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Black Snake Moan
A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.
2006 · Directed by Craig Brewer · 116 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 12 frames
Tagline
Everything is hotter down south.
Plot
The film concerns two main characters: Lazarus Redd, a deeply religious farmer and former blues guitarist, and Rae Doole, a young sex addict. Lazarus' wife and his brother were having an affair, which has left him bitter and angry. Rae's boyfriend, Ronnie Morgan, leaves for deployment with the 196th Field Artillery Brigade, Tennessee National Guard, and in his absence, she indulges in bouts of promiscuity and drug use. During one of her binges, Ronnie's friend Gill Morton tries to take advantage of her. She laughs at his advances and compares his penile endowment unfavorably with another man's, and he beats her severely. Believing she's dead, Gill pushes the unconscious Rae out of his truck at the side of the road, wearing only a crop top and panties, and drives away.
Lazarus discovers Rae unconscious by the road the next morning and brings her home to nurse her back to health. He goes to see Tehronne – the man he thought had beaten her – and learns of her promiscuity. Over the course of several days, Rae, delirious with fever, occasionally wakes up and tries to flee from Lazarus. He chains her to a radiator to keep her from running away. After she regains her wits, Lazarus announces that it is his spiritual duty to heal her of her sinful ways and refuses to release her until he does so. Rae makes several attempts to escape, and even attempts to rape a teenager who helps out on Lazarus' farm when he pays a visit.
She eventually comes to tolerate her position. Lazarus buys her a light sundress to wear, improving her modesty, plays the guitar for her, and feeds her home-cooked meals. Lazarus' pastor and close friend, R.L., visits Lazarus at his house and discovers that Lazarus is imprisoning Rae. The pastor tries to reason with Lazarus, and the group shares a meal.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Craig Brewer
- Cinematography: Amy Vincent
- Edited by: Billy Fox
- Music: Scott Bomar
- Production design: Keith Brian Burns
- Produced by: John Singleton, Stephanie Allain
Cast
- Christina Ricci as Rae
- Samuel L. Jackson as Lazarus
- Justin Timberlake as Ronnie Morgan
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Angela
- John Cothran as Reverend R. L.
- David Banner as Tehronne
- Michael Raymond-James as Gill
- Adriane Lenox as Rose Woods
- Kim Richards as Sandy
- Neimus K. Williams as Lincoln
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Paramount Vantage, New Deal Productions, Southern Cross the Dog Productions
- Budget: $15,000,000
- Box office: $10,900,000
- Themes: southern usa, musician, blues, trauma, military service, tennessee, nymphomaniac, captive, moonshine, drunkenness
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