9 Songs

Matt, a glaciologist, looks back on his relationship with Lisa. He tells the story in flashback voice-over during his visit to Antarctica. The film is very simple in structure. The story is told from a single angle: that of the physical encounters between the couple. The sex is a metonym for the rest of the relationship. Winterbottom depicts domestic moments in the life of his couple. The interior scenes begin with sex, then broader quotidian: breakfast, a trip to the seaside, scenes in the bathroom. They are intercut with the concerts the couple attend at the Brixton Academy, where the nine songs of the title are played. Finally, there is a poignant endgame when Lisa finds more interest in her dildo vibrator than her boyfriend. "She was 21: beautiful, egoistical, careless and crazy, " says Matt.