Family saga of rivalry and closeness

This is a fine film, it`s nicely written and excellently photographed.

Eve`s Bayou is an impressive writing/directing debut from actress Kasi Lemmons. She tells the story of a traumatic summer in the life of Eve who was ten years old in 1962, it was the summer she tells us at the beginning of the film, she killed her father. Eve comes from a prosperous black Creole family in Louisiana, her father - Samuel L. Jackson - is the town`s doctor, he`s also a notorious womaniser, a fact which causes anguish to her mother - Lynn Whitfield. Eve witnesses her father`s promiscuity close-up one evening, an event she shares only with her older sister Cissy - Meagan Good, and her aunt Mozelle - Debbi Morgan Mozelle has troubles of her own, she`s buried three husbands and the local witch - Diahann Carroll - tells her she`ll be doing the same to the next one. This doesn`t seem to faze the new man in Mozelle`s life, an artist played by the director`s husband Vondie Curtis Hall. But this is a summer seen from a child`s point of view, full of incidents that are funny, frustrating and traumatic....Kasi Lemmons has a mature elegance to her direction of this episodic tale. She glides along the backwaters of the bayou, exploring hidden corners of voodoo magic and the ability to see the future. But at the heart of the story is a family saga and Lemmons has been able to evoke sibling rivalries and squabbles while never leaving us in doubt of the closeness of the family. Samuel L. Jackson`s Daddy is similarly a pathetic philanderer and a loving father, how loving is one of the mysteries of the film. Jurnee Smollett is terrific as Eve, a young trouble-maker whose attempts to direct events lead to tragedy and yet she`s heart-breaking in her attachment to Cissy. This is a fine film, it`s nicely written and excellently photographed by Amy Vincent. Samuel L Jackson was one of the producers. My main quibble is that I think they went overboard in the wig department.