Because of this mentalitywhich is influenced not only by consumers but also by advertisers, politicians and religious organizationsHollywood has mostly censored itself. And while violence is often allowed to go to extremes, sex and language has been mostly toned down in mainstream fare. Sex, both as an activity and a topic for discussion, is rare in todays mainstream and even indie cinema. Just think about how many films show sex or nudity or discuss sex frankly. Closer is probably one of the few recent films to shock viewers with mere words (but The Aristocrats has taken up the baton and is doing its best to see how far it can push the envelope with its extended dirty joke).
I know some people still feel that films go too far but in comparison to whats been done in the past, films today maybe more violent but they are less likely to deal explicitly with sex. As for pornography, it has been pretty much eliminated from theaters and moved almost completely to video, DVD and cable. So if you enter a mall theater you are unlikely to see more than an exposed butt in either comedy or drama.
So in this relatively sanitized environment, Michael Winterbottom drops a bomb9 Songs. Winterbottom, a British director who arrived on the scene with the sexually edgy Butterfly Kiss, has said that he was inspired to make 9 Songs because he felt that literature has been allowed to deal more explicitly with sex than film. So he set out to make a film that could explore sex without being pornographic. The result is 9 Songs, which on one poster boasts that its "The most sexually explicit film in the history of British cinema. Extreme claims such as this may be difficult to verify and offhand only Peter Greenways films come to mind as something that might challenge it. (But then Greenaway, in films such as The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, also adds a level of discomfort that comes from more than just the explicit images he may show).
But in 9 Songs, Winterbottom approaches sex in an almost clinical manner. Not clinical in the visual style of how he shoots, but clinical in the matter of fact angles and shot selections he makes. Hes like Dr, Kinsey filming sex acts just to see if he can get people to perform them for the camera. And Winterbottoms two stars do engage in real sex for the camera. But in an odd way, Winterbottoms film is neither pornographic nor erotic. What he does strive for and achieve is something less extremea sense of quiet intimacy. This may disappoint some who are seeking titillation from watching onscreen sex but for others it may prove a surprise.
Visually, Winterbottom leaves little to the imagination as he documents the sex life of his two characters Matt (Kieran O'Brien) and Lisa (Margot Stilley). The two twenty-somethings meet at Londons Brixton Academy, a huge music hall, where a particularly crowded rock concert is going on. They immediately fall into bed and the film flash cuts between the deafening concert and their intense lovemaking. Then the film goes silent as it settles on a lengthy shot of the two lovers as they extend their lovemaking in the quiet calm of Matts apartment.
Matt is a British glaciologist who travels across the vast ice landscape of the South Pole. He narrates the film from the present as he looks back on his affair with the American Lisa. He recounts their relationship through sexual encounters and rock songs. The titular 9 Songs are provided by Franz Ferdinand, The Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Primal Scream and Michael Nyman among others. These bands and artists perform their music live at the Brixton Academy and Winterbottom shots them as if he were making a straight-ahead concert documentary.
In contrast to the films of Catherine Breillat or Patrice Chereau, two filmmakers who have been delving deeply and darkly into issues of sex, Winterbottoms film is not looking for dark perversities or trying to make bold statements about gender issues. His only goal seems to be to document this relationship in terms of sex. The couple engages in playful sex, fantasy, and experimentation. But the relationship never turns dark, the sex never becomes violent or cruel. Instead it seems to reflect more accurately what young couples may actually be doing in the privacy of their own bedrooms. And their relationship seems a reflection of the times. Theres nothing particularly dramatic about the course of their relationship nor is there anything special about the lovers. They are typical and unremarkable. They fall in love, enjoy sex and are forced to part when Lisa has to go back home to America. She may love Matt but the relationship is not strong enough at the moment to hold her there. Their relationship may be something she remembers fondly or it may be overshadowed by more intense or lasting relationships to follow.
9 Songs cannot compete with the more daring and highly charged sexual tales at the heart of films such as Nagisa Oshimas In the Realm of the Senses or Bernardo Bertoluccis Last Tango in Paris. These older films actually still seem more audacious and shocking in many respects. But Winterbottoms film engages in a different kind of experimentation and he creates a less extreme and more casual portrait of sex. He is not trying to shock people but the mere explicitness of his shotswhich do show everythingwill undoubtedly offend some. And for daring to push some peoples buttons, he deserves praise. After all, testing boundaries is part of what can make art provocative. He also deserves praise for exploring both the male and female perspectives in the sexual relationship. His shots dont favor one gender over another and hes willing to explore both the male and the female body with equal explicitness.
But his film does have flaws as well. The songs could have been better selected to offer some comment on the characters, their relationship or their sexual activity. Instead, the songs just seem inserted, as if these just happened to be the bands playing when Winterbottom showed up to shoot. The characters themselves are also rather thinly drawn and not terribly interesting.
9 Songs (unrated but no one under 18 will be admitted) is a wisp of a film both in terms of time (under 90 minutes) and material. But Winterbottom does not pretend to be trying to do more than he is. His film is an experiment of sorts, an attempt to show two people experiencing their relationship through sex. What may be most surprising about the film is the unsensational way Winterbottom manages to depict sexual acts and nudity. Theres something refreshing about the uninhibited nakedness of his characters. This is definitely not porn, nor is it sanitized Hollywood sex. Without seeming voyeuristic or perverse, Winterbootom has just provided an intimate window into one couples sex life. -----
