Everything about Black Snake Moan Film totally explained
Black Snake Moan is a
2007 film written and directed by
Craig Brewer. It was filmed in and around
Memphis, Tennessee, and stars
Samuel L. Jackson,
Christina Ricci, and
Justin Timberlake. The title of the film derives from the 1927
Blind Lemon Jefferson song, while the plot is loosely based on
George Eliot's 1861 novel
Silas Marner. The film draws numerous references to the Mississippi Blues movement, not least in its title and soundtrack.
Plot
The film centers around two main characters: Lazarus (
Samuel L. Jackson), a deeply religious farmer and former
blues guitarist, and Rae (
Christina Ricci), a young
nymphomaniac. Lazarus's wife has left him for his brother, which has left him a bitter and potentially violent man. Rae's boyfriend Ronnie (
Justin Timberlake) leaves for deployment in the
National Guard, and in his absence she descends into bouts of
promiscuity and drug use. During one of Rae's binges, Ronnie's friend Gill (
Michael Raymond-James) tries to take advantage of her. She laughs at his advances and he severely beats her. Believing she's dead, Gill dumps Rae by the side of the road and drives away.
Lazarus discovers Rae and brings her home to nurse her back to health. Over the course of several days, Rae, delirious with fever, occasionally wakes up and tries to flee from Lazarus. He ties her to the radiator with a heavy chain to keep her from running away. After Rae regains her wits, Lazarus announces that it's his spiritual duty to heal her of her sinful ways and refuses to release her until he does so. Rae attempts escape numerous times but eventually comes to accept her position. Lazarus gives her a proper dress to wear, plays guitar for her, and feeds her home-cooked meals. Meanwhile, Ronnie returns to town after being discharged from the National Guard due to his severe
anxiety disorder. While searching for Rae, who has disappeared, he meets Gill, who informs him that Rae cheats on him whenever he's out of town. Ronnie attacks Gill and continues his search for Rae.
Lazarus's pastor, R.L. (named as a reference to Mississippi Blues performer
R.L Burnside) (played by
John Cothran Jr.), who describes himself as almost a brother to Lazarus, visits Lazarus at his house and discovers Lazarus is imprisoning Rae. The reverend tries to reason with Lazarus and the group shares a meal. In the morning, Lazarus frees Rae, having decided that he's no authority to pass judgment on her. Rae chooses to stay with Lazarus of her own
will because she feels that he's the first man to ever treat her with respect and dignity. After this, Rae and Lazarus take a trip into town where Rae confronts her mother about the
sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother's partner. Meanwhile, Lazarus has formed a budding romance with the local pharmacist, Angela (
S. Epatha Merkerson). He plays a blues concert at a local bar, which Rae attends. Ronnie spots Rae and follows her to Lazarus's house. He confronts the pair with a pistol, but Lazarus talks him down and summons the reverend. Ronnie and Rae decide that they're stronger together than apart and get married. While driving away, Ronnie suffers a panic attack and Rae begins to break down, but together they overcome their afflictions.
Cast
Production
For the film, Jackson spent six or seven hours a day for half a year learning how to play blues guitar for several songs he plays throughout the film. Ricci wore an actual 40-
pound (18 kg) chain during filming, and ate only foods of no nutritional value to achieve a sickly appearance. She told
Entertainment Weekly that she remained scantily-clad even when the cameras weren't rolling: "Sam [Jackson] would be like, 'Put some clothes on!'" she says. "I was like, 'No, you don't understand. I'm doing something important.'"
Reception
Reviews for the film were mixed. Matt Glasby of
Film4 awarded the film only 1 star out of 5, calling it a "pressure-cooked mess" that was "bad enough to make gums bleed". The film was also criticized by feminist activists for its portrayal of sexualized violence.
As of
April 20 2008,
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 66% "Fresh" rating with 95 positive of 145 total reviews, "Average Rating: 6.3 out of 10". On the television program Ebert & Roeper, filmmaker Kevin Smith, filling in for Roger Ebert, described the film as the best of the year thus far. Smith praised Ricci and Jackson, saying this was Ricci's best performance and Jackson's best performance since Pulp Fiction (1994). Richard Roeper also gave the film a "thumb up" rating. During its
March 2 to
March 4 2007 opening weekend in the US the film earned $4 million, putting it in eighth place behind films including other new releases
Wild Hogs and
Zodiac. Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone declared the film the year's Worst Soft-Core Sex on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.
Controversy
In April 2008, Christina Ricci commented on the promotional movie poster for the film, claiming it exploited women:
Soundtrack
Black Snake Moan was released
2007-01-30 by
New West Records featuring various artists including 3 tracks performed by the film's star
Samuel L. Jackson himself. The 17 tracks cover classic to modern
blues.
Reception
The soundtrack album was well received by critics, customers and the public at large.
Critical reviews
Glenn Gaslin at
Moving Pictures Magazine briefly reviewed and praised the album, "It should make anyone who loves the blues, er, happy."
Chad Grischow at
IGN reviewed the album at length concluding with, "The album does an excellent job at capturing the sweaty underbelly of the southern blues scene, and is a recommended listen, even if not for the reasons you originally picked it up."
On
2007-02-16, Sarah Linn at Sound the Sirens Magazine wrote in her final paragraph,
James B. Eldred at Bullz-Eye.com concluded his favorable review with,
Commercial rankings
As of
2008-20-05, Amazon ranked the album #8,894 in it's Music category. When considered within the Blues subcategories it was #91 in Regional Blues and #13 in
Delta Blues.
Track listing
| Track |
Song Title |
Artist |
Time |
| 1 |
"Opening Theme" |
Scott Bomar |
0:38 |
| 2 |
"Ain't But One Kind of Blues" |
Son House |
0:11 |
| 3 |
"Just Like a Bird Without a Feather" |
Samuel L. Jackson |
2:22 |
| 4 |
"When the Lights Go Out" |
The Black Keys |
3:13 |
| 5 |
"Standing in My Doorway Crying" |
Jessie Mae Hemphill |
4:40 |
| 6 |
"Chicken Heads" |
Bobby Rush |
2:32 |
| 7 |
"Black Snake Moan" |
Jason Freeman |
4:04 |
| 8 |
"Morning Train" |
Precious Bryant |
3:00 |
| 9 |
"The Losing Kind" |
John Doe |
2:33 |
| 10 |
"Lord Have Mercy on Me" |
Outrageous Cherry |
3:04 |
| 11 |
"Ronnie and Rae's Theme" |
Scott Bomar |
1:08 |
| 12 |
"The Chain" |
Scott Bomar |
2:50 |
| 13 |
"Alice Mae" |
Samuel L. Jackson |
3:48 |
| 14 |
"Stackolee" |
Samuel L. Jackson |
3:30 |
| 15 |
"Old Black Mattie" |
R.L. Burnside |
4:10 |
| 16 |
"That's Where the Blues Started" |
Son House |
0:21 |
| 17 |
"Mean Ol' Wind Died Down" |
North Mississippi Allstars |
7:31 |
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Black Snake Moan Film'.
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