John Smith English Composition II
Professor Nash
29 April 2013
Haunting Beauty
If one is intrigued by a highly creative and masterful piece of drama, which may contain family dysfunctions, lust and tragedy all tied into one cryptic soap opera, then Kasi Lemmon’s “Eve’s Bayou” is the perfect concoction containing all the aforementioned ingredients. “Eve’s Bayou” sets the dramatic piece in the heart of traditionally black and voodoo inhabited Louisiana. The issues she portrays are ones that maybe many black individuals like to ignore and/or avoid, and this film shows how maybe some of those people, both adults and children, cope with these matters, except portraying it through the eyes of a child, Eve Batiste. Overall, the movie is good because of its technical features: storyline, characters, and setting. Eve Batiste, portrayed by Jumee Smollett, is a ten-year old girl that learned some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in the movie. Eve’s father Louis, portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, is a successful and well-liked doctor in an African-American community in Louisiana. Being a good father and an excellent provider, Louis sometimes has ways of attracting the ladies, which he does not turn them away. During a party at the Batistes, Louis’ kids Eve and Cisely, portrayed by Meagan Good, his wife Roz, portrayed by Lynn Whitfield, noticed that Louis was dancing with the same women a lot. Later that night, Eve caught her father cheating on her mother with another woman in the carriage house. When confronted, Louis unconvincingly claims that nothing was happening. The infidelity of Louis took a toll on the family. Cisely, Louis’ oldest daughter, is beginning to enter the adult-stage of her life becomes confused about her new emotions; Roz, the mother/wife took her frustrations out on loved ones; and Eve seeks for answer and advices by visiting Elzora, portrayed by Diahann Carroll, a voodoo priestess. Eve’s Aunt Mozella, portrayed by Debbi Morgan, claims that she has psychic power, stayed with the family after the death of her third husband. The storyline in Eve’s Bayou was a strong point. The story is told through the eyes of Eve Batiste. Eve, who is considered a protagonist, recalls the childhood memory in the summer of 1962. The movie started out with a narration of, as it was later revealed, an older Eve. She stated, “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.” Throughout the movie, viewers could see images being unfold, as the viewers are trying to cope with what Eve has gone through during the summer of 1962. Throughout the movie, the storyline carried a lot of dramas between the Batistes. One scene in particular was when Cisely got a makeover in which she looks like her mother Roz. Cisely was hitting puberty, and she decided that a change would do her good, but when she got home with her hair done and makeup on, Roz was not happy about it, and it lead to an argument in which Cisely got slapped by her mother. Throughout parts of the movie, a viewer could predict what would happen in the scene, or later on. For instance, when Eve told Mr. Mereaux, portrayed by Roger G. Smith, what had happened between his wife Mrs. Mereaux, portrayed by Lisa Nicole Carson, and Louis, one could predict that something bad would happen later on. The multiple scenes that can lead to foreshadowing by the audience hurt the storyline a little. Another technical feature of this film was its acting/characters. The movie Eve’s Bayou was not focused on one particular character, even though it was being told through the eyes of Eve. Every character in the movie had a significant impact to the story at one point or another. Each character was portrayed excellently in the movie. Lemmons, the writer/director of the movie, gave her characters rich settings throughout the movie. One scene in the movie that had great acting and shows the true character was when Mozella speaks about how she lost her second husband, which loves her the most. Mozella told the story through the mirror. When Mozella told the story, one could feel the connection and witness it firsthand. The scene seems so real that it felt like that one was in it. Mozella did a great job telling the story, and as well as Lemmons for directing it. Eve’s Bayou was set in the bayou in Louisiana in the summer of 1962. No tale set in the bayou village could exist without references to black magic and voodoo, and this film has them as a rather part of the plot. In the movie, there was a market near a body of water, and at that market, there was a tent that had voodoo and black magic. Beside a place setting, one would say that the bayou could symbolize something. A bayou is a creek that is a passageway to another larger body of water. In Eve’s Bayou, Eve represents the bayou as she travels to her family, the larger body of water, to seek answers. Eve’s Bayou is a must-see for those who like drama, tragedy, or soap opera like movies. The film exhibits many of these aspects. The storyline, acting/characters, and settings made this film strong. Lemmons did a great job with it; everything about the film was phenomenal. Although there were some minor quirks in the film, the film receives a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.