This movie is much more than you think!

Rating: 8/10 (2 March 2007)

I recently had the opportunity to attend a screening of Black Snake Moan, followed by a Q&A with director Craig Brewer, and then when the opportunity for a screening popped up again last night, I jumped at the chance. Black Snake Moan is a beautifully made, incredibly acted film. And yet, it has this dirty quality to it where you can feel that Memphis heat, you can smell the sweat ...
However, Craig Brewer contends that this is not at all an exploitation film, but a very southern film. He describes it like a Saturday night in Memphis with folks being very religious, but also having a penchant for booze and sin, so you go down to the local juke joint, dance, sweat it out, then get up for church on Sunday. Hearing that made me realize and see, upon the second viewing, just how personal this film is.
The film opens on Blues Legend Son House talking about love and how that deep love that you feel deep in your heart, that's what can destroy a person. Then ... BAM! We dive headlong into our tale, opening on the manic lovemaking of Ray (Christina Ricci) and Ronnie (Justin Timberlake). We then are introduced to Lazarus (Sam Jackson) and begin the parallel journey of lost love, booze, sin and redemption for both Ray and Lazarus.
There are a lot of very interesting religious themes that play themselves out through the course of the film, such as Jackson's Lazarus who is a character who is seemingly resurrected by the relationship he forms with Ricci's Ray, a nymphomaniac with a history of abuse. Together, they find redemption even if it does take chaining Ray to the radiator to get there.
There are many moments in this film that feel exploitive. Again, it's dirty, it's sweaty, Ricci is half naked, chained to a radiator and Jackson feels it necessary to get the devil out of her. It has a certain over-the-top quality that certainly has some light, laughter-filled moments, but that's not what this film is about. It's a personal journey for Brewer, who admits to having anxiety attacks and says that his wife has to lay on his back with her flesh against his, arms wrapped around his shoulders, holding hands, in what they referred to as the Black Snake Moan. Brewer also tells of dreams in which he, himself, is chained to a radiator. And he then uses this radiator as a symbol of foreboding, as well as a sort of altar where the hardest decisions are made.
Brewer has really arrived with Black Snake Moan, creating such wonderful, emotive imagery, with a cast that delivers his "show, don't tell" dialogue with a very real quality. The chemistry between Ray and Lazarus is really felt by Jackson and Ricci. These two people need each other, and come to learn that as the film evolves, because it isn't just the film that moves on, but these characters, this town ... and even when you feel a real conclusion, much like life, nothing has changed that much.
So, go feel some sin and sweat it out with Black Snake Moan.