On Wednesday night I saw Black Snake Moan, the latest movie from director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow). Set in the deep South the movie revolves around a recently seperated black man, Lazarus (Jackson) who spends his days tending to his farm and listening to the blues. His routine is interrupted when he comes into contact with Rae who is left lying on the side of the road after being badly beaten by one of her lovers. Lazarus quickly learns the girl is deeply troubled, mainly with a rather bad case of nymphomania. He decides the best way to cure her of this dreadful disease is to tie her up to his radiator with a great big fuckoff chain. While she doesn't keep the chain on for that long it does make for some rather humourous scenes - especially when the local pastor comes round for dinner.
I didn't totally dig the film but I loved bits and pieces, like the scene where Lazarus plays the blues at the local joint to a rapturous crowd. Ricci gives an amazing performance as the nymphomaniac Rae, her Addams Family days are definately way behind her now. Also of note is Justin Timberlake, who gives a decent performance as her estranged lover/would be husband. It's not for everyone but I would encourage you to go see it when it comes out in a few months, especially if you liked Brewers first feature. Oh and you get to see Ricci in ALL her glory ;)
My next film for the Showcase was Suburban Mayhem - an Aussie film which stars talented local darling, Emily Barclay. She is unrecognisable from her role in In My Father's Den and her performance easily lives up to the hype her Best Actress award at the AFI's set up. The movie is part mockumentary and part dramedy, revolving around the aftermath of her father's homicide. The film opens with her talking to the camera and her penchant for fame and fortune is signalled to us right from the outset. As the movie progresses we learn even more about her fucked up pyschology - the fact her brother Danny chopped off a convenience store clerk's head, the accolade of having fucked a guy for every letter of the alphabet, getting her brothers mate to kill a friends dog - you get the idea.
The movie starts out as a very funny black comedy but ends up more on the drama end of things - which makes the eventual reveal of how her father actually died even more disturbing. I personally preferred it when it was content to laugh at the horrific nature of her personality, instead of confronting us head on with it. Later attempts at dark humour with her boyfriend Rusty didn't really work as well for me as the stuff at the beginning of the film. I guess the scriptwriters bust their wad a bit early. I really liked the movie though and you should definately try hunt it down - Emily Barclay is certainly our best actress working today which is more than enough reason to see it.
Lastly I finally saw Junebug, the acclaimed drama cum comedy that got critically praised throughout last year, ending up on a whole load of top ten lists. I can see why it got the praise but I didn't perhaps fall for it as much as others have. Don't get me wrong - Amy Adams is excellent in the movie, with scenes ranging from the hysterical to heartwrenching. The movie is based around Madeleine, an art dealer who comes to smalltown Southern USA to meet with an eccentric artist. It just so happens her partner's family live nearby so they figure it's as good a time as any to meet the parents. What follows next is a poignant look into the difference between how people live out their lives depending on their social circumstance.
It's clear that Johnny ( Ben Mckenzie - The O.C) is jealous of his brothers success, he has a beautiful partner, has a better sexlife and has had a good education. He is working at a run-of-the-mill job and living at home with his girlfriend and her parents. There is a really tragic scene between him and Madeleine when she trys to teach him about Huckleberry Finn to help him pass his English paper only to have her help misconstrued. Alessandro Nivola is good as her partner although half way through the movie I recognised him from Goal and then I kept thinking of him having a Newcastle accent the whole way through the movie.
It's not for everyone, while it's only 100 or so minutes the movie takes it's time in getting there and is punctuated by a lot of silences and shots of the landscape or various empty places around the house - I guess to signify the kind of stifling and isolated existance these characters live with. It's the whole ignorance is bliss thing I guess - I certainly couldn't live or relate to the people who live along the bible belt of the States but in their own way they do have a real humanity to them. Amy Adam's Ashley is testament to that.
1 comment:
Five Things:
(1) I personally liked the silent shots around the house. This not only highlights the isolation of the family but also reminds you that there is something eerie going on behind closed doors. It teases you that three years ago (when Johnny turned mental), something significant had happened that may have turned the family upside down, suddenly having this antagonistic vibe against each other. The silent scenes open up an array of possibilities. They are suggestive and allows you to linger on it quite a bit (Ref: "Grave of the Fireflies"). Also, it also becomes quite depressing as it highlights that it is no longer a home, but a house.
(2) I love that final scene between Madeline and the father as it highlights miscommunication. Even if Madeline ment well in retrieving the screwdriver, the father looks at it as her reminder of her superiority... this was the only time that he realized this as he was defending Madeline to his wife throughout their stay.
(3) I think the "antagonist" in this movie would be the eldest brother as he is downright hypocritical. he changes colours as soon as he changes states. When he's at home, he's a different person but as soon as they pass the border, he implicitly states that he's happy he's out of there.
(4) Although the movie kind of implies how sordid existence is in the south, how much dependent they are on religion and how terribly uneducated they are... the movie still gives them respect as they are eventually depicted as family centric and people who value life, even of an unborn fetus: something Madeline could possibly never appreciate.
(5) The mother character here is amazing. Not only is that she can see through her son's changing colors (she does remind him to stay as he is), she carries the quiet emotional burden of the movie. Surely, she did not cry that badly just because her son is going away.
Yes, I love it *this* much.
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