9 Songs Details

Heralded as the first British film featuring “frequent strong real sex” to receive an 18 rating, 9 Songs is director Michael Winterbottom's ode to physical love. Unfolding against the backdrop of a series of concerts (from artists including Franz Ferdinand and Primal Scream, most of which were filmed at London's Brixton Academy), this explores the sexual relationship between lanky American student Lisa (newcomer Margo Stiller) and British research scientist Matt (Keiran O'Brien). Instead of a lesson in how hedonistic two people can be, their romp-fuelled four months together demonstrates how a generation deals with loneliness. From the hot, blurry chaos of the gigs to the sparsely-furnished flat where the couple unite, this is very much an exercise in style over content. As such, some will find it a rewarding art-house experiment with much to recommend it, others watching simply for the explicit and unsimulated lovemaking may well find it boring and pretentious.

It is hard to decide which is the most anaphrodisiac, the music or the copulation; both are repetitive to the point of monotony.