Archive of films 9 Songs / 9 Songs

United Kingdom
2004, 65 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2005

The low-budget movie 9 Songs provides a sensitive portrayal of the sexual relationship of a couple newly in love, shot with only two actors, a skeleton crew and a handheld camera.

Synopsis

Lisa is an American living in London. At a concert in Brixton she meets Matt; they fall passionately in love but then break up a year later. That’s all. Michael Winterbottom’s low-budget movie was shot without a script, using only a skeleton crew and a handheld camera. The film’s simple plot unfolds retrospectively. While flying over Antarctica, Matt reminisces about his relationship with Lisa. Sex scenes and moments of everyday life mingle with footage of concerts that the couple attends at Brixton Academy (e.g. the groups Franz Ferdinand and Primal Scream), and where we also hear the nine songs of the title. The explicit sex scenes are not included merely to shock the viewer. Winterbottom aims for a sensitive portrayal of the nascency of a relationship, when two people learn everything they can about each other. 9 Songs is, above all, an unostentatious look at what a newly loving couple does behind closed doors. Kieran O’Brien, who plays Matt, worked with Winterbottom on 24 Hour Party People and “Cracker” as well.

About the director

Michael Winterbottom (b. 1961, Blackburn, United Kingdom) graduated in English from Oxford University and in film from Bristol University and London Polytechnic. He started out in television as an editor, documentarist (two documentaries on Ingmar Bergman, among others) and director (e.g. an episode of the series “Cracker”; “Family,” a four-part miniseries for the BBC; and the award-winning drama The Strangers). He debuted with the black lesbian comedy Butterfly Kiss (1994). Next came an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure entitled Jude (1996); a war story set in occupied Bosnia, Welcome to Sarajevo (1997); the drama I Want You (1998); the generation gap movie Wonderland (1999); and another Hardy transfer, The Claim (2000). The pseudo-documentary 24 Hour Party People (2001), the immigrant story In This World (2002) and the sci-fi flick Code 46 (2003) were presented at the Karlovy Vary IFF.

Contacts

Wild Bunch
65 rue de Dunkerque, 75009, Paris
France
Tel: +33 143 132 164
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.wildbunch.biz

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Michael Winterbottom
Screenplay:	Michael Winterbottom inspirováno románem/inspired by a novel Platform by Michel Houellebecq
Dir. of Photography:	Marcel Zyskind
Music:	Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Super Furry Animals, The Von Bondies, The Dandy Warhols, Elbow, Michael Nyman
Editor:	Mat Whitecross, Michael Winterbottom
Producer:	Andrew Eaton
Production:	Revolution Films
Cast:	Margo Stilley, Kieran O´Brien
Contact:	Wild Bunch

www:	www.stardust-filmverleih.de/9Songs

Guests

Alain de la Mata

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