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The Movie: I've been a fan of director Michael Winterbottom's work for quite a while, as the director's work is never what you'd expect. Winnterbottom has attempted to tackle many different stories over the last few years, each of which a complete departure from the prior one - see "Welcome to Sarajevo" to the period piece "The Claim" to the futuristic "Code 46", and several others in-between. This time around, Winterbottom comes up with a short (69 minutes) digital video film that tells the dreamlike tale of two people who were once in love - Matt (Kieran O'Brien) and Lisa (Margo Stilley). She's an American visiting London and he's a scientist - they meet up at a concert and have sex (which, in this case, is actually real, which I'm guessing made distribution a difficult task) and start something of a relationship. Instead of writing a clearly structured tale, Winterbottom seems to be letting the actors improv their moments, and the result goes for a fly-on-the-wall feel. The two flirt, have sex, chat, and then go see another concert (the movie includes performances from the Von Bondies and others), then repeat. The experimental film worked for me in terms of creating a mood and atmosphere. Working with rather sparse sets (despite being in somewhat grainy digital video, I actually liked the look of the movie and felt that it worked for the film), Winterbottom still creates a rather somber, haunting mood that hangs over the piece. The main story is told in flashback by Matt as he works in Antarctica, and the body of the film feels like a hazy series of moments sliced together by someone years later who sees it all in the way they want to regarding their lust lost. Also, despite a rather subdued (aside from some of the activities portrayed on-screen) tone, even the quietest moments of the movie have a certain boldness about them. However, I didn't like everything about the movie. We never really get into the characters heads, and that's added to by the fact that the 69 minutes also includes concert footage, giving us less time seeing the characters interact with each other. Not having a standard, structured plot is not a negative, but I just couldn't help but feel that I wanted at least few more pieces of the puzzle in terms of who these characters are in order to try and have a better view of their feelings and why they do what they do and are who they are. Had they been developed at least a little more, I would have definitely found this more engaging overall. Definitely a love-or-hate picture, "9 Songs" is not going to be everyone's cup-of-tea. I liked aspects of it, like the atmosphere that Winterbottom creates. However, at 69 minutes (including quite a few songs), there's just not quite enough between the characters to really develop the characters. Although leaving elements to the imagination is fine, this film could have been more satisfying had there been maybe another 20-30 minutes between these two characters. Note: The film is unrated and features some scenes that are very explicit and would easily be rated NC-17 otherwise. The DVD VIDEO: "9 Songs" is presented by Tartan Video in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality, considering the film's low-budget digital video roots, is not bad. Sharpness and detail are mixed, with some low-lit scenes looking soft and other brighter scenes looking slightly crisper. None of the film looks "sharp", but is also never soft enough to be blurry. Some minor artifacts and edge enhancement appear, but are not much of a distraction. Colors look varied throughout, which seems to be due to the digital video filming. SOUND: The film is presented in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1. The scenes between the two characters have the soundtrack largely front-focused and dialogue-driven. The concert sequences do provide a more enveloping experience, but the sound mix is rather primitive. It's not distinct and crisp as the concert DVDs that are available today, but audio quality isn't bad, and the sort of raw, "in the audience" feel that the audio offers works pretty well. Both the Dolby Digital and DTS presentations are fine, although the DTS presents the music with a bit more smoothness and clarity. EXTRAS: Concert-only option, interviews, trailer. Final Thoughts: Despite not feeling there was enough to it (and like it's an experiment), Winterbottom's skill as a filmmaker does make "9 Songs" more watchable than it would have been in the hands of a different director. The DVD edition provides video and audio quality that are fine, considering the low-budget production values. It's definitely not everyone's cup-of-tea, but those interested may want to try the film as a rental. 
Film Grade The Film C DVD Grades Video 83/B Audio: 84/B Extras: 70/C- |