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:

Le secret du bayou

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

Jurnee Smollett (Eve Batiste) and Jake Smollett Poe Batiste) are brother and sister in real-life.

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Goofs

The Batiste family is happy to learn that the boy who got hit by a bus was not one of the Batiste children. When Mrs Batiste tells Eve to go upstairs and tell her sister, Cisely, that they can all go outside, a boom mic is visible at the top of the frame.

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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 At the Movies: Mad City/Bean/Starship Troopers/Eve's Bayou/The Wings of the Dove (1997)

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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

Stunning Imagery, Haunting Beauty

"MEMORY IS A SELECTION OF IMAGES, SOME ELUSIVE, OTHERS PRINTED INDELIBLY ON THE BRAIN. THE SUMMER I KILLED MY FATHER, I WAS 10 YEARS OLD"

With those shocking opening frames from the movie, 'Eve's Bayou'(1997), I was hooked from start go.

'Eve's Bayou' is an anomaly. It has achieved a rare distinction of excellence in all departments of film making; from the direction to the writing, from the acting to the cinematography.

Here was a film not content with telling a tale of nostalgic retrospection. Instead, it shocked the senses of the unsuspecting viewers with an eerie collage of imagery, underscoring the chilling suspense with an undercurrent of tumultuous emotion (jealousy, loss and sadness; anger, vengeance and guilt) all culminating into the inevitable foreshadowed tragedy.

But of course, this is far too distinguished a film to present an easy resolution. From there spring forth the painful revelation on the very essence of memory and the perception of truth, distilled and faceted with the passage of time. A valuable lesson indeed.

Poetic and shadowy, the dream-like moods sustained throughout this poignant film is its over-riding strength. For here was a film which sights and sound has transcended the mere plot convention of its humble genre origins. Thankfully, the film turned out the better for it. Coupled with the celebrated fact that this was the product of a first time director(Kasi Lemmons), one can't help but feel the divine intervention bestowed upon this film to make it such an magically entrancing experience.

Alongside 'Shawshank Redemption' and 'The Sweet Hereafter', 'Eve's Bayou' certainly ranks as one of the most hauntingly beautiful piece of cinema ever committed to film.