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9 Songs

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9 Songs (2005)

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24 %
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Reviews Counted: 90

Fresh: 22

Rotten:68

Average Rating: 4.4/10

Consensus: The unerotic sex scenes quickly become tedious to watch, and the lovers lack the personality necessary to make viewers care about them.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 69 mins

Genre: Pop Music, Romance

Theatrical Release:Jul 22, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Matt, a young glacioloist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall-... Matt, a young glacioloist, soars across the vast, silent, icebound immensities of the South Pole as he recalls his love affair with Lisa. They meet at a mobbed rock concert in a vast music hall- London's Brixton Academy. They are in bed at night's end. Together, over a period of several months, they pursue a mutual sexual passion whose inevitable stages (familiar to anyone who's ever been in love) unfold in counterpoint to the nine live-concert songs of the story's title. This daring combination has won 9 Songs a devoted following ever since director Michael Winterbottom (Jude; Welcome to Sarajevo; 24 Hour Party People) first screened the film for packed audiences at the 2004 Cannes film-market. Incidental music heard over various radios and CD players throughout the film include an extended disco version of Madan, by Salif Keith, and a pair of piano nocturnes, Sola and Platform, played by Melissa Parmenter. The nine concert songs are, in order of their appearance: Whatever Happened to Rock n' Roll, by the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; C'mon, C'mon by the Von Bondies; Fallen Angel, by Elbow; Moving On Up, by Primal Scream; You Were the Last High, by the Dandy Warhols; Slow Life, by the Super Furry Animals; Jacqueline, by Franz Ferdinand; Nadia, from the 60th birthday concert of Michael Nyman; and, finally, bringing the story full circle-Love Burns, once again by the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. While some of these directly comment on the affair as it progresses, others act strictly as a trigger to Matt's memories of Lisa, as he later studies ice sheets. At first, they are consumed with each other, as lovers. Then, with time, an emotional dynamic emerges. Even in the most intimate moments, she (however subtly) gives the orders, and he blissfully complies. They meet strictly at his place. We learn nothing about her work, and almost as little about her past, except that she is American and has had passionate affairs since her adolescence. By contrast Matt, whose arctic career is a running motif, is a comparatively open book as a person-simple in his love of both music, and Lisa. He keeps bringing the word "love" into the conversation. She warmly responds, but just as happily wriggles free of it. What they know they have together is sex, and this is revealed, repeatedly, even graphically, with an uncompromised frankness. "Forget who you are," Matt tells her, blindfolding her in a rare moment of seizing the initiative. "Forget where you are." Yet even as he guides her through this little bit of kinky fantasy, she takes over. Matt lets her, helplessly observing elsewhere: "She was 21. Beautiful. Egotistical. Careless. Crazy." As they move deeper into their respective fantasy lives in one another's arms, can it be helped if they are also moving farther apart? The Antarctic, as described by Matt, may be the one comfortable place on earth from which to remember her: "Claustophobia and Agorophobia in one place-like two people in a bed." And yet - there is all that music, a goad to sense-memory as mobile and abiding as the ice cap itself. -- © Tartan Films [More]

Starring: Kieran O'Brien, Margot Stilley

Starring: Kieran O'Brien, Margot Stilley

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Screenwriter: Michael Winterbottom
Producer: Andrew Eaton
Studio: Tartan Films

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Release:

Nov 22, 2005

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Reviews for 9 Songs

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"9 Songs" is high-art pornography that doesn't neglect its compulsory gooey payoff scene.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/15/09
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Une %u0153uvre pour le moins inhabituelle qui, sans être un exercice de style complètement futile, n'est toutefois pas un film que l'on pourrait qualifier d'essentiel.

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
08/26/06
Jean-François Vandeuren
Panorama

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The most sexually explicit legit feature film to come out of 'merry ole' England from a mainstream director.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/16/05
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/10/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As satisfying viewing experiences go, the film comes up mighty short in terms of story, interesting characters and technical prowess, not to mention a 65-minute running time.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/01/05
Michael Rechtshaffen
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Seventy minutes of pneumatic sex without the trappings of characterization, plot or even attempted meaning can be a profoundly long time.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
10/14/05
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

At least some skin flicks try to add a story to the sex.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/13/05
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

At least some skin flicks try to add a story to the sex.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/13/05
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

There's not much to take away from 9 Songs unless you're watching it at home... alone... preferably with some lotion.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
10/13/05
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

Nice folks, fun time, thanks for the peek (I guess), and so what?

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/06/05
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Five decades after the rest of the world twigged to it, Michael Winterbottom has discovered a connection between sex and rock 'n' roll. Bully for him.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
09/23/05
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Given the graphic sex scenes, it is surprisingly dull. The music isn't great, either, now that we think about it.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
09/23/05
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/10/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It is, at its (hard)core, a traditional sex movie with better music and naturalistic situations.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
09/09/05
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Maybe the Nine Songs way -- showing us how they respond to each other in intimate moments and what sort of music moves them -- is a more direct route inside their heads.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
09/08/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A pointless and pretentious cocktail of sex, rock 'n' roll and glaciology.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
09/08/05
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for 9 Songs

August 26, 2007: RT-UK's What to Watch at the Edinburgh Film Festival
Rotten Tomatoes UK heads up north to take in the sights and sounds of the Edinburgh Film Festival. And as the celebration of cinema draws to a close we present what's hot and... More...

October 06, 2005: Summer Tomatometer Wrap-up #4: The Worst of the Summer
Over the past few days, we've tried to counter the common misconception that this summer's cinematic fare was bereft of quality. However, that doesn't mean the season was... More...

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