Boudist - music and photography

9 Songs is made by Michael Winterbottom who, for my money, is the most exciting director working today. He made two of my favourite films ever, 24 Hour Party People and Wonderland. He's also made stunning films like In This World and Welcome to Sarejevo.

One of the consistent things about his films is extraordinary soundtracks. Whether it's the perfect mix of madchester classics on 24 Hour Party People or the divine Michael Nyman score to Wonderland. 9 Songs looks to continue this track record of great music as it features nine live performances from groups like Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Von Bondies, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

But the music isn't what's generating the controversy in this movie. It's the sex. Here's what the director had to say about the sex,

"Most films with explicit sex only feature a tiny amount. In 9 Songs I didn't want people just to be titillated by a brief glimpse. It's a story of an affair and the action is mainly played out in bed; you see their relationship from the point of view of them making love."

I reckon that's fair enough, it's true to real life. We're probably long overdue for a film that dares explore this in such an open way.

But the Office of Film and Literature Classification has other ideas. They've essentially banned the film by giving it an X18+ classification. This means the film can only be legally sold or hired in the ACT and Northern Territory from premises licensed to sell X18+ videotapes and DVDs. This is an absurd situation. The film is not porn, it's been cleared to screen in the UK, it's made by a world renowned film maker and screened at festivals around the globe.

I want to see this film. A film by Michael Winterbottom exploring sex and rock'n'roll is rather appealing to me. I'm a rational adult, seeing this movie, no matter how explicit, is not going to damage me. I'm really hoping the appeal against the X18+ classification is succesful.