Art on the Avenue

Based on both a song and a novel, Black Snake Moan is a 2007 film that focuses on the Mississippi Blues Movement. The film reception was not at all fabulous among critics as some rejected it for dealing with a messy plot, while others had overt critical attitudes over the sexualized violence that characterizes the film. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Chrisitna Ricci and Justin Timberlake, Black Snake Moan reveals lots of African American issues, exposes drug abuse, bitterness and sexual addiction cases. At the origin of the film lies a novel by George Eliot written in 1861, Silas Marner, while the soundtrack is inspired by the Blind Lemon Jefferson song created in the late 20s.  auto insurance online quote

The cast of Black Snake Moan committed to such an extent to this project that significant parts of their lives had to get adapted to the demands of the script: thus, Samuel L. Jackson got to spend around six hours a day, for six months to only learn to play blues guitar. Then, another relevant example here is the sickly look that Christina Ricci got by eating only food with low nutritional value and walking about almost naked just to get into the character’s skin better. A hot debate issued due to the misogynistic promotion of the film, which was considered rather offensive to women.  auto insurance quote

Consequently, when we have to sum up the public success of Black Snake Moan, the film was not by far the hit everyone expected. Yet, good critical appreciations were also formulated, but more reserved than the aggression of the negative criticism. The main problem identified in the promotional campaign for the film advertising  was that it emphasized promiscuity and it tried to attract the attention of college boys audience instead of addressing wider public categories. Hence, Christina Ricci was one of the film cast members who took a stand against this form of advertising, making it unpardonable and without precedent in her film career.

A better outcome resulted from the release of the Black Snake Moan soundtrack collection at the beginning of 2007. The songs feature several artists, with three tracks being performed by Samuel L. Jackson himself. The album includes a total of seventeen tracks covering both classic and modern blues; the album registered great sale rates, as Blues fans were actually eager to get a new approach to such a dear and sentimental music style. Critics also had a very positive attitude much better than the other critical appreciations passed on the film, Black Snake Moan.  car insurance quote