Black Snake Moan (2006)

Artwork for a Foreign Theatrical Release

Black Snake Moan is a raucous story of two lives, in perfect synchronicity on a symmetrically downward spiral, and the editing makes no attempt to hide it.

The script, which for the first 80% is spot on, twirls the characters steam-rolling towards their personal black snake moan, providing, in the most opportune of times, the most unlikely of saviors in the most unsavory of circumstances.

It is above all else, a very interesting take on the bonds of humanity and the bonds of religion and the fragility of the human mind and spirit.

The editing, in supporting that theme, is spot on and worth studying, but the most remarkable aspect is the music and the purposeful sound design and editing, and the awe-inspiring cinematography.  There are justly, some beautiful, cool and purposeful shots.

Very beautifully shot and stylized with a just and proper twang, music and all.  It is gritty and imperfect and full of fucked-up characters, much like the backwoods blues that Samuel L. Jackson's character intones with.

The only complaint plastered on my notes sheet, is a quick quip about Justin Timberlake's high octave voice.  It's more poignantly a snarky comment about his acting, but I think his acting is actually fine, his voice just strikes weirdly in the TV speakers.

I have found it to be a much better film on a second viewing:  Coming out of it, with a completely different morality and appreciation for the film than I did 5 years ago.  I don't half expect this film to make it's way to the mainstream, which is a shame because it's beautifully done.  But to deal with this film, you must deal with your own moans, and I'm afraid very few people watch films to do this. 

The film glosses not over some of the most jarring and uncomfortable topics in any civilization; coarse sexuality, blatant religiosity, adverse poverty, rampant racism, and rape.  If you can pick even one of those topics and find a complete stranger to carry a conversation about it, then kudos to you, but you are lying to no one.

This film on the other hand, manages to handle them with the most humane of attitudes, without preaching or passing judgement.  The film is about facing up to your demons and learning to deal with them, and there it succeeded in my second viewing.

The film does feel longer than the 115 minutes of running time appropriated to it, and that's not bad, the pace is expertly maintained and well managed.

Black Snake Moan, stands in my mind, as a true example of film-making at its most hedonistic.  And beautifully so.

Buy this film on Blu-ray when it comes out, if ever.  The DVD version that I have, which is the original release, has a bad compression which makes some of the more expansive shots hard to read on my 35 inch HD TV.