Review of Eve's Bayou (1997) by Daniel S — 12 Jul 2008

Roger Ebert called this movie the best film of 1997. I didn't find it nearly that powerful, but I did think that it did several things very, very well.

1. Characters. With one exception (the young son), every member of the family is developed so much that they almost feel like members of our family and that makes what happens at the end feel very powerful.

2. Structure. Whoever told Kasi Lemmons to add that opening line ("Memory is a selection of images. Some elusive, others printed indelibly on the brain. The summer I killed my father, I was ten years oldâ?¦") was a fucking genius. The movie still would have drawn us in without it, but it adds a layer of mystery and tension that turns a good movie into a great one. (And like the "March of Time" segment from "Citizen Kane," it shifts the focus away from what to how, which, letâ??s face it, is a lot more interesting.).

3. Atmosphere. You can tell that "Eve's Bayou" was shot almost entirely in Louisiana. From the bayous to the rich old houses to the voodoo witches hanging around by the river, the movie just oozes Cajun. And speaking of voodoo, what other movie could make voodoo an integral part of the plot and have it feel believable?