9 Songs is a 2004 British film directed by Michael Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me). The title refers to the nine songs played by seven different indie rock bands (Dandy Warhols, Primal Scream, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Von Bondies, Elbow, Super Furry Animals, and Franz Ferdinand) and Michael Nyman (contemporary classicist) at Brixton Academy and other venues in London that complement the story of the film. The film is controversial in its depiction of unsimulated sex between its two co-stars, Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley, in a mainstream film that received a certificate for general release. The film is framed as a reminiscence from glaciologist Matt, while working in Antarctica, of his 12-month romance with American exchange student Lisa.
It is hard to imagine that the graphic sex scenes contributed artistically to the film's meaning, but a case can no doubt be made. One reviewer (Jim White) has commented that "this is not acting we see, this is activity." Ironically, despite the effort to portray a tender love story, the net effect is wholly unerotic. So what is the point ? While pornography strives to eroticize, this artistic film falls short in that arena. White makes the insightful point that film is too mechanical, intrusive, and voyeuristic a platform in comparison with literature. The film author is at a huge disadvantage, his mode of communication is literal, not literary.
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