Eve's Bayou (1997)

After a daughter witnesses her father having an affair, she begins a chain reaction that could tear her family apart.

Director:

Kasi Lemmons

Writer:

Kasi Lemmons

Stars:

Samuel L. Jackson, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Meagan Good

12 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jurnee Smollett-Bell	...	Eve Batiste (as Jurnee Smollett)
Meagan Good	...	Cisely Batiste
Lynn Whitfield	...	Roz Batiste
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Louis Batiste
Debbi Morgan	...	Mozelle Batiste Delacroix
Jake Smollett	...	Poe Batiste
Ethel Ayler	...	Gran Mere
Diahann Carroll	...	Elzora
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Julian Grayraven
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Lenny Mereaux
Lisa Nicole Carson	...	Matty Mereaux
Branford Marsalis	...	Harry
Afonda Colbert	...	Henrietta
Lola Dalferes	...	Lynette
Marcus Lyle Brown	...	Hosea

Storyline

The story is set in 1962 Louisiana. The Batiste family is headed by charming doctor Louis. Though he is married to beautiful Roz, he has a weakness for attractive female patients. One night Louis trysts with married and sexy Metty Mereaux, not knowing that he is observed by his youngest daughter Eve, who is there by accident. Eve can not forget the traumatic incident and shares a secret with older sister Cisely. Lies start to roll...

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | woman | national film registry | triple f rated | secret | 

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Taglines:

The secrets that hold us together can also tear us apart.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amores Divididos

Filming Locations:

Otis House, Fairview Riverside State Park - 119 Fairview Drive, Madisonville, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,287,846, 9 November 1997, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$14,821,531, 8 March 1998

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trimark Pictures, ChubbCo Film, Addis Wechsler Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Meagan Good and Jurnee Smollet appeared in Roll Bounce (2005).

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Goofs

Eve puts 20 bucks she takes from her dad's wallet in her right pocket. In the marketplace where she pays Elzora, she takes the money out of her left pocket.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Memory is a selection of images, some elusive, others imprinted indelibly on the brain. The summer I killed my father I was 10 years old. My brother Poe was 9, and my sister Cisely has just turned 14.
Narrator: The town we lived in was named after a slave. It was said that when General John Paul Batiste was stricken with cholera, his life was saved by the powerful medicine of an African slave woman called Eve. In return for his life, he freed her, and gave her this piece of land by the Bayou...

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Connections

Spin-off Dr. Hugo (1996)

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Soundtracks

I Pretend I'm Loving You
Written by Buddy Scott & Jimmy Radcliffe
Published by Universal Music Publishing
Performed by Jimmy Radcliffe
Licensed courtesy of Chris Radcliffe

User Reviews

Rich family saga with an interesting twist

This film is now showing on cable here in Australia, and is a far better than average offering.

Written and directed by Kasi Lemmons, the film is a powerful family drama set in the sixties in the south of the USA. It stars Samuel L Jackson as a small town doctor with a wandering eye. The story is told from the viewpoint of his middle child, Eve, wonderfully played by Jurnee Smollett, who sees her middle-class family life threatened by her father's infidelities.

No tale set in a bayou village could exist without references to black magic and voodoo, and this film also has them as a rather central part of the plot. But these elements are handled skilfully and believably, and heighten the tension that develops.

One of the interesting tools used by Lemmons is to tell and retell a story from different characters' perspectives, asking the viewer to determine which is more truthful, and indeed, whether the truth is paramount.

Jackson gives a sparkling performance as Dr Louis Batiste, a man of warmth and generosity who is well regarded by the local community that he serves. His family is seemingly a happy and close one, until the children begin to question some of the adult behaviour they witness.

Jurnee Smollett's Eve is the main protagonist around whom much of the story is centred, and she effortlessly moves back and forth between being a precocious brat and a young woman with powerful emotions. The rest of the cast is also very good, including a voluptuous Lisa Nicole Carson as the temptress Mattie Mereaux, and Diahann Carroll as a bayou witch.

This film moves along at a good pace and is a little more than you might expect.