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Published: March 19, 2007
Talk About Movies
Matthew Lickona and Ernie Grimm discuss current and classic films from a Catholic perspective.
Black Snake Moan
Directed by Craig Brewer
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Christina Ricci
2007, 115 minutes, USA, English, Color
Strong language and sexuality
Matthew: When Laz sets Rae free of the chain and tells her she should be able to live life the way she wants to, it's a complicated moment. Complicated, because she doesn't want to live as a slave to her desires --- she really does love Ronny. And she doesn't even want to be free of chains --- restrictions, things that rein her in. She wraps herself in the chain to fight temptation, and that's why, eventually, she ends up with the golden chain around her waist. She wants restriction in the sexual realm, because it gives her freedom to love the way she wants to love.
Ernie: I think you're right. Before he releases her, they drink to "freedom." And I think the dancing scene is about her discovering freedom from sexual compulsion. In that scene, she's learning how to be in her body, even enjoying her physical nature, but without abusing herself. The overarching point -- that sexual libertinism does not liberate but enslaves the soul -- is very good and courageously done.
 But I worry that the extreme ugliness of so much of this film destroys its goodness. After all, it's a story about the need for restraint, a point they made very literally. More restraint should have been exercised when it came time to choose what images they would show.
Matthew: Some interesting psychology throughout. Laz's wife starts feeling like she's got one foot in the grave, but the film leaves open the possibility that she feels that way after she has the abortion. Rae can't accept the idea of getting into heaven just by saying "sorry" after a lifetime of sin. But Ronny is her heaven and that's pretty much how she makes her plea to him.
I suppose someone could argue about frankness in imagery corresponding to frankness in theme, or about reacting to the glossy treatment sexuality often gets onscreen by going the opposite way, or about bringing a trashy feel to a movie about trashed souls, or even about B-movie gratuity fitting with B-movie "sex can get you in trouble" morality. But yeah --- a little restraint would have been appreciated.
Ernie: I hadn't made the connection between the ex-wife feeling like she had "one foot in the dirt" after having had an abortion. It's a great point, especially when combined with the angry stupor Laz fell into after the abortion. But again, what's the point of making a movie depicting the bottomless despair of unfettered sexuality when the very viewing of the movie is an occasion of sin against purity?
The answer could be that the movie was trying to reach the sex-obsessed world right where it is. But I'm not sure that's a good enough justification. The movie is ultimately about what sexual libertinism does to the soul when the copulation is over. So why did we need to see so much copulation?
Posted Monday, March 19, 2007 3:35 PM By Dan Grimm
why review it? Tell me something about a film I might actally go see.
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Posted Monday, March 19, 2007 7:02 PM By Lickona
Dan,
We went to see it because it promised to be - and was - a cutting exploration of bent sexuality. Yeah, there was stuff we were sorry to see, but there was a point to reviewing it, I think.
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Posted Monday, March 19, 2007 9:27 PM By Ernie Grimm
Isn't it the reviewer's job too see movies and then comment and make recommendations? If we had decided not to see it, it would have been on the recommendation of some other reviewer who had seen it.
I think the point of the film was a good one, and it was powerfully done. They could have kept all that power and made it less salacious. In fact it would have been more powerful without the distraction of titillation. That said, I think it was a worthwhile project. It's interesting, even heartening, to see someone in the movies challenging the prevailing idea that if it feels nice one oughtn't think twice
As for films you might see, Dan, we're open to suggestions.
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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 11:22 AM By Jonathan Monnereau
So is this a movie you're recommending my wife and I snuggle up to on a Friday night?
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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:58 PM By Chuck
The authors of this insipid insult to entertainment seem to be stuck in a quaggy mudbog of juvenile delinquency believing their heliographic insights are worthy of being taken seriously.
Black Snake Moan should give any human being who can speak english, a clue of what the viewer of Hollywoods latest salute to shallow-clodded infantillity is in for, if they attend this lice infested rodent some are calling a movie.
To look for deep luminary thoughts from this buzzard bonanza is like seeking treasure in the bottom of an Arabian outhouse.
I look forward to the first film Rabid and Lostello review that are worthy of viewing, then again perhaps I am the one seeking treasure where something does not quite smell right.
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Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 8:55 PM By Lickona
Oh, Chuck, you were doing so well - high-flown syntax, exalted word choice (heliographic!), a deep sense of superiority, even some alliteration ("insipid insult"). Then you had to go and ruin it with bad punctuation (there should be a comma after "then again," and no comma after "english" [sic]), incorrect spelling (shouldn't there be only one "l" in "infantility"?), and plain old bad grammar ("the first film Rabid and Lostello review that are worthy" - should be "that is worthy"). But thanks for reading all the same.
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Posted Friday, March 23, 2007 10:29 PM By RL
I think your review should have read something like " I walked into the movie, they started playing sinful trash, I walked out. Don't see the movie." End of review. However, you could have saved some money by reading the review on the USCCB, or simply looking at its rating. How can you see any redeeming qualities in a movie full of "too much copulation", that would require you to go to confession after seeing it?
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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 10:30 PM By Ernie Grimm
I didn't feel the need to go to confession, RL. Maybe others would. Hence comments to that effect in my conversation with Matthew. I maintain that a possible cultural shift is in evidence in this movie. I also maintain that its makers damaged the good point they were making with their choices on what to show. It was really a near miss.
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Posted Saturday, March 24, 2007 10:33 PM By Ernie Grimm
Jonathan,
No, not a good wife-snuggling movie. Try Bringing up Baby. Hepburn, Grant, great.
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