Winterbottom prided himself on the frank realism of the sex scenes. No faking, his actors really got down and dirty.
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Michael Winterbottom hit it big with "24 Hour Party People", a frenetic look at the Manchester music scene. Sex, drugs, and rock & roll were at its heart, though not necessarily in that order. "9 Songs" strips those same themes to their bare minimum, with a big emphasis on the sex.
At its heart, "9 Songs" is about a man in sorrowful remembrance of a relationship cut short. Matt (Kieran O'Brien), a glaciologist studying Antarctica, narrates the story of his brief love affair with an American girl named Lisa (Margo Stilley). Matt and Lisa meet at a rock concert and waste no time in getting intimate. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
The rest of the film shows the couple going to concerts and having graphically depicted sex. You'll see everything. Genitals, penetration, and even a "money shot." Winterbottom prided himself on the frank realism of the sex scenes. No faking, his actors really got down and dirty. Aside from intercourse and concerts, Matt and Lisa have little moments where they eat, bathe, or perform some other mundane act. No script was used for the movie, instead these scenes were ad-libbed by the actors. One cute scene, Lisa flexes and poses in front of a mirror. They really don't say much at all. A bit like the couple from "Before Sunrise", if they stopped yapping and went straight to business.
Really, that's about it. Don't expect any deep insights into the hows and whys of the relationship. Eventually, the couple try to spice things up with bondage, blindfolds, and at one point, a lap dancing stripper. Lisa announces she's going back to America and that's that.
Every once and a while, we watch Matt trek the lonely tundra of Antarctica. The cold landscape standing in stark contrast to the heated passion of before. The metaphor hits with the subtlety of a sledgehammer.
The film itself is shot in typical Winterbottom style, in digital with mainly handheld camerawork. The concert footage is shot as if we were in the audience. Lots of shots through the heads of fellow concert goers and low angle shots as if looking up from below the stage.
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[release]17228[/release]