30. Eve’s Bayou

When a film starts out with the narrator saying, “The summer I killed my father, I was 10 years old,” only the most blasé of viewers would remain disinterested. How could such a tragedy happen? Eve’s Bayou pieces together the childhood memories of Eve Batiste, played to perfection by a remarkable youngster, Jurnee Smollett, in a movie combining elements usually found in domestic dramas, psychological thrillers, and gothic mysteries. Set in the lush swamplands of Louisiana back in the 1960s, this cinematic feast boasts a full menu of guilt, jealousy, revenge, infidelity, possible incest – and just enough supernatural mumbo-jumbo to cast a spell over the audience.

Trouble brews beneath the surface for Eve’s well-to-do African American family. A clairvoyant aunt (Debbi Morgan) worries about falling in love because of a curse that’s already struck down three of her husbands. Eve’s elegant father (Samuel L. Jackson), a medical doctor, engages in extra-marital affairs which her beautiful mother (Lynn Whitfield) overlooks. He also pays more attention to their pretty oldest daughter than to Eve. On a fateful evening during a party, Eve accidentally sees her father making love to one of their guests, and this incident becomes the most disturbing moment of her life, setting the stage for the tragedy to follow. Despite the film’s dramatic opening line, screenwriter and first-time director Kasi Lemmons uses all the tricks of the trade to remind us that memories can be misleading. She leaves plenty of room for speculation about what really happened here.

Too bad moviegoers didn’t flock to this intriguing movie. Granted, Eve’s Bayou defies classification -- which probably stymied both promoters and the general public. But, in terms of artistic creativity, complexity emerges as one of its many assets. (Betty Jo Tucker)