Do you know who Bizarro is? It's a weird duplicate of Superman in the DC-universe. He's basically just a really bizarre character. Black Snake Moan is the Bizarro of romance movies. Now, I am not saying that this is a Lynchian movie or anything...
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Do you know who Bizarro is? It's a weird duplicate of Superman in the DC-universe. He's basically just a really bizarre character. Black Snake Moan is the Bizarro of romance movies. Now, I am not saying that this is a Lynchian movie or anything when I call it bizarre or absurd. I just mean that it's plain different from anything we've seen before, atleast anything that's been presented to the mainstream audiences. And I loved it. For one thing, Black Snake Moan sports the most groovalicious (I don't care if that isn't a word) soundtrack that I've heard in any movie this decade. I don't like blues at all, but if there's a single movie in the world that might make someone appreciate it, it would be Black Snake Moan. Speaking of which, contrary to what you might believe, the name of the movie isn't actually perverted. I think that that just came in unintentionally, the name is explained very well in the film and it makes alot of sense. It still sounds kinda pervy if you just say it, but atleast you don't mean it. The story holds itself together very well too. Ricci's character has some rather cliched charecterisation, and Jackson's farmer has very little set-up, but I think that the amount that it got was good nonetheless. I would've liked abit more, but I sure as hell ain't complaining. I loved the ending to no limit. It was one of the few endings in movie history in which you really didn't know wether it was a sad ending or a happy ending. And I mean that in a good way, it wasn't confusing, it just leaves the viewer with the option of thinking about it him/herself instead of showing what happens afterwards to create a happy or sad mood. The set-up almost seems ludicrous if you just read the plot synopsis or see the trailer. The advertising campaign for Black Snake Moan is incredibly deceptive. We are promised, by the posters and trailers, a movie that would set us back to the exploitation movies of the 70s. What we get instead is the best growth story in a long time. Is it wrong? Well, it doesn't matter since the movie is good. The technical aspects really have to be good for a movie like this to work. With a story like that, you need good execution for people to take the movie seriously. And this flick has good execution. Jackson definately tops any other performance he's made during his career, as does Ricci. That's saying quite abit since she pulled off an Oscar-worthy performance in Prozac Nation. I would even dare to say that her performance in Black Snake Moan is so daring that it deserves to be up there with Monica Bellucci from Irreversible and Isabella Rosselini from Blue Velvet. Justin Timberlake... boy. Where do I begin? I never imagined that I would have to state that a former member of NSYNC would actually be a great dramatic actor. Props go to Diaz for training him (I think). Timberlake is rather scarcely on screen, his overall screentime is probably no more than 15 minutes, but every time he's there he pulls out an extremely impressive showcase of emotions, just like he should. Brewer directs with a weird passion to what he is doing, and you can see through the film that he loved making it. He isn't a flashy director, but instead lets his talented cast do the work for him, which is a good thing in any movie that's primarily based on characters instead of the actions of the characters. But on the down-side it should be said that a few things here and there simply seemed unnecessary and rather unbelievable even in the world of the movie. Black Snake Moan still is a highly original movie that rewards it's viewer constantly by giving him/her something more to think about. And if that isn't your thing, you still will have fun with it. I sure did.