Themes: Fathers and Daughters, Southern Gothic, Voodoo
Main Cast: Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
A young girl learns some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in this critically-acclaimed Southern gothic drama. Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett) is a ten-year-old girl whose father Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) is a successful and well-liked doctor in an African-American community in Louisiana. Louis is a good father and an excellent provider, but he also has a way of attracting the ladies, and he's not inclined to turn them away. One night, the Batistes hold a party, and Eve, her older sister Cisely (Meagan Good), and their mother Roz (Lynn Whitfield) all notice that Louis is spending a great deal of time dancing with the same woman. Eve later spies her father and the woman in an embrace in the carriage house, though Louis unconvincingly claims that nothing untoward was happening. The evidence of Louis' infidelity takes a toll on the entire family: Cisely, who at age 14 is walking the middle-ground between being a girl and a woman, becomes sullen and confused about her new emotions, Roz takes out her frustrations on her loved ones, and Eve visits Elzora (Diahann Carroll), a voodoo priestess, looking for advice and possibly revenge. Meanwhile, Eve's Aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), who claims to have psychic powers, arrives to stay with the family after the death of her third husband, though she isn't lonely for long after meeting the eccentric Julien Greyraven (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Eve's Bayou was the first project as writer-director for actress Kasi Lemmons; leading man Samuel L. Jackson also co-produced. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Actress Kasi Lemmons made an impressive entrée into writing and directing features with Eve's Bayou, a rich portrait of middle-class African-American life in the 1960s South. Lemmons and cinematographer Amy Vincent render Louisiana's bayous with more than a dash of mysticism and ambiguity; telling the story through the eyes of a child adds an aura of uncertainty that only increases the film's dream-like quality. The formidable cast, including Samuel L. Jackson (who also co-produced), is uniformly excellent, detailing a complex world where good people sometimes do bad things. A particular bright spot among the more experienced actors is the precociously poised Jurnee Smollett as the young Eve Batiste; nearly every scene depends on her performance. For those who don't mind deliberate pacing, Eve's Bayou is a deeply atmospheric and beautifully shot movie. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
Eve (Smollett) is the youngest daughter of one of Louisiana's most sophisticated and prosperous families. Her father Louis (Jackson), is the town's highly respected doctor, a man known for his ability to "fix" things — everything except his own family problems and philandering lifestyle. Her mother Roz (Whitfield) is a stunning southern beauty with an affinity for the traditions of Creole heritage. But Eve is most like her Aunt Mozelle (Morgan) — impulsive, intuitive, a touch supernatural and possessing the need to know the truth about everything. Over one explosive summer, this young girl uncovers some of her family's most frightening hidden truths, and then tries to bind them together against the tide of tragedy.
