Antithesis of the poster...

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2012)

Based on the badly construed poster, inadvertently countering the whole essence of the movie, "Black Snake Moan" comes off as a misogynistic throwback tribute to sexploitational / blaxploitational movies of the 70s, much owed to the Tarantino school of film. Surprisingly however scriptwriter and director Craig Brewer wistfully decapitates expectations, albeit dangles uncertainty through some stylishly promiscuous scenes featuring the nymphomaniac excesses of Rae (Christina Ricci), before entering into the actual gist of the story. One that is painstakingly similar to the plot summary of the up-and-coming Lars von Trier movie "Nymphomaniac".
When compulsively oversexed Rae is left by her one love Ronnie (Justin Timberlake), who joins the army in search of educational prospects, she enters a frenzied bout of loose activities, as if possessed by a slithering demon of wanton. After one such escapade Rae ends up beaten and left for dead on the side of the road, where she is consequently picked up by an old farmer Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson), recently abandoned by his wife in search of fulfilment of wild pleasure, that he himself was unwilling to offer. As a deeply religious man Lazarus decides to take care of the young soul and after experiencing firsthand Rae's sexual bouts decided to chain her up to a heater and exorcise her inner incubus. After initial attempts to escape Rae comes to accept her situation and recapture reasons behind her behaviour...
Albeit certain hints of inner contradictions are present with sexuality use as story tool for preaching restraint in an almost religious manner, "Black Snake Moan" manages to overcome bad marketing, which diverted attention from the movie to wrong crowds. After the opening sequence concentrated on sexual frenzies of Rae and several scenes verging on exploitive (with Lazarus taking Rae for 'a walk'), which essentially complement the misinforming poster (inadequately suggesting a sexual type of relationship between Rae and Lazarus), the movie dramatically shifts gear to take a step back and catch the blues. Literally.
Lazarus, an old blues musician, punctuates key moments in the story with songs, that give the music a creative power to change people and their behaviour. The song "Black Snake Moan" coupled with a thunderstorms and failing lights, as if taken from a horror movie, serves as a tool to discover and fight inner demons, while a blues concert gives Rae a channel to dispose of sexual tension through dance. Rae herself ventures into song to portray a soothing of her anxieties, a subtle change in character and development of inner strength, one that she later on will want to pass on to Ronnie. Meanwhile blues legend Son House features through archival footage at several junctures of the movie to offer insight and meaning, as well as present the essence of blues. Music and sound (most prominently snake hisses announcing Rae's attacks), skillfully intertwined with picture, creates the backbone of the movie, capturing the ear first to then pull into the story.
After being captivated little space is left for attentively following the story, which despite several admirable qualities, does come as pretty straight-forward, somewhat hurried and featuring several dramatically incompetent sequences, lost due to both acting as well as directorial flaws. Cristina Ricci comes off best as the lost soul with bulging tension and relentless sexual drive, while Jackson admirably performs several blues songs to rapturous applause of viewers, but simultaneously hits several false notes in the acting department, most evidently when supposedly losing control during a tirade about his wife to the chained Rae. Despite its trashy side and a lack in character depth the end product is pretty admirable. All in all the music makes this movie, with the blues both thematically and rhythmically offering it a distinct and worthwhile vibe.