Call it Beginner's Luck or call it sheer talent but "Eve's Bayou" (1997) marks a beautiful beginning for first-time director, Kasi Lemmons. Eve's Bayou is a wonderful movie.

Set in the deep, swampy South, the story is narrated by a grown-up that we never see. Eve tells the story of that one summer when she was 10 - the summer that she killed her father.

Louis Batiste, her father, is the town doctor beloved by wife, family, community and, especially, his female patients. Batiste is played by Samuel L. Jackson and he has never been more charming compared with all his gangstermovies. The role delivered him a Black Film Award in Acapulco. We want to love Batiste as everyone else does but we witness just enough shady behavior to withhold our affection. In the end, we discover he's just a man and never felt balanced on the pedestal to begin with.

The entire Batiste family, though one of position and affluence, is unsettled that summer. The mother (played by the stunning Lynn Whitfield) feels the gnawing suspicions of her husband's indiscretions invade her heart and disrupt her family. The eldest daughter, coming of age, doesn't help matters by accusing the mother of "driving Daddy away." There's nothing like seeing a young woman trying out her first catty tantrum on Mama. Not recommended.

The most fascinating character in this dreamy sequence is Aunt Moselle, the sister of Batiste, played by the fantastic Debbie Morgan. When I saw her I felt in love instandly. Moselle has the gift of predicting the near future and finding lost loved ones in the present, by grasping hands with the inquirer and entertaining visions. It's a useful hobby but doesn't help her deal with her inconvenient Black Widow's curse - every time she marries a man, he ends up dead. In the movie she was married three times before which means the character gots a lot of pain on her shoulders.

The diminutive powerhouse of Jurnee Smollet as 10-year-old Eve is a treat not to be missed. The young actress carries the weight of her character with enthusiasm and brings an erie wisdom to the role that supports the heavy voice of the narrator. We'll be seeing her again.

Kasi Lemmons has delivered a gorgeous little film - funny, sad and intriguing. Rightly deservered she won all kind of prices. One of them was the Independent Spirit.

Eve’s Bayou is a movie that will surely make you cry.

- August 2001 -

Eve   -   Jurnee Smollett

Louis   -   Samuel L. Jackson

Roz   -   Lynn Whitfield

Mozelle   -   Debbi Morgan

Elzora   -   Diahann Carroll

Cisely   -   Meagan Good

Harry Delacroix   -   Branford Marsalis

Director   -   Kasi Lemmons

Written by   -   Kasi Lemmons

Camera   -   Amy Vincent

Sources: Heather Clisby, VPRO

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