Sweetwater Junction (1980)

Directed by: George Sluizer | 35 minutes | documentary

George Sluizer calls his documentary about rattlesnake hunting – and rattlesnake culture – in Sweetwater, Texas a mini-western. And yes, it’s about men on horses – let’s call them ‘snakeboys’ – and we find ourselves in a typical Western setting in the film, with deserts and rock formations, but that’s where the similarities end. Although Sluizer tries very emphatically from the start to emphasize the Western atmosphere with the help of music. You can also call it flashy. Because a moment is nice, but the long introduction in the introduction of Ennio Morricone’s ‘Man With a Harmonica’, from the Western classic ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, is, to put it kindly, uninspired. Fortunately, Sluizer does not use this tactic for the entire film and it also becomes an interesting documentary with its own face.

The film opens with two cowboys looking for rattlesnakes. These hide among the rocks and are expertly tracked down by the men with mirrors and specially manufactured grappling sticks (made from golf clubs, among other things). Once captured, they put the snakes in a box to be able to sell them later or to ‘show off’ them at the ‘fairground’, where the catcher of the biggest snake is praised and there is even a special beauty pageant where the winner is. to control a snake in front of the public with the aforementioned tool.

Initially, without context, the viewer mainly has the feeling that things are not exactly animal-friendly and you wonder whether all this is necessary. This feeling never completely goes away, for example because of the whole party around it and the way the live snakes are stretched (to measure them) and thrown on top of each other, but the story does become a bit more nuanced.

Halfway through the documentary you will understand a lot better why some locals hunt rattlesnakes: they are a danger to the livestock of the farmers: cows and other animals are bitten to death and so farmers are simply forced to defend them. In addition, the captured and killed snakes are not kept as trophies or thrown in the trash, but are really used to the fullest. Not only are they eaten—one woman proudly says that snake meat can taste almost like any meat with the right seasoning and preparation—but their venom is also used as an ingredient and research material for medicines; for example against certain cancers.

Finally, the question is asked early on whether there is not so much hunting that there is a danger that the snakes (in the area) will become extinct. However, this turns out not to be the case: there seem to be far more being added than can ever be caught. Fine then, shall we say. And as if our bio-industry is so humane. At least the battle against the rattlesnakes in Sweetwater is understandable. And Sluizer’s film is once again an intriguing glimpse into a culture unknown to (most of) us. Some parts go on a bit too long, are out of tune (sometimes it seems like you’re watching an old-fashioned American commercial), and the Western sauce at the beginning (and at the end) was not needed. But this short documentary is ultimately worth a look.