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9 Songs Director: Michael Winterbottom Rated: R Palace Nova, Now screening In the summer of 2003 Matt meets Lisa at a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig at the Brixton Academy. Lisa is a young American student, in London for a year and Matt is planning an Antarctic expedition. They go back to Matt's house for sex and continue the relationship for the rest of the year, going to some great concerts and, as people do, continuing to have sex and take drugs. The film has been controversial and had a delayed release because the sex is real but it's no big deal. They're smiling and seem to be enjoying it and no-one's getting exploited. The lovemaking is normal and inoffensive but if you don't like explicit sex scenes, be warned and avoid this one. Matt and Lisa go to some other wonderful concerts including the Dandy Warhols, Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Super Furry Animals and the Von Bondies and see Michael Nyman playing piano on his 60th birthday at the Hackney Empire. Like the sex, the rock'n'roll is real, shot with hand-held DV cameras in the audience, using only existing stage lighting with the sound taken from the mixing desk. For music fans, these gigs are a treat. The choice of songs is impeccable, starting with BRMC's Whatever Happened To My Rock And Roll and finishing with their Love Burns. Interspersed amongst the relationship action are some inspirational observations of Antarctica as "the planet's memory of a time before there were people". Director Michael Winterbottom has impressed me with previous films 'Wonderland', '24 Hour Party People' and 'In This World', but his most recent effort 'Code 46', had some offensive elements verging on rape and incest. '9 Songs' is not nearly as confrontational. What it does is provide a comfortable space from which to consider how we feel about watching other people make love. Winterbottom believes "it's time for cinema, which has been conservative and prudish, to have the same freedom as literature" and that it was important to show the couple making love to "capture the sensation of being in love". Lisa and Matt are convincing. Margo Stilley really is a 21 year old American, found through a London casting agency and making her acting debut in this film. Kieran O'Brien is not a known star either, adding to the film's believability. There are no other main characters apart from the featured rock bands. If you enjoy sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, you're likely to enjoy '9 Songs'.  |
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