The problem, I think, with most of the negative reviews for Black Snake Moan is that they're taking it all way too seriously.
Not that I think the movie's a laugh riot. (Ebert may nail it best with his reference to "half-snorts"), but it's the thought of treating this as a realistic film that gets me. Let's face it, there's no chance, in real life, that this situation ends well for anyone. There's bloodshed, death or prison (or some combination thereof) for all the major characters at the end of this movie, if we pretend this is real life. There's no way to argue, for instance, with the reviewer's assertions, in this review from Slate, that chaining a woman to a radiator is wrong. But that's assuming this is the real world we're talking about.
Frankly, I think the only way to approach the movie is as some blues-inspired riff on magical realism… it looks like the real world, but it's a place where an older black man can chain a young white woman (using a 70 lb. chain!) to his radiator and, at the end of the movie have everyone involved find love and redemption. Yep. Black Snake Moan is a fable, or a fairy tale.
So, that established, I have to say I found this a pretty interesting film. Excellent performances from Samuel Jackson and Christina Ricci certainly helped there, and I was surprised to find Justin Timberlake holding his own against these two.
Even more than the performances, I was taken by the direction. Much like Bound a few years ago, I was impressed by the composition of each scene, of the imagery the director used to tell his story. A scene where Rae writhes in the throes of her "sickness" turns that heavy chain into a glistening, black snake. Another scene, when Lazarus takes Rae out for her exercise was surprisingly provocative to me. (Whether that's because of or in spite of my being what I consider an enlightened 21st century male is open to debate.) These "showcase" moments were frequent enough to add that extra punch to the movie without being so overused as to call unnecessary attention to themselves and distract from the story being told… a balancing act that so many directors are unable to accomplish.
This may not be a great movie. You're not looking at the first "indie blockbuster" of '07. But it was definitely an entertaining movie, with a pretty damn good soundtrack and well worth checking out.
Not that I think the movie's a laugh riot. (Ebert may nail it best with his reference to "half-snorts"), but it's the thought of treating this as a realistic film that gets me. Let's face it, there's no chance, in real life, that this situation ends well for anyone. There's bloodshed, death or prison (or some combination thereof) for all the major characters at the end of this movie, if we pretend this is real life. There's no way to argue, for instance, with the reviewer's assertions, in this review from Slate, that chaining a woman to a radiator is wrong. But that's assuming this is the real world we're talking about.
Frankly, I think the only way to approach the movie is as some blues-inspired riff on magical realism… it looks like the real world, but it's a place where an older black man can chain a young white woman (using a 70 lb. chain!) to his radiator and, at the end of the movie have everyone involved find love and redemption. Yep. Black Snake Moan is a fable, or a fairy tale.
So, that established, I have to say I found this a pretty interesting film. Excellent performances from Samuel Jackson and Christina Ricci certainly helped there, and I was surprised to find Justin Timberlake holding his own against these two.
Even more than the performances, I was taken by the direction. Much like Bound a few years ago, I was impressed by the composition of each scene, of the imagery the director used to tell his story. A scene where Rae writhes in the throes of her "sickness" turns that heavy chain into a glistening, black snake. Another scene, when Lazarus takes Rae out for her exercise was surprisingly provocative to me. (Whether that's because of or in spite of my being what I consider an enlightened 21st century male is open to debate.) These "showcase" moments were frequent enough to add that extra punch to the movie without being so overused as to call unnecessary attention to themselves and distract from the story being told… a balancing act that so many directors are unable to accomplish.
This may not be a great movie. You're not looking at the first "indie blockbuster" of '07. But it was definitely an entertaining movie, with a pretty damn good soundtrack and well worth checking out.
Comments
One, you point out - this is some sort of fever dream, blues riff, tall tale.
The other is that this is an homage to 70's southern exploitation films. Exploitation films ALWAYS had a surreal take on things. Heck, there are probably exploitation films that have multiple women chained to radiators.
The mere fact that this exploitation film turns into a blues driven story of redemption is fascinating. And, luckily for Brewer, Jackson holds it all together so masterfully. He is AWESOME in this film (Ricci is pretty fearless herself).
I love the sequence where the boy comes to call. It's all shot like a horror film with the 'monster' waiting to pounce. And, she does!
Q
Fearless is a great word to describe Ricci's performance. And awesome for Jackson sounds right, too.
LOVED the "monster attacks" scene. I almost forgot about that one!