New Orleans cast, crew see Michael B. Jordan film ‘Sinners’ | Entertainment/Life

Whenever a major film production shoots in Louisiana, it’s a bonanza for local actors in front of the cameras, as well as technical folks behind them. In “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther,” “Creed”) tells a story that takes place in Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1932, but uses New Orleans, Donaldsonville and Bogalusa to stand in for the Mississippi town.

To thank all of the cast and crew, the filmmakers and distributor Warner Bros. had a special pre-screening of the movie on April 14 at AMC’s IMAX theater in Elmwood, outside New Orleans. The house was packed with Louisiana actors, production designers, grips, camera operators and anyone else who had a part in the making of the film.

“Sinners” is a supernatural action, horror and vampire thriller. If that sounds like a mouthful of different genres, it is. The film leans heavily on music, played both by musicians within the film, and as a blues score composed by multi-Oscar and Grammy winner Ludwig Goransson, who won one of his Oscars just last year for scoring Best Picture winner, “Oppenheimer.”

The film begins with narration that seems to foreshadow events to come, when we learn that the work of musicians can conjure up spirits of the past and future and cross the line between the living and the dead. But it will be a while before we see this premise manifest itself on the screen. In fact, the entire first half of the movie is spent getting to know twins Smoke and Stack, played by Coogler’s regular collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, the star(s) of this saga.

The twins are returning to their hometown after being away in Chicago for seven years, where they associated with Al Capone and other mobsters. Now, loaded with cash, they are intent on opening a juke joint that very night. That means buying an old mill from a very questionable figure in town.

That character, called Hogwood, is played convincingly by actor David Maldonado, raised in New Iberia and now a Houston resident. When he’s questioned about what the reaction might be to two Black men buying a building in the 1932 Jim Crow South, his response is “The Klan don’t exist no more.”

Beef jerky and tobacco

“We shot that scene in an abandoned sawmill in Bogalusa, which was hotter than hell in the summertime,” Maldonado said. “The script had my character, this good old boy named Hogwood, tobacco dipping during the scene. We tried beef jerky which the crew gave me, but it burned my throat. I switched to some dip that I brought with me, I spat while I was delivering my lines, and it all worked out.

“I tried to make Hogwood realistic without becoming a caricature. When I saw the finished film, I was really blown away. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen, with the blending of so many genres. Love stories, horror and vampires?” A crescendo midway through the film touches on music and spirituality in the Black community, he noted. “It was surreal!”

The spirituality and intent of the film wasn’t lost on actress Emonie Ellison of Hammond, who plays cotton-picker Cornbread’s wife, Therise. Both are lured away from the field to open the juke joint for the Smoke/Stack twins.

The film’s notion of music being in tune with the occult, and an instrument of the devil, spoke to her as she contemplated the choices people make.

“I loved the play on the light and the darkness,” Ellison said. “Sammy, the preacher’s son, had the choice and the opportunity not to stray from the fold, and his dad told him he was playing with fire, and eventually it would follow him home. Sometimes we choose darkness instead of light, even after weighing the consequences. I don’t know what the intent of the writer (Coogler) ultimately was, but I thought his film had a powerful message. Even the devil knows Scripture.”

Violence, love and vampires

New Orleans actor Justin Davis gave the film a 10 out of 10. Playing character Jeff, who ends up in a turbulent scene at the new speakeasy, the upshot is his violent removal from the club.

“I loved the film. It seemed to seamlessly encompass just about everything,” Davis said. “Violence, love, vampires, Klansmen, and even Choctaw Indians.”

The movie, which takes place over one day in Clarksdale, begins to go south shortly after the juke joint opens.

The first person at the bar that night to order a drink is Patterson, played by prolific New Orleans actor Gralen Banks.

When Patterson tries to pay for his bourbon with plantation money, a ruckus ensues. It’s the beginning of much more violence to come.

Although many Louisiana actors who had roles in this film saw only their own portion of the complete script, Banks did the table read with the whole script, so he was aware of the impending vampires.

On the other hand, New Orleans actor Sam Malone, whose character has the distinction of being shot in the butt by Smoke, was surprised by the all-out vampiric siege in the film’s second half.

Alongside Jordan, stars Hailee Steinfeld (Stack’s love interest) and harmonica-playing Delroy Lindo round out the cast, with an impressive acting debut by young Miles Caton, who really knows how to sing the blues.

Who will survive the assault of the vampires, and who will become one? To find out requires viewing the film, which opened nationwide in theaters April 18.

Contact Leslie Cardé at lesliecardejournalist@gmail.com.