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Lisa (Margo Stilley) is a student. She has a job, although it is never clearly explained what she does for a living. Matt (Kieran O’Brien) is a glaciologist and spends time studying them in the best possible environment for doing so: Antarctica. They meet at the Brixton Academy in London during a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club concert (“What Ever Happened To My Rock and Roll”) and then they fuck (and yes, let’s get this out of the way: they really do have actual sex on film.) So begins the saga of our two young lovers.
The rest of the film… well I will sum it up for you:
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WARNING: MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!
Matt and Lisa go to The Von Bondies concert. (“C’mon C’mon”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa make coffee and do lines.
Matt and Lisa dance.
Matt and Lisa fuck again.
Matt and Lisa have boring conversation.
Matt and Lisa go to an Elbow concert. (“Fallen Angel”)
Matt and Lisa drive around.
Matt and Lisa bathe and fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to the beach.
Matt and Lisa go to the Primal Scream concert. (“Movin On Up”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa fuck yet again.
Matt and Lisa go to The Dandy Warhols concert. (“The Last High”)
Matt and Lisa discuss their Thanksgiving dinner plans.
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to a strip club.
Lisa fucks herself.
Lisa cries.
Lisa fucks herself again.
Matt goes alone to the Super Furry Animals concert. (“Slow Life”)
Matt and Lisa drink tea and argue.
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa go to the Franz Ferdinand concert. (“Jacqueline”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Matt and Lisa do lines.
Matt and Lisa go to Michael Nyman’s 60th birthday concert. (“Nadia”)
Matt and Lisa fuck.
Lisa leaves Matt.
Matt sees The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club again. (“Love Burns” – a very fitting close)
In short, more than any other, this is exactly the type film chapter stops were made for.
 9 Songs is a daring piece of cinema, and all daring cinema should be commended. Every scene is absolutely beautiful, and I do mean every scene. Michael Winterbottom, who never fails to make everything he touches a visual feast (see also what I feel is the best sci-fi of the 00’s, Code 46), does so again here. From the explicit sex, to the concert footage, to the unscripted conversations between the two leads, every single scene is given the same detail. The same detached eye. It’s stunning, and truly a work of a visionary.
But the film is still greatly flawed.
The main problem with 9 Songs isn’t its graphic nature, or the music, which makes for a stunning backdrop. It’s the fact that it tries to have it both ways. Although it features enough bands to cement it forever to a specific place and time, it doesn’t really document this enough - so the film isn’t really about the music. And the sex, while very raw, isn’t always erotic enough to make the film feel like pornography. The place where the film really comes together is the short vignettes of their relationship. These  mini-scenes really capture the bond between them. Unfortunately, they are mere minutes of the already too-short 67-minute running time. More of these scenes would have really elevated the film from a mess with interesting ideas to a well-constructed investigation of human relationships.
Without these scenes, it is hard to care one way or another about Matt or Lisa, and while it could be argued that that is the point, that we are supposed to remain as detached voyeurs, it all just seems rather pointless. If you want me to take your characters seriously, develop them. If you want to lose me entirely, show me the money shot. You don’t need to show me this to make it believable. So don’t.
As it stands, 9 Songs is 30 minutes of footage shy of being brilliant. It doesn’t need more sex. It doesn’t need more music. It needs more humanity.
 Presentation
The transfer looks impeccable really. The print is anamorphically enhanced and there is not really a single smudge or anything of that sort. All DVDs should look this good. Sound is especially important in this film, so I am quite happy to report that the sound mixes are AWESOME. All the concert sequences are enveloping. You will feel you are in a sweaty night club. It sets perfect mood. The audio is English only and subtitles are available in Spanish only. It is unfortunate that English subtitles are unavailable, but I guess that with half the film being music, there may have been issues with the reproduction of the lyrics. Nevertheless, it is the only fault of an otherwise stellar presentation.
Extras
9 Songs: The Music – (22:27) Not so much a music only track as a “jump to a scene” type feature, for those only interested in seeing the music performances. It’s rather a neat feature to have but it still has the narration from the film over certain scenes as well as interspersed sex, which doesn’t allow any separation of the music from the actual film.
Cast and Crew Interviews with Michael Winterbottom (6:35), Kieran O’Brien (7:48), Margo Stilley (13:51) – The three of these are extremely interesting, because with the graphic nature of the film, you, as a viewer, are naturally interested in what these people have to say about what inspired them to do this, why they did it, and how they did it - and it is all entirely fascinating. Each of the participants talk rather candidly about the issues involved in making a film of this nature. Whether you hate or love the main film, it is worth going though all three of these.
 Original Theatrical Trailer – (1:57) The trailer to this film is really well done, and it makes you think it is far more Earth shattering than it actually is. It is a shameful that it is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. Other than this small complaint, I’m glad it’s included.
The Dandy Warhols “Smoke It” (4:06) and “The Last High” (4:38) music videos – Of the bands featured in this film, The Dandy Warhols are one of my most favorite. I’m only a recent fan, having been introduced to them through the theme song to Veronica Mars, “We Used To Be Friends.” Both of the songs here are great, with “The Last High” being the most trancing (and sounds a bit like The Faint). The video for “Smoke It” is a lot simpler of a music video; a live performance with dogs running around. “The Last High” is higher concept, a near complete parody/homage to the early 80s video clip for Duran Duran’s “Planet Earth” (except for the naked Devil lady cooking eggs.) Like most of the music related features, it is an awesome inclusion.
The Von Bondies “C’mon C’mon” music video – (2:25) A great, short song with an equally great video. This is a fun tune. This song has inspired me to check out some more of the band’s work.
 Elbow “Forget Myself” music video (3:49) and interview (11:00) – This music video has both real footage and animation superimposed on it. It’s a cute little video, and the song is worthy of some head-bobbing, but is ultimately forgettable. The interview is more intimate than you might imagine. It is certainly more inviting than a promo piece that you would usually see on MTV. They openly admit to their flaws and strengths. It’s a solid interview and fans should check it out.
Photo Gallery – Twenty-six images from the film. I never really understood the point of this kind of extra. You could freeze frame the film and get better results.
Tartan Trailer Gallery – You get three other trailers for films being released on video by Tartan. These include Oldboy (1:35), which is an entirely fantastic film that everyone should see, Milwaukee, Minnesota (2:12), in which you can watch Randy Quaid beat the hell out of the mentally challenged, and Mysterious Skin (1:49), which looks like Brokeback Mountain-lite.
I personally would have liked to see a commentary, but the extras included are great and make for a fine overall package.
Fine
The late, great Stanley Kubrick once mentioned interest in making the first serious pornographic film. He never made it. 9 Songs echoes such sentiment, but while there is a lot to be admired about it, it feels like there is still a lot missing. The sex scenes work as sex scenes, and the music is exceptional and works well to set the location and time, but the film forgets the fact that there has to be something to join it all together. What it needs is to get to know the characters better. With such a short running time, there is no reason that it shouldn’t have happened. Michael Winterbottom calls this movie “an experiment” and like many an experiment, it was a failure.
Perhaps someday, someone will succeed.
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