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

11 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 | secret | doctor | louisiana | 

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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

According to Kasi Lemmons, her cut differed severely from the final cut released to theaters, which eliminated an entire major character from the movie.

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Goofs

The movie takes place in 1962, but, there is a 1964 Ford sedan in front of the house in the opening sequence.

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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

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: U.S. Marshals/Hush/The Big Lebowski/Twilight/Men with Guns (1998)

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Soundtracks

A Child With The Blues
Written by Curtis Mayfield
Performed by Erykah Badu

User Reviews

Really, really good

I had never heard of this film when my wife ordered it from NetFlix, and I keep wondering why. This is a terrific flick. Jurnee Smollett as Eve is truly excellent, and not just "good for a kid," or "good but annoyingly precocious," she is just plain good. The story is wonderful, and I love the fact that the race of the characters is hardly mentioned. It's a story about people, and it doesn't matter on what continent their ancestors originated. The cast is uniformly excellent, especially Samuel Jackson (one of the film industry's most versatile actors), and Debbi Morgan. Small parts portrayed by Branford Marsalis and Vondie Curtis Hall are very nicely done, and add color to the background of friends and relatives of the Batiste family. I enjoy the way the film shows us the world of psychic perception and Voodoo, and the degree to which belief in them can affect behavior. The location filming is wonderfully evocative of the steaming south, and the direction spot-on. I recommend this film.