After all, it is what it is.
  
  
• Not a future cult classic
  By A29CUCGRX04TS8 on 2006-07-03
  When the interlocutor of this movie comments, as he flies over Antarctica, that it is "beautiful" he sounds utterly unconvincing. Neither he nor his partner are good actors, and that is a weakness in this film.
  
  Their year long affair is viewed in retrospect as a series of sexual plays interspersed with live performances by up and coming British rockbands (the Nine Songs of the title).
  
  It is certainly not pornography, though it is a sexy film. Nor do I think it is art, because it addresses nothing, challenges nothing, explores nothing.
  
  Quite honestly, it is like a home made video throughout. And in that regard it has a voyeuristic attraction. You feel that you are looking in on the private lives of two people.
  
  It is not a great love story. I don't even think it is a love story. It is just a year of sex with someone else, and some loud concerts.
  
  The coke snorting is gratuitous and unnesscessary. It is nice to see someone use a condom in a sex movie, and it spoils nothing. The cooking scenes are cursory and devoid of sensuality.
  
  There was probably a good film in here, if anyone bothered to look for it. There could be a theme about the transitory nature of love once the sex is removed, or a comment on how love must develop during the sexual exploration phase, or the relationship will die the moment the sex is removed.
  
  There are potential themes here, and had they been explored it could have been an art movie, and one with a potential to outlive the hype of the sex. But sadly, this film will only ever be remembered for the controversy of the real sex scenes.
  
  
• Raw. Real, Very Erotic
  By ABTQW4SCTK9XQ on 2006-08-27
  Let me begin by saying I hate porn. I find it degrading, crude, devoid of any emotion, and fake. This movie is NOT. Although the plot of this movie could have been fleshed out a little bit more, overall it is a real and passionate movie. Erotica for the thinking person. This is not a film for people who find graphic sex scenes offensive, but as I said before this in not a pornographic movie as far as I'm concerned. The music is great!! I found the contrast of hot sex and a career studying ice rather unique.
  
  
• Is it porn or just sex
  By A2GM3T5B16ARVO on 2006-09-13
  I have to admit, the story line of the movie the first time I watched it totally escaped me. It seemed to be a gradual build up of moderate sex scenes to completely explicit sex scenes and not much in between except for some noise which is passed off as music.
  
  Nevertheless I give it four stars because it does not pretend to be either pure porn or a story of pathos and deep emotion. It is just a series of increasingly explicit sex scenes and as such, since it is available on the non 'adult' market, it deserves four stars. If you enjoy watching sex between 'legitimate' actors where you see penetration and other fun stuff, this is a good movie. If you appreciate good music - forget it.
  
  
• Not worth my time
  By AT89RRTVIKPDL on 2007-01-03
  My husband recommended this movie to me while he was deployed, so I purchased and watched it. First of all, there is practically no storyline. It's like a bad porn movie without the pornographic aspect of it. Yes, there are explicit sex scenes in this movie, and on first glance, that's what appealed to my husband. But, the characters are awful, the storyline is non-existent...even the soundtrack is bad. Upon further investigation, my husband agreed with me on all these points, and would no longer recommend it, either.
  
  
• a love story told from the bedroom
  By A8IYN1NH72VTA on 2007-03-19
  I found the movie to be a window into what the "youngsters" are doing. Stand-up concerts, drugs and sex. And in the middle of it was a poignant love story. The contrast between London and people and sex and warmth to Antarctica and cold and wind and solitude was marvelous. It is a movie that captures people seeking connection, seeking warmth, and ultimately failing. My eyes were moist when they said goodbye.
  
  Good for you youngsters.
  
  duke out
  
  
• Effectively Fuses Pornography into the Mainstream
  By A34D4KCP94ACJZ on 2007-05-10
  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.
  
  
• 9 SONGS
  By A1S8SSQ3W87I0K on 2007-01-10
  Very classy film. Sex scenes are well done, and very much beyond the usual non-artfilm genre.
  
  
• British Film Lover
  By A1L09NO6ZM1NLA on 2005-12-21
  This movie was a great passionate, raw love story told from the point of view of "Matt", a glaciologist spending the summer in London. The movie captures the soul of London's Rock movement. I love the free-spirited Lisa and the antics see plays in the movie. My favorite scene is in the bathroom where there is a little arkward, funny momement between the Matt and Lisa
  
  
• real sex, but a choppy film
  By A1AUWM31XWC0ZB on 2006-03-15
  The gimmick - using actors performing real, unsimulated sex is interesting and tittilating - however the director tries to structure the film by using concert footage of 9 different indie bands chopped into a brief relationship/sex movie. Problem is the concert footage feels like a different film and has nothing to do with the relationship - so you watch it for the music, or you watch it for the sex, but not for both. And the sex scenes, which are refreshingly honest due to them not being simulated, seem to go nowhere. You know how drama has a beginning, middle and end? How scenes in movies have a beginning middle and end? well, all the sex scenes only seem to have a middle - nothing really gets resolved and you don't really get a feeling for the relationship. They had a really great opportunity to make this a very interesting movie using sex to punctuate a deteriorating relationship, yet the movie missed it - so we just see these improved scenes and some light sex and a totally unbelievable sequence where the guy is supposed to be a climatologist in the antarctic. The extra interviews on the DVD are actually very interesting and finding out that they spent 5 months shooting all the sex because they had no story is very telling.
  
  

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