Craig Brewer on Black Snake

Craig Brewer plans on staying in Memphis. An Army brat, Brewer was born on a base in Virginia, and lived everywhere: Chicago, northern California, southern California. But Brewer calls Memphis home and after making three films there he’s set up a base of operations similar to the kind of community that filmmakers like Richard Linklater have established in Austin.
With films to his credit like Hustle & Flo and now Black Snake Moan Brewer plays Hollywood’s game but on his own terms.
“If I were leading the tour of Memphis,” Brewer mused in a phoner with Free Press Houston, “I would take people to Wild Bill’s.” A classic juke joint that features homegrown blues in the style heard throughout Black Snake Moan, Wild Bill’s is located at 1580 Vollintine Ave. “Then over to Cozy Corner for some bar-b-q,” replies Brewer who proceeds to rattle off a few great eateries, adding “There’s one place that has mustard slaw, you ever had mustard slaw?”
Like all filmmakers Brewer’s influences are many. On one hand he was a kid “watching Benji movies and tearing up. Then my father took me to see Midnight Cowboy.” It’s not hard to see a link between the street characteristics of Ratso Rizzo and the denizens of Brewer’s films: A pimp trying to better his life through music in Hustle & Flo and in Black Snake Moan a blues musician with marital issues Lazarus (Samuel L. Jackson) trying to cure a white trash nympho drug addict, Rae (Christina Ricci), by chaining her to his radiator.
Whether it’s a Watkins sign in a small town pharmacy, a Denon record player on Lazarus’ front porch, or a can of Murray’s hair pomade Lazarus uses to slick his hair down before a very important gig, or the Peavy amp he jams on, Brewer captures the essence of small town Middle America. But the sexual undertone that scores the film reminds one more of Almodovar than Faulkner or Tennessee Williams.
Black Snake Moan empowers male and female viewers by showing what goes on in both Lazarus and Rae’s head. “It’s so great to watch an audience react to basically sex,” says Brewer. One difficult to choreograph scene involves a swooping camera on a crane, and a young boy opening a door. As soon as he opens the door the chained Rae grabs him with her free leg and proceeds to have her way with him.
“I wanted it to be like a pit bull running out the door and grabbing some kid,” remarks Brewer. “There’s one moment where Sam is trying to wake her up, and Christina lunges up and lays a big wet kiss on Sam. I like to turn at that moment and watch the reaction of the audience. They flinch like they’re watching a horror movie,” notes Brewer with satisfaction.
Using a team of collaborators that includes cinematographer Amy Vincent and composer Scott Bomar, Brewer has created an instant cult classic with Black Snake Moan. But get Brewer back on the subject of Memphis and modesty takes over. “Memphis is the biggest small town in the country,” wryly adds Brewer. Discussing some of the other films made in Memphis leads Brewer to mention Tupelo Teen (Bomar also wrote the music) and Starlet A.D., two films from John Michael McCarthy. A quick check on the Internet shows that neither film exists through the usual DVD or video outlets.
“Tupelo is a crazy film, but it’s a Southern staple.” Maybe the only way to see these films is just to move to Memphis.