(Note: Given the nature of the film, the content of this review is sexual in nature. Reader discretion is advised.)
One could argue for ages whether 9 Songs is art, porn, or cinema. While the bulk of viewers could be convinced that perhaps it’s an amalgam, 9 Songs is neither artsy, sexy, nor cinematic. It's short on story, cheaply made, and ineffective. The characters are boring, the sex – while graphic – is anything but erotic, and the music is outright off-putting.
As a glaciologist named Matt (Kieran O’Brien) flies over Antarctica in a biplane, he remembers a woman named Lisa (Margo Stilley) by her smell, her taste, and the touch of her skin. Matt recalls meeting Lisa and having sex with her for the first time. From there, Matt’s memory of their relationship plays out through alternating scenes of concerts and intercourse.
Unfortunately, as the film's story is revealed through flashback, a breakup is inevitable. Still worse, writer/director Michael Winterbottom doesn’t introduce his characters or even provide any backstory. Instead, Winterbottom throws a run-of-the-mill guy and girl on screen and has them dance, snort cocaine, and have sex.
Before you become familiar with Matt and Lisa (their names, faces, and voices), you are introduced to a pair of nameless naked bodies sharing pleasurable moans. A basic awkwardness exists between the characters and their relations; they seem uninterested in knowing each other on a deeper level, and they have sex just to have sex.
Despite being graphic (containing scenes of oral sex, masturbation, penetration, and ejaculation), the sex is far from arousing, passionate, or steamy. There's nothing even gentle or loving either; the sex is raw, lacking emotion, and rough. Their panting is dispassionate, their grunting disingenuous. In some cases, watching Matt and Lisa having sex is just ugly.
Consider Lisa getting tied-up, blindfolded, slapped, choked, and having her eyelids pressed by Matt’s thumbs. To Lisa, sex is about fulfilling fantasies and fetishes. She enjoys bondage, expresses her desire to bite Matt’s lip “really fucking hard and make [him] bleed”, masturbates to the thought of receiving a lap-dance from a female, and steps on Matt’s chest while wearing a pair of black leather boots. Though Matt’s foot fetish may be appeased by the boots and a bathtub foot job, Lisa appears to be more sexually selfish and fueled by fantasy than Matt. This lends to Lisa’s non-committal personality type and deflates the already meaningless “love” story.
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