In the Electric Mist (2009)

A detective in post-Katrina New Orleans has a series of surreal encounters with a troop of friendly Confederate soldiers while investigating serial killings of local prostitutes, a 1965 lynching, and corrupt local businessmen.

Director:

Bertrand Tavernier

Writers:

Jerzy Kromolowski (screenplay), Mary Olson-Kromolowski (screenplay)

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Dave Robicheaux
John Goodman	...	Julie 'Baby Feet' Balboni
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Elrod Sykes
Mary Steenburgen	...	Bootsie Robicheaux
Kelly Macdonald	...	Kelly Drummond
Justina Machado	...	Rosie Gomez
Ned Beatty	...	Twinky LeMoyne
James Gammon	...	Ben Hebert
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Lou Girard
Levon Helm	...	General John Bell Hood
Buddy Guy	...	Sam 'Hogman' Patin
Julio Cesar Cedillo	...	Cholo Manelli
Bernard Hocke	...	Murphy Doucet
John Sayles	...	Michael Goldman
Gary Grubbs	...	Sheriff

Storyline

Lt. Dave Robicheaux, a detective in New Iberia, Louisiana, is trying to link the murder of a local hooker to New Orleans mobster Julie (Baby Feet) Balboni, who is co-producer of a Civil War film. At the same time, after Elrod Sykes, the star of the film, reports finding another corpse in the Atchafalaya Swamp near the movie set, Robicheaux starts another investigation, believing the corpse to be the remains of a black man who he saw being murdered 35 years before.

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Plot Keywords:

louisiana | murder | hallucination | ghost | swamp boat | 

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Taglines:

No one can escape the sins of the past.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

TFM Distribution [France]

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 April 2009 (France)

Also Known As:

In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead

Filming Locations:

Albania Plantation - 1842 LA 182 E., Jeanerette, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,873,634

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ithaca Pictures, Little Bear, TF1 International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 102 min (DVD) 117 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Levon Helm's last acting role.

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Goofs

The movie star rents a huge saltwater boat to go out into the Atchafalaya Basin. This may have been done to show the character's naiveté.

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Quotes

Alafair Robicheaux: [last lines - pausing on Civil War photograph] Dave?

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Alternate Versions

The film was taken away from its director, Bertrand Tavernier, in post-production, the producers preparing the edit of the film that was released in North America and the UK (running at 104 minutes). However, after the completion of the producers' cut of the film, Tavernier went back to the picture and created his own 'director's cut' of the film, running 117 minutes. This version of the film has been released widely in Europe, and is available on DVD (in an English-friendly version) in France and the Benelux countries.

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Connections

Follows Heaven's Prisoners (1996)

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Soundtracks

La Terre tremblante
Written by Dirk Powell
Composed by Marco Beltrami
Performed by Dirk Powell and Courtney Granger

User Reviews

Make sure you watch the European cut

Most of you have probably never heard of Tavernier, which is a shame as he has at least two masterpieces under his belt. The American DVD release is not only cut by 15 minutes, it is also drastically different in structure and tone. Think Leone's American cut of Once Upon a time In America. You didn't like that, did you? Well, to be honest neither of the films are perfect, but the American DVD is UNWATCHABLE. At least the director's cut is the way Tavernier preferred; and actually a middling thriller that is worthy of giving a spin. Gone is the made for TV pacing and ludicrous ending, and while it's not his best work, it will probably entertain you enough.

The acting is serviceable in both versions, but the lack of a back story (and thus motivation) makes some of the character actions seem out of place and silly.

I happen to like Heaven's Prisoners a lot more than anyone has any right to, and I think Tommy Lee Jones is a very good replacement for Baldwin. Gone is the optimistic charm of old Dave, hello new Dave that is bitter by what life has shown him. But a lot of that is lost in the American DVD.