Too bad; it is. And as they say in the Commonwealth, well done you.
As pornography, it’s fairly libidinous and attractive, starring two good-looking actors apparently enjoying their unfaked romps.
That’s not to say “9 Songs” is much of a movie. It offers as much filmed rock as filmed sex, and the filmed rock is awful: live shots of good bands captured in hand-held video from far, far away, with abysmal sound quality. The Von Bondies, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Super Furry Animals certainly deserve a concert movie, but I’ll wait for an authorized version with better microphones and front-row access.
The result is an awful mess of a feature from Michael Winterbottom, who admits he set out with an idea no more detailed than he likes sex and music, so why not film some? What interest “9 Songs” has generated never surpassed the sophomoric. Winterbottom now lands plenty of interviews by expressing his irritation at faked sex scenes, and how he wanted to rebel by showing real actors having real intercourse.
When the actors and crew got too tired or too embarrassed in the bedroom, they’d leave for a nearby London concert hall, and roll cameras during a rock show.
That’s about all we ever learn of “Matt” and “Lisa,” played by the actor Kieran O’Brien and a one-time volunteer who has since fled the movie’s notoriety, Margo Stilley. They meet, have sex over a few months, grow petulant, and part ways as Matt tries unsuccessfully to add depth to the story by ruminating about his Antarctica research. Winterbottom had no script, and it shows.
So, the deep, dark question – what is it like when real people have real sex on camera, without the pneumatic glitz of a triple-X production? Fun for a while. But sooner or later we want them to say something, so we know whether to care; next time they hit the sheets, do we want to root for them or against them?
Winterbottom, who directed “Jude” and “24 Hour Party People,” never gets to that other part. Shooting without a script may save money on writers, but it’s going to cost at the box office. “9 Songs” is an experiment few serious filmmakers will want to replicate, and most of the people involved will want to forget as quickly as possible.
Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.
* | “9 Songs”
NOT RATED but includes extremely graphic sex, drug use, profanity|1 hour, 9 minutes|SEX AND ROCK|Directed by Michael Winterbottom; starring Kieran O’Brien and Margo Stilley|Opens today at Starz FilmCenter.
