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Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll: The Movie
"9 Songs" is a masterpiece. A mediation
on existence and memory. Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom
has a very basic idea here and he presents it
with the obviousness of hammer smashing a nail
in many ways, and yet the thematic subtlety
of the piece makes for a rumination that is
both pleasant and insightful while not seeming
heavy-handed at all.
We see the relationship between Matt and
Lisa evolve. They meet at a club and begin an
intense sexual relationship. This is shown in
expositional flashback. Throughout the films
short 70 minute running time, this relationship
will be the heart of the movie. There are only
the two main actors in the piece and so the
film also acts as a character study. Matt is
older, more set in his ways, more stable and
sensible. Lisa, at just 21, is more wild, spontaneous,
needy and hyperactive. But it isn't their age
difference that causes friction in the relationship
as much as differences in needs and circumstances.
Winterbottom exposes the film in three
basic situations. First is the set-up for the
flashback as Matt works in the field of arctic
archeology. His dialogue, delivered in voiceover
narration, sets up Winterbottom's theme of memory
and existence. Because we are hearing Matt contemplate
his past relationship while discussing the qualities
in arctic ice that show the history of the planet
in its frozen details, we easily understand
the correlation. We are peeling off layers here,
being exposed to something unseen, something
personal and private. We are allowed into a
young couple's sexual liaisons and witness their
private moments in graphic details.
But this film isn't just sexual or unashamed,
it is pornographic. The sexual couplings here
are raw, pure, uncensored. Every sexual situation
that could exist between a male and female is
exposed here in blatant detail. There isn't
just insertion, there are blowjobs, pussy licking,
handjobs and even a massive cumshot. This is
as base and as pornographic as any film you
could rent in an adult bookstore. Dude, it's
so graphic that, as a gay man, I had to turn
my eyes away from the screen on numerous occasions.
Vaginas are ucky and you see lead actress Margo
Stilley's vagina repeatedly throughout the film,
filled with fingers, a tongue or a cock. It's
more than a poor, old, weak-hearted homo like
me can take.
The only other time I have ever seen a
cumshot in what was supposedly a "mainstream"
indie art film was in Bruce LaBruce's "No Skin
Off My Ass." But this was LaBruce's first film
and the director has since veered off into porn
film making without the trappings of pretending
to be arty. Winterbottom is an established director
whose films have covered a wide arc of genres
and stories. He's directed films as diverse
as "24 Hour Party People," "The Claim" and "Wonderland."
To have such an acclaimed director, even one
who is considered an indie arthouse filmmaker,
engage in what is essentially hardcore pornography
is simply groundbreaking.
Still, this film isn't just a pornographic
romp though heterosexual couplings. Juxtaposed
against the concert segments, which make up
Winterbottom's third piece of the cinematic
puzzle here, the intensely bold sexual segments
in the film become something more than just
pornography. They become a multi-layered thesis
on those moments in life that permeate our memories
and become deeply important in our psyche. This
isn't just a film where people fuck and then
they go see a show. It's much more than that.
Except, it is a film where people fuck and then
go see a show. Because this is an intimate and
personal look into exactly what many of our
lives are made up of. We go out. We come home.
We see bands. We fuck. We argue. We make up.
We celebrate birthdays. We move on. Winterbottom's
film is base and basic and yet he doesn't hammer
his message home. His film is subtle, subdued,
and meditative as our memories can be.
And the music segments, as stripped-down
and unadorned as the sex scenes here, are quite
wonderful. The bands don't do anything particularly
innovative. They simply stand on stage and play
their songs. But the effect is crucial to the
film. We are here, now, in this moment. This
is the song of this moment. This is the band
of this moment. The music here acts as punctuation
throughout the film: Exclamation points, indentions,
commas and finally a period. The music here
pulls us out of the intense sexual situations
in the film as much as it does the same for
the characters. This is time to breathe, relax,
decompress and ponder. The music is the stops
and starts, the new paragraph, the next page,
the next idea, the next moment. The songs, like
songs on the radio, are part of our lives, our
moments, our memories. If this were the 70's,
the bands would be Grand Funk Railroad and Bad
Company and The Ramones. But since it is 2005,
the bands are Franz Ferdinan, The Dandy Warhols,
and The Von Bondies.
"9 Songs" is about a summer that a young
couple spend in love, working, seeing bands,
hanging out, doing drugs, and fucking. It's
a summer like many we all have in all of our
memories. It's a summer we've all had at some
point in our life.
Life, like memories, like love, like music,
like sex, like the ice at the arctic circle
- is complex, intricate, rhythmic and, above
all, the only thing we have at this moment in
time to cling on to.
Note:
Winterbottom shot of 200 hours of DV footage
for the film. It runs only about 70 minutes.
Supposedly the 35mm film transfer of the piece
was done by projecting the DV image onto a white
wall and filming it.
The film was at one time going to be called
"Ice."
The film debuted at Cannes in 2004. It
played several film festivals before receiving
an arthouse release in July of 2005.
Viewed at a press sneak in The Egyptian
Room at The Dobie in August of 2005. I saw Marc
Savlov of "The Austin Chronicle" in the audience.
Some cutie boy, who was probably on the staff
of UT's "The Daily Texan" or some other little
paper like that was there too. We walked into
the theater together, him a step behind me,
and when we went through the entrance doors,
there was some sort of loud bang, like the door
hit something. I said something like, "I'm just
gonna tear stuff up" but I guess he thought
I said "Just tear stuff up" because he replied
in a mock disparaging tone, "Us kids today,"
which made me feel really old.
Report Card
Script: A-
Acting: A+
Cinematography\Lighting: A+
Special Effects\Make Up: A+
Music: A+
Final Grade: A+
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