Analysis of "Eve's Bayou"

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If you are 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”, which is Lemmons’ first feature film, 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 (the protagonist, Eve). In a nutshell, the film is about a young girl who learns some unfortunate truths at a young age. She discovers some dysfunctional traits in her family (primarily caused by her father), and observes how her family deals with these issues in order to learn. Eve Batiste, the young girl, is the daughter of a beautiful mother, Roz, and a successful and prominent doctor, Louis. Her father is a skirt-chaser, albeit a good breadwinner for the family. Eve discovers this unfortunate truth one night at a party when she encounters her father fornicating with another woman, to which Louis unconvincingly explains that he was not participating in anything improper. She shares the information of what she has just seen with Cisely, her sister who is at a mid point in her adolescence and is not aware of how to cope with her feelings. More and more Louis’s infidelity becomes obvious and begins taking a toll on the family’s emotions. Cisely becomes even further confused and Roz hits out at her family members. In light of her confusion, Eve sometimes finds refuge in her aunt Mozelle, a woman who claims being born with supernatural powers. She even dabbles slightly in the religion of voodoo, which may possibly

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