Eve's Bayou (1997)
Director: Kasi Lemmons Written by: Kasi Lemmons Producers: Caldecot Chubb, Samuel L. Jackson Cast: Jurnee Smollett, Meagan Good, Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, Debbi Morgan Runtime: 109 Production Company: Trimark Pictures Rated R: Sexuality, language
By Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
Eve's Bayou is not a confusing film, but it is a deeply complex one. First-time writer/director Kasi Lemmons tells the story of a well-to-do African American family in Louisiana. The film opens with a short narration from the main character, Eve: she reflects back to the summer of 1962 during which, she states calmly, she killed her father. Eve (Jurnee Smollett) is ten years old in 1962. She has a sister, Cisely (Meagan Good), a brother, Poe (Smollett). Her father, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) is a local doctor, and her mother, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), apparently likes to spend his money.
It's difficult, if not impossible, to classify a film like this. Most of it works like a family drama, but it often shifts almost completely into a supernatural thriller. There are supporting characters that are frequently unnerving. Mozelle Batiste (Debbi Morgan), for instance, is Eve's aunt and Louis' brother. She is described by her family as mildly insane, and her profession deals with psychic counseling and sometimes even voodoo magic. Although she isn't presented as a threatening character, there is something about her presence that makes the audience and the characters onscreen somewhat wary.
In fact, most of the characters have this dubious quality that makes us skeptical of their goodness. Louis, throughout most of the film, is the prime suspect for causing a general uneasiness among the family. Early on, Eve accidentally witnesses a moment of infidelity between Louis and a family friend, Matty Mereaux. From this point on, each time Louis smiles and tries to console his family, we observe him through squinted eyes, wondering what he has planned on the backburner.
Looking back on what I've written thus far, it almost seems that I'm describing the plot of a thriller starring a bunch of one-note characters. This couldn't be further from the truth, for this is one of the most colorful groups of characters to grace the screen in a long while. The performances, too, are of pure skill and only help the ease with which the audience can absorb the film. Jurnee Smollett, in the lead role as the young Eve, turns in an excellent performance. Her naivete and innocence is so clearly conveyed that, regardless of any immature or downright mean actions she might commit, she is always a sympathetic character.
Possibly even more layered is Meagan Good, who, as the 14 year-old Cisely, is often disturbing in her role. Both Lynn Whitfield and Samuel L. Jackson are extremely effective as the parents, and even though they aren't the main characters, their performances and the skillful narrative allow us to understand them in all of their complexity without a lot of expositional dialogue.
With a film like this, it is difficult to explain the setup without giving away crucial turns in the story. One of the fundamental elements that I liked so much about it is the way Lemmons slowly weaves her story--the smooth, calculated manor in which she allows the audience to understand the same things that Eve, in her delicate innocence, strives to understand herself. There are times when Eve sees things that she shouldn't see and, in that effect, she does not understand them. The audience, too, does not quite grasp everything in chronological order. This storytelling technique is extremely effective.
It is clear that Lemmons worked hard on this film. Much of the imagery and the set locations are breathtaking, and often shocking in the context of the film. Eve's Bayou is a probing and disturbing picture--it provides a dramatic story that is both unique and involving. It's the kind of film so multi-dimensional that one can watch it three or four times and still come out of each viewing having noticed something new in the story. If Kasi Lemmons is just getting warmed up, then I'm already preparing myself for her next film.
>From 0-10: 8 Grade: B+
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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